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Joe
Gooch, The Humble Guitar God of Ten Years After:
The
audience was offering up an over abundance of accolades in honour of
Joe’s performance last night at Ten Years After’s gig in Melle,
Germany.
It
was very close to being another sold
out concert, but you couldn’t prove that to the people in attendance, as
the entire venue was packed full, from the stage to the back of the hall.
Elbow
to elbow and foot to foot the entire venue was a virtual pressure cooker
and just as hot.
During
“I Can’t Keep From Cryin’ Sometimes” many people came out of
nowhere and rushed the stage to show Joe their undying support. Waving
hands or pumping pointing index fingers in Joe’s direction, trying to
catch his attention and approval – to which Joe gave positive,
unconditional affirmation, right back at them.
Two
teenagers were slam-dancing right in front of the stage, while veteran
hippies of the elder generation clapped, jumped up and down, or were just
in slow head banging mode along with the music. Everyone was in high gear,
happy and expressing an outstanding abundance of “Rock Music” energy.
Everyone
was involved, there were no indifferent bystanders or wall flowers here.
Joe
Gooch was the centre of attention, and he is well aware of that fact,
although he is painfully shy and humble, he keeps his focus on his guitar
and the rest of the band throughout the evening. Joe’s completely
in balance, happy and controlling the ebb and flow, in total
unadulterated brilliance.
Lord
Of The Fender Six String:
Jimi
Hendrix may have set his Fender Stratocaster on fire at the Monterey Pop
Festival as a spectacular ending to his historic performance. While Joe on
the other hand, has more than enough pyrotechnics to fill a dozen
professional briefcases.
Dazzling
fret board work, precision playing, unbounded passion, and straight ahead
unbridled showmanship make for an unbeatable force to be reckoned with.
All these things, and without the slightest hint of arrogance. Joe plays
guitar because he loves to play nothing more.
If
you think it came easy for him, you’re mistaken, it took years upon
years of practice and endless patience to earn this level of expertise. So
Let the applause and accolades fill in all those working hours of training
and sacrifice.
The
Super Group of Super Stars
– Ten Years After:
Joe
is the front man, centre stage but Ten Years After
“NOW “ is a
full-fledged juggernaut of Rock
n´ Roll history and future!
Leo
Lyons – you’ve never seen anyone play a bass guitar like this. This
man tears it up, rips it up and gets down like no one else on earth!
Ric
Lee – Supports the band with precision drumming, be it hard driving rock
or subtle jazz / blues accompaniments, he’s second to none!
Chick
Churchill – Always the ever loveable keyboardist and intelligent clown
of the band, has never been happier, more relaxed or needed more than he
is now. His contributions are countless and much appreciated and respected
like never before!
ON
STAGE:
The
focus is on all four members, each trading off solos, exchanging riffs,
while individually their
chemistry creates a dynamite fusion of energy, talent and passion like no
other band that you choose to name.
Four
unique elements interacting, progressing and creating magic. Every second
different from the last. Action demands reaction, and each member stands
firmly in their element, thus letting it flow to new heights and areas of
discovery. They rise and flow together, in the groove they ride along
comfortably – but always with a sense of danger between every chord.
Like
a super charged nitro burning
dragster, Ten Years After perform second by second, pressing the petal to
the metal, slap shifting power, turbo charged – exciter!!!
Too
much power in one place causes disaster – too little power combined with
fear and trepidation and it
implodes. One slight miss
shift and the drive train shatters.
Ten
Years After is a powerhouse, a well respected, mechanically sound,
temperamental piece of precision work. It knows no inherent
flaws, and the band never underestimates the hands of fate.
Once
fired up there’s no stopping it…once in gear, there’s no turning
back….once at full throttle, it’s all or nothing…there’s no room
for error.
Set
List:
- Working
On The Road
- King
Of The Blues
- Hear
Me Callin´
- Angry
Words
- Big
Black 45
- Good
Morning Little Schoolgirl
- Slip
Slide Away
- I
Can’t Keep From Crying Sometimes
- Reasons
Why
- I’m
Going Home
- Choo-Choo-Mama
Fan
Interaction:
On
this occasion the audience was friendly, talkative and overly active. One
hell of a great time was had by all, it was a Rock n´ Roll party for sure.
With
us (Brigitte and myself) is Anita (Berlin), Reinhard (Osnabruck), our friend Paul from the
U.K.
There
was full band staff and support - Tom, Sander and Cor
from Zwolle, The Netherlands.
The
cd’s were selling very rapidly, fans lined up to meet the band, and
autographs were given with total respect and conversation.
We
helped get autographs for fans who missed the merchandise table, hugs and
handshakes were seen all over the venue. It was a jubilant celebration of
the moment.
Volker
König from "Alte Stadthalle Team" was talking with Ric and already making plans for TYA to
return next year. Elation was running high,
excitement was in the air, it was a festive event.
Backstage:
Good
humour, laughs and just plain fun and talks going on all over the room.
Soda,
beer, Champagne and wine flowed.
Friends
and more friends gathered around to hear the bands road stories and other
tales, just fantastic. Leo, Ric and Joe in rare form spurring each other
on….busting rocks…just good fun, and good times.
I
invited Tom to sit down next to me, his response was “Dave, if I sit
down now, I’ll seize up and never be able to stand back up”. What an
apt way to describe it…laugh we did.
An
hour later the band called it a day and returned to their hotel. Chick
bowed out early and returned to his room right after the concert. He
missed such a great time……
The
Support Band:
A
young local band called K'SLIFE was the support band for TEN YEARS AFTER.
16-year-old Katrin Remmert is the talented singer/songwriter and guitarist of the band.
Michele did a good job on the bass guitar and Jonathan was the new
drummer of the band.
Punk Rock is not exactly our type or style of music, but they did fill in the opening
space adequately.
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Photos by Brigitte
and Dave
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