|
Ten Years
After in Switzerland
Concert
Review by Herb Staehr
Last week I had the good fortune to finally experience
firsthand Ten Years After now at their shows in Sierre and
Winterthur, Switzerland. It would be tedious to recount all the
superlative and special moments that occurred during these two
performances by this very special band. Simply put, after
playing more than 200 gigs in the past few years, Ten Years
After is today more on top of their craft than they’ve been
since the late 60’s - no BS, this is currently one of the
strongest and tightest bands you will find anywhere. Until they
get to the States, they may be Europe’s best kept secret but,
believe it, they are really that good!
For all who were so favorably impressed by the “Now” studio
album and subsequent “Roadworks” live compilation, I can only
say that Ten Years After are presently at an even higher level -
and getting better with each subsequent performance. Either of
the two shows I saw in Switzerland could, if released unaltered,
easily rival the quality and intensity of the “Roadworks”
release – and then some. Ten Years After is now at a point where
they can change their set list indiscriminately at the last
moment without compromising the quality of the music. Indeed,
this is what I witnessed them do shortly before the shows in
Sierre and Winterthur.
In Sierre, the rarely performed live “A Hundred Miles High” was
added in the final moments (Joe had to listen to it on Leo’s
ipod in the dressing room to check the chord changes) and it
went down splendidly. Another song that brought down the house
in Sierre was “Reasons Why”. I had personally overlooked the
quality of this song when listening to “Now” - probably because
it is preceded by so many other great tunes on the album, but it
is really a barn-burner when TYA does it live.
In Winterthur two fans, Dick Wagger & friend – not to be
confused with Mick Jagger (you had to be there), insisted that
Ten Years After play “50,000 Miles Beneath My Brain”. Always
accomodating, they did add it to the end of the set and
absolutely nailed it – in my opinion it was one of the best
played songs of the evening! Another highlight for me at
Winterthur was “I’ll Make It Easy For You”. The “Roadworks” live
album could have easily been a triple CD release instead of two,
because all these other songs sound just as fantastic as those
included on “Roadworks” when TYA plays them live.
In conclusion, for all the other USA fans besides myself, your
patience will be rewarded when you finally get to see Ten Years
After play live again. When I saw them in Switzerland, the
opening number was “Working On The Road”... before Joe even
joins in on guitar there is no doubt from Leo’s driving bass
line, Ric’s hard and perfectly timed drum rhythm and Chick’s
strong keyboard accompaniment - that this is the one and only
Ten Years After, sounding as powerful as they’ve ever been. The
audience reaction is instantaneous, and the energy and
excitement level is unrelenting for the next two hours.
In regards to Joe Gooch, contrary to the polite and unassuming
person that he is offstage, he is an absolute phenom onstage who
takes both the old and new songs to a new level of excitement. I
honestly don’t know how the “veteran” band members are able to
keep up with him night after night - but they do and the whole
experience is absolutely exhilarating, just as it always was
with Ten Years After!
|
