Derek Trucks Band - Music Pier Ocean City NJ 1st August 2005
Setlist: Maki Madni-Sahib Teri Bandi-Maki Madni / Joyful Noise / Naima / Preachin' Blues / I Wish I Knew / Rastaman Chant / Key To The Highway / ‘Ocean City’ Soul Stew / Everything Is Everything / Leavin' Trunk / Afro Blue // Freddie's Dead
Once in a blue moon, you go along to a gig and see something special. Occasionally, it is hoped for, or even expected. At other times, it comes as a complete surprise. And then, there are instances, which come along about as frequently as a Virgin train on the North West UK mainline, when you get treated to more than one pleasant surprise in one evening. In anyone’s gig-going lifetime, these can usually be counted on the fingers of one hand. The evening of August 1st comes under the latter category.
Once in a blue moon, you go along to a gig and see something special. Occasionally, it is hoped for, or even expected. At other times, it comes as a complete surprise. And then, there are instances, which come along about as frequently as a Virgin train on the North West UK mainline, when you get treated to more than one pleasant surprise in one evening. In anyone’s gig-going lifetime, these can usually be counted on the fingers of one hand. The evening of August 1st comes under the latter category.
I went to Ocean City purely to see Sonny Landreth and for no other reason. I did not care that there was a headlining act on after Sonny, nor who it was. Part of me was contemplating leaving after Sonny’s set and driving back to Philly, so I could still get to bed reasonably early. However, after seeing Derek Trucks play with Sonny, on the Congo Square encore, I figured, the boy didn’t play too badly and I’d paid for the ticket, I may as well stay and see the show. Boy, am I glad I did, or what?
From moment they stepped on to the stage, the band was, obviously, top notch and, as I have subsequently learned, they play every other night so they are as tight as any band on the planet. They have all the ingredients of any classic blues-rock band; in fact, close your eyes and you can hear the Allman Brothers, a little Santana, some QMS, and even a sprinkling of Grateful Dead. There’s the bass that won’t quit, a drummer who is always in the right place, and that glorious swelling Hammond B3 sound underpinning Derek’s sublime guitar work. Throw in a Conga player par excellence and a vocalist who has some of the sweetest pipes on the planet and you soon realise that this band is something to behold. By the end of their opening number, Maki Madni, I was sitting in my seat, mouth open, drooling like a fool. Derek Trucks guitar work on that first instrumental had truly blown me away and I just wanted to hear more; much, much more.
From moment they stepped on to the stage, the band was, obviously, top notch and, as I have subsequently learned, they play every other night so they are as tight as any band on the planet. They have all the ingredients of any classic blues-rock band; in fact, close your eyes and you can hear the Allman Brothers, a little Santana, some QMS, and even a sprinkling of Grateful Dead. There’s the bass that won’t quit, a drummer who is always in the right place, and that glorious swelling Hammond B3 sound underpinning Derek’s sublime guitar work. Throw in a Conga player par excellence and a vocalist who has some of the sweetest pipes on the planet and you soon realise that this band is something to behold. By the end of their opening number, Maki Madni, I was sitting in my seat, mouth open, drooling like a fool. Derek Trucks guitar work on that first instrumental had truly blown me away and I just wanted to hear more; much, much more.
Young Mr Trucks took up the guitar at age 9, because it was the only interesting thing he could find in a yard sale, or so the story goes. He is only 25 years old now, and he was invited to join the Allman Brothers band in 1999. Yeah, I did the sums on that one too. It soon became clear why this incredible talent is the guitar player with the Allman Brothers Band
His playing is vintage Dicky Betts and, in the Allmans, he simply fits. That said, his mastery of the guitar is quite exquisite and, the fact that he hasn’t actually been playing that long, just makes it all the more amazing. This guy is a pure natural, the likes of which you see only once in a generation. His style is easy and the guitar seems to be an extension of himself. The sound is distinctly Allmans-esque, but with added beauty of the fluidity of Carlos Santana and, I feel, a little John Cippolina in some of the phrasing and note sequences. He just makes it all look so easy and natural though, like the best always do. It is only when you watch him that your eyes, brain and ears suddenly come into conflict because you can’t match what you see with what you hear.
His playing is vintage Dicky Betts and, in the Allmans, he simply fits. That said, his mastery of the guitar is quite exquisite and, the fact that he hasn’t actually been playing that long, just makes it all the more amazing. This guy is a pure natural, the likes of which you see only once in a generation. His style is easy and the guitar seems to be an extension of himself. The sound is distinctly Allmans-esque, but with added beauty of the fluidity of Carlos Santana and, I feel, a little John Cippolina in some of the phrasing and note sequences. He just makes it all look so easy and natural though, like the best always do. It is only when you watch him that your eyes, brain and ears suddenly come into conflict because you can’t match what you see with what you hear.
I wrote in my Sonny Landreth review that I had only ever seen four other guitarists that completely knocked me out the first time I saw them live, and that Sonny was the fifth. Well, Derek Trucks is the sixth. Yeah, two awesome guitar players in one night that made the hairs on the back of my neck stand on end. That’s not a thing that happens very often.
Sitting in the Ocean City Music Pier auditorium, I just marvelled at this wonderful band and couldn’t help but think of my late friend, Mike Schofield, and how he would have loved this. Mike was a big Little Feat and Allman Brothers fan and was one of the first people in the UK to notice the extraordinary talent of Walter Trout. He promoted blues bands and brought over many great names from the USA to his venue, in Blackpool UK, The Kite Club. Without a shadow of a doubt, Mike knew great music when he heard it and, had he still been alive today, he would have been on the phone straight away trying to book the Derek Trucks Band.
Since the gig, I have downloaded the audio of the Ocean City gig from the Live Music Archive http://www.archive.org/audio/etreelisting-browse.php?collection=etree and I just can’t stop playing the CDs. Maki Madni is as wonderful as I remember it on the night and Mike Mattison’s vocals are truly awesome at times, merely superb the rest of the time. The performances of I Wish I Knew, Key To The Highway, ‘Ocean City’ Soul Stew and the encore, Freddie’s Dead, are outstanding by any standards, but when you remember that this is a group of such relatively young musicians, they are simply mind-blowing. This band plays as if it has been treading the boards with the same line-up for the past 40 years and it is very easy to forget that they are all so young; they don’t sound like it and they don’t act like it.
Sitting in the Ocean City Music Pier auditorium, I just marvelled at this wonderful band and couldn’t help but think of my late friend, Mike Schofield, and how he would have loved this. Mike was a big Little Feat and Allman Brothers fan and was one of the first people in the UK to notice the extraordinary talent of Walter Trout. He promoted blues bands and brought over many great names from the USA to his venue, in Blackpool UK, The Kite Club. Without a shadow of a doubt, Mike knew great music when he heard it and, had he still been alive today, he would have been on the phone straight away trying to book the Derek Trucks Band.
Since the gig, I have downloaded the audio of the Ocean City gig from the Live Music Archive http://www.archive.org/audio/etreelisting-browse.php?collection=etree and I just can’t stop playing the CDs. Maki Madni is as wonderful as I remember it on the night and Mike Mattison’s vocals are truly awesome at times, merely superb the rest of the time. The performances of I Wish I Knew, Key To The Highway, ‘Ocean City’ Soul Stew and the encore, Freddie’s Dead, are outstanding by any standards, but when you remember that this is a group of such relatively young musicians, they are simply mind-blowing. This band plays as if it has been treading the boards with the same line-up for the past 40 years and it is very easy to forget that they are all so young; they don’t sound like it and they don’t act like it.
The Derek Trucks band is:
Derek Trucks - guitar
Kofi Burbridge - keyboards, flute & vocals
Todd Smallie - bass & vocals
Yonrico Scott - drums, percussion, & vocals
Mike Mattison - lead vocals
Count M'Butu - Congas (entire show)
If you like your blues-rock in the Southern Style, with a few West Coast flourishes, go and see The Derek Trucks Band and prepare to be astounded. I guarantee you’ll be digging out your copy of Live at the Fillmore East as soon as you get back home. I can only sum up the gig in one way, and that is in the title of one of the songs they played: Joyful Noise. And, it surely was.
Mark L. Potts
The God of Thunder
10th August 2005
Derek Trucks - guitar
Kofi Burbridge - keyboards, flute & vocals
Todd Smallie - bass & vocals
Yonrico Scott - drums, percussion, & vocals
Mike Mattison - lead vocals
Count M'Butu - Congas (entire show)
If you like your blues-rock in the Southern Style, with a few West Coast flourishes, go and see The Derek Trucks Band and prepare to be astounded. I guarantee you’ll be digging out your copy of Live at the Fillmore East as soon as you get back home. I can only sum up the gig in one way, and that is in the title of one of the songs they played: Joyful Noise. And, it surely was.
Mark L. Potts
The God of Thunder
10th August 2005