Belatedly, I update now that we went to see Jeff Beck on Monday. Well…….actually….my daughter and I went to see Imelda May and her band, whom Jeff Beck appropriated for his own tour.
While I’m not a huge fan of Jeff Beck – nor really even a “fan” per se – I have to give him props for bringing Imelda and Darrel to town. It’s not often we get to see a touring artist (from Ireland) in the heart of Texas.
I managed to snag some really great seats, eighth row center. There was a weird break in rows one through seven where they met in the center and it gave us a perfect view of Imelda at the mic. Let’s talk about the audience. They were old. Seriously. I felt like a grey haired young kid in the room. Caught a few conversational tidbits:
“Wish I’d seen Lynrd Skynrd before that plane crash….”
“Ampeg makes amps? I wonder if they still make amps….”
“You see those two amps, on back? Those are Marshall Stacks!”
“I don’t need to go, I’m wearing adult diapers” (just kidding)
The crowd there definitely seemed to expect a “Jeff Beck” show. The crowd also seemed to be a lot older than any of the shows I’ve ever been to. My daughter and I probably dropped the median age by about twenty years. Anyway, I think that what they got was wayyyy further away than what they were expecting. The band really killed it. It really was a treat to see Darrel and Imelda & band kick it out so strongly – especially for such a non-responsive audience. They didn’t get on their feet until the second encore. I imagine it’s really hard to get pumped up when you’re playing to a stone wall of people. But they did. Everything was stellar.
It must be really hard to be the “sideman” and watch the lead guitarist really mangle some chords. As a guitarist, I like catching those little “oh” moments when a pro guitarist misses a note and then makes that “ah-ha” face. I can relate…I miss a lot of notes myself. Beck managed to miss quite a few notes. And then a few more. I think he totally missed the outro to “Cruisin'” and let Darrel pretty much finish it off. The crowd at this show seemed to be less musical than most, and were even less aware of such things.
I think I tried my best to give JB a fair shot. However, I knew he’d blown that chance when Darrel stepped up during his solo spot (“Rockin’ is my Business”?) and totally knocked it out of the park. Solid, solid solo.
Lest I forget, Imelda in person is amazing. Seriously. I found myself cursing the sound guy, as he kept raising JB’s guitar over her vocals. Yes, yes, I undersand it wasn’t the Imelda May show. It was for myself and my daughter though. Too many vocal highlights to mention – honestly. Her snarl and growl matched evenly with her soaring croon. Absolutely killer.
As we were leaving, my daughter says, “Hey, that guitarist guy?”
“Jeff Beck?”
“Yeah, he’s pretty good.”
