Anyone see Robin Trower at Islington?

boogieman

I went with a mate, we both enjoyed it. RT may be 70 but he’s still got it. Not a fan of his newer material, it sounded a bit generic blues/rock, but the classic Bridge of Sighs era stuff was great. 

The backing band were a bit meh, but then Jimmy Dewar was always going to be a hard act to follow. He had one of the great rock voices, sadly under acknowledged. 

mudslide73

I haven't seen him in a while but he's great imo. Amazing tone with the Univibe and wah. 

freakboy1610

I saw him in 2016 and he was great. I thought the band were OK, especially the drummer. It's a shame he's not touring the UK or I would go again. I guess there's more money to be made in the US. He was massive over there in the 70s.

boogieman

freakboy1610 said:

I saw him in 2016 and he was great. I thought the band were OK, especially the drummer. It's a shame he's not touring the UK or I would go again. I guess there's more money to be made in the US. He was massive over there in the 70s.

He does most of his touring in the US these days but he still does UK dates. Islington on Tuesday being a case in point, although this was a rescheduled date from last year’s tour because he had kidney problems and had to cancel. 

Philly_Q

I've never seen him live, even though I've been a fan for nearly 40 years and if I had to name a favourite guitarist, it would probably be him.

Guess I should try to see him next time, opportunities may be running out.

Did he do any singing himself?  He's been doing quite a lot of the vocals on the recent albums but I wondered if he'd be confident about singing live.

ZenOvertone

Missed Islington but definitely will go again...got him to sign my vinyl BoS after being deafened by 100w JCM800 heads around 2005

boogieman

Philly_Q said:

I've never seen him live, even though I've been a fan for nearly 40 years and if I had to name a favourite guitarist, it would probably be him.

Guess I should try to see him next time, opportunities may be running out.

Did he do any singing himself?  He's been doing quite a lot of the vocals on the recent albums but I wondered if he'd be confident about singing live.

He sang on a couple of the newer numbers, but let’s say as a singer he’s a good guitarist.  The bass player did most of the vocals but his voice is a bit lightweight compared to how JD used to belt them out. He had Davey Pattinson on vocals with him the last time I saw him (probably 8- 10 years back) had a decent voice but obviously spent a lot of time lurking at the back of the stage while Robin played 10 minute solos, so maybe he just got bored with it all.  

I think Trower will still be touring for a while, he looks fit and healthy and doesn’t seem to be having any trouble playing at a decent standard. Seems to still enjoy himself on stage too, which I guess is a big driver to keep doing it. 

boogieman

ZenOvertone said:

Missed Islington but definitely will go again...got him to sign my vinyl BoS after being deafened by 100w JCM800 heads around 2005

Still using a couple of Marshalls, but he’s reigned the volume in these days. He had a lovely tone going, despite the sound guy’s best efforts to ruin it. The mix wasn’t great. We stood behind the mixing desk and there seemed to be a constant battle between the guy on the desk and the lighting guy, who kept leaning over to fiddle with settings. Have to say the lighting bloke had the better ears! 

Philly_Q

boogieman said:
I think Trower will still be touring for a while, he looks fit and healthy and doesn’t seem to be having any trouble playing at a decent standard. Seems to still enjoy himself on stage too, which I guess is a big driver to keep doing it. 

I think his wife died a few years ago?  Without going too much into clichés about "keeping active" I wouldn't be surprised if he's keen to keep working as long as he can.

He's certainly churned out a lot of albums in recent years (unless that's just me thinking time goes quicker now....)

boogieman

Philly_Q said:

boogieman said:
I think Trower will still be touring for a while, he looks fit and healthy and doesn’t seem to be having any trouble playing at a decent standard. Seems to still enjoy himself on stage too, which I guess is a big driver to keep doing it. 

I think his wife died a few years ago?  Without going too much into clichés about "keeping active" I wouldn't be surprised if he's keen to keep working as long as he can.

He's certainly churned out a lot of albums in recent years (unless that's just me thinking time goes quicker now....)

You’re right, she died not that long back.

I think he’s done 2 or 3 new albums over the last 5 years? Not really sure and I haven’t heard any of them, the last one I bought was put out round 2005. If the material I didn’t recognise was anything to go by I won’t be bothering tbh, it really wasn’t that great.The older songs from the BoS and Earth Below era were streets ahead in quality. 

Philly_Q

boogieman said:
I think he’s done 2 or 3 new albums over the last 5 years? Not really sure and I haven’t heard any of them, the last one I bought was put out round 2005. If the material I didn’t recognise was anything to go by I won’t be bothering tbh, it really wasn’t that great.The older songs from the BoS and Earth Below era were streets ahead in quality. 

4 in the last 5 years, and 6 since 2005.  Plus some live stuff, another album with Jack Bruce and a few compilations.  I've got them all but to be honest I haven't listened to any of them more than a few times.

The last few studio albums have been much more blues than rock, although one of them (not sure if it was the most recent or the one before that) harks back to the '70s sound, a little.