The excitement built up and then Ronnie and the band came out. They just started right in with the music. Playing mostly stuff from their fantastic The Torch CD, they were great. Ronnie on lead guitar is one of the best out there. The bass player really caught my eye. He is a mean looking guy and has a very unique style of playing the base. He looks like he is sneaking around and holds his guitar very different. But man, can he play! Ronnie said something about his nickname being 'Bad Attitude' or something like that. Then he had his normal keyboard player and drummer, both are excellent. The microphone for the keyboard player did not work for both bands, but all we missed was them saying hello.
"Born in Chicago" was done quite well. I really liked 'Are you Free for Me". Ronnie showed his skills in that song. Then he said he had a special guest, and it was Jellybean Johnson. I had never heard of him, but now I am big fan. He came out and played guitar that would have made SRV and Jimi stand up and clap. Zac came over and started waving his hands to cool the guitar down! He must have jammed 10 minutes on the 1st song. They played quite a few songs, and at this point, I had felt that JB had stole the show. FYI, JB has was in Janet Jackson's band, played guitar, drums in many bands and is now mostly a composer and producer. He produced The Torch. He is also mentioned in the Are you free song. This guy can play guitar. I felt that I was at his concert and not Ronnies. But that's ok, I was there to be entertained and I was being entertained.
Well, then they went into the last song. Still with Jellybean playing guitar, Ronnie slipped on his wireless guitar and walked off the stage. At first it looked like he was walking off the stage and letting JB take over, but he had other plans. He started jamming and walking around table to table. They had spotlight following him and he went behind the bar and gave his guitar a workout. The bad news is my fantastic front row seat had became a crappy seat. But I was still in front of the speakers and it sounded great! He kept jamming and then eventually made it to the front of the stage and started to battle JB. There was no loser. Just a bunch of winners in the audience that got to see a fantastic concert.
This concert rates up there with some of the best I have ever seen, including Alvin Lee at the House of Blues, Joe Bonamassa at the Hard Rock. If you get a chance to see him do whatever it takes to go, he is awesome! Zac Harmon and Ronnie and JB are now on the famous Blues Cruise and I am sure they are giving one hell of a show there.
Next concert is the 20th of January, at the House of Blues. Robin Trower. I have seen him there twice and he puts on a pretty good show. Anxious to see what he has up his sleeves.
Monday, January 14, 2008
Ronnie Baker Brooks Live! Part One
I had the thrill to go and see Ronnie Baker Brooks at BB Kings in Orlando on the 11th of Janary. What a concert! That place was rocking.
I showed up a few minutes after 7pm and went to the will call where my 20 dollar ticket was waiting. However, there was no ticket and they lead me to the dining room and I picked my seat. Front row, right corner of the stage! Oh yeah! What a seat!
The house band was playing and the guitar player was very good. I saw him playing with a larger band when I saw the BB King concert here. He is a SRV type player and has learned his to bend the strings quite nicely. They played several songs, ending it with Foxy Lady and the bass player really showed his stuff.
The roadies for Zac Harmon showed up about 30 minutes after the scheduled 9pm start and looked quite upset at the stage layout. After some discussion, things were made right and a few guys had picked up guitars and banged on some keyboards and drums to tune and adjust the sound levels. Then they announced the band and out came Harmon. Before they started, they held hands and had a group prayer. They got right into the music and started jamming. The guitar player was really good. I did not know this band very well, just hearing one or two songs, but they were very tight. They had Zac on guitar, another guitar player with a really cool hat, a drummer and a guest piano player. They said their names a couple times, but this old guy cannot remember the names. I am bringing a notepad to future concerts! Research did not help me much to figure out who they were.
They played quite a few songs and they sounded great. The lead guitar player knew how to play and Zac looked like he was having the time of his life up there. They promoted their CD a few times and said they were selling some after the show. After the gig, they walked around the club shaking hands and signing autographs. A very nice touch.
I strongly recommend you check out this guy, he has his act together and makes some fantastic music!
I showed up a few minutes after 7pm and went to the will call where my 20 dollar ticket was waiting. However, there was no ticket and they lead me to the dining room and I picked my seat. Front row, right corner of the stage! Oh yeah! What a seat!
The house band was playing and the guitar player was very good. I saw him playing with a larger band when I saw the BB King concert here. He is a SRV type player and has learned his to bend the strings quite nicely. They played several songs, ending it with Foxy Lady and the bass player really showed his stuff.
The roadies for Zac Harmon showed up about 30 minutes after the scheduled 9pm start and looked quite upset at the stage layout. After some discussion, things were made right and a few guys had picked up guitars and banged on some keyboards and drums to tune and adjust the sound levels. Then they announced the band and out came Harmon. Before they started, they held hands and had a group prayer. They got right into the music and started jamming. The guitar player was really good. I did not know this band very well, just hearing one or two songs, but they were very tight. They had Zac on guitar, another guitar player with a really cool hat, a drummer and a guest piano player. They said their names a couple times, but this old guy cannot remember the names. I am bringing a notepad to future concerts! Research did not help me much to figure out who they were.
They played quite a few songs and they sounded great. The lead guitar player knew how to play and Zac looked like he was having the time of his life up there. They promoted their CD a few times and said they were selling some after the show. After the gig, they walked around the club shaking hands and signing autographs. A very nice touch.
I strongly recommend you check out this guy, he has his act together and makes some fantastic music!
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