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archimedes
Silver Member
United Kingdom
191 Posts |
 Posted - 03/27/2010 : 00:41:59
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Just got home from a Paul Rodgers and Bad Company gig at the teeny (about 200 people) BBC radio theatre in London, a friend who knows people got me in and I ended up sitting in the centre of the front row about 6 feet from Rodgers mic stand, awesome!
From a musical point of view I found it a mixed bag, Rodgers, Kirke and the bass player were 110% excellent. Howard Leese, Paul's solo band guitarist and ex Heart didn't put a finger wrong all night but to me his sound (JCM900s I think) was too close to metal and not bluesy enough from the Free and Bad Co. material and although his playing was faultless technically it didn't grab my attention feel wise, also he tended to drown out Ralphs who played on the latter material. Amazing to be about 25 feet from his cranked up Marshall stacks though. He had a CE-5 and what I now know was a Toadworks flanger which was used very subtly and sounded awesome, guitars were a couple of PRS's. Mick Ralphs played a lovely looking sunburst Les Paul and a Tele (open tuned) into a couple of very classic looking, non master volume Marshalls which sounded just the ticket, his playing although having plenty of the feel I listen for was a little on the erratic side which I guess is why Howard is there being 100% reliable.
All in all though an amazing experience, 3 Free songs, 1 Paul solo, 1 by the Firm and about 10 classic Bad Co. numbers. Audio and video will be on the BBC 2 web site next Saturday and you might even see me in it!
David |
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Dirk
Platinum Member
Netherlands
1309 Posts |
Posted - 03/27/2010 : 10:26:38
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Awesome Archimedes, Bad Company is a great band.
Feel like makin' love is a standard on our setlist.   |
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The_Doc
Gold Member
United Kingdom
509 Posts |
Posted - 03/27/2010 : 12:25:25
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A chance of a lifetime archimedes - that must have been the biz 
I'll look it up on on the Beeb website - what were you wearing so we can ID you!! I am seriously envious too!!! 
We do a couple of Free & Bad Co numbers and I think they are the ones I enjoy playing most. I know what you mean about the metal tone too as I play a PRS into a Marshall JVM 410 and when I've used the OD1 and OD2 channels it doesn't sound half as good as when I use the Clean / master vol channel which is more like the vintage Marshalls of old.
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Dirk
Platinum Member
Netherlands
1309 Posts |
Posted - 03/27/2010 : 13:21:44
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Agreed, 900's are great amps, but way too metal for classic rock and such. Plexi's or 800's are a much better choice.
Even a Vintage/Modern would sound better for their music. |
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archimedes
Silver Member
United Kingdom
191 Posts |
Posted - 03/27/2010 : 18:03:03
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I was wearing a kind of red check shirt and am in the middle of the front row directly in front of Paul Rodgers (and three seats from Phil Hilbourne), in fact here is the view from my seat before they came on... (sorry for crappy phone quality). As you can imagine I am still buzzing today...
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Edited by - archimedes on 03/27/2010 18:10:33 |
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The_Doc
Gold Member
United Kingdom
509 Posts |
Posted - 03/27/2010 : 18:26:32
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| That's not Maida Vale is it archimedes? |
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archimedes
Silver Member
United Kingdom
191 Posts |
Posted - 03/27/2010 : 19:29:52
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quote:
Originally posted by The_Doc
That's not Maida Vale is it archimedes?
No it's the BBC radio theatre at Bush House, Portland Place near Oxford Circus. Very nice to be welcomed and escorted to our seats by polite BBC people, so different to the usual gig scene.
As special gigs for me go it is up there with Genesis at the Marquee warming up for Milton Keynes in 1982 and being about 10 feet from Jimmy Page when he was playing in a tent at a small festival in Suffolk in 1984. |
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The_Doc
Gold Member
United Kingdom
509 Posts |
Posted - 03/27/2010 : 21:52:50
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Ah...I know. I used to live near there when I was a student - I was on Oxford Street - opposite Selfridges near the Angus Steakhouse (bet that's long gone by now)
That's quite a collection of top gigs archimedes - I'm doubly envious now |
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archimedes
Silver Member
United Kingdom
191 Posts |
Posted - 03/28/2010 : 12:20:49
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I did a search for some Paul Rodgers torrents yesterday, not ripping off officially released stuff but radio shows and the like that people have recorded and are sharing. I came a across a gem from 97 with pristine sound, nice setlist and Geoff Whitehorn on guitar who for me is more soulful than Howard Leese. I have uploaded it in MP3 form for a friend to grab (the guy who got me into Friday's gig as it happens) but it's here for anyone else who wants it too.
http://tinyurl.com/rodgers97
David
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The_Doc
Gold Member
United Kingdom
509 Posts |
Posted - 03/28/2010 : 17:35:19
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Off topic (a bit )
Geoff Whitehorn - 'Big In Gravesend' - an excellent album from a talented guitarist who I saw demoing Marshall kit many years ago. I agree - more soulful
Those mp3s are superb - thanks David. |
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archimedes
Silver Member
United Kingdom
191 Posts |
Posted - 03/28/2010 : 22:23:40
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quote:
Originally posted by The_Doc
Off topic (a bit )
Geoff Whitehorn - 'Big In Gravesend' - an excellent album from a talented guitarist who I saw demoing Marshall kit many years ago. I agree - more soulful
Well this is the 'off topic' section.
I actually first saw Geoff W play with Crawler at the Marquee in 76 or 77 I think, Rabbit on keys, Terry Wilson-Slesser on vocals, that being of course the band he replaced the sadly departed Kossoff in. It's a long time ago and I was only about 16 but I remember enjoying the guitar playing and indeed the band very much. I have since seen him at some guitar workshop thing and with the Who in Hyde Park in 96. Would like to catch him again some time. I think I also have his 'Geoff Who?' album that I got with Guitarist mag a long time ago.
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FRANZONI
Double Platinum Member
Ireland
3543 Posts |
Posted - 04/03/2010 : 12:44:31
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I saw GW at a guitar gear expo here in Dublin a good few years back..he was working on the Marshall stand demoing the gear...great player....some guy in the crowd got up on bass(seriously talented bass player) and they started jamming..i could see from GW's expression that he was impressed...great spontanious jam.... i enjoyed it more than the main artist who was that speedfreak metalhead that plays two guitars at once...
I think The_Doc plays a VM marshall(correct me if i'm wrong kev)which is based around the clasic marshalls of yesteryear.. but i never can get into the 900 series and some of the later marshall sounds..i find them a bit too tight and dry sounding to my ears...and for classic rock like Free/Bad Company stuff i can't see how they would sound right...
Sounds like that gig was similar to the one the BBC did for the launch of David Gilmours solo album a few years back...my brother-in-law managed to somehow rip the audio for me from the website and i still have it on my ipod...even the news excerpt before the concert about the guy on the M25 who told police the accelerator on his BMW got stuck and thats why he was driving at 125 mph.... ..i'll keep an eye out for you in the front row Archimedes.... |
Edited by - FRANZONI on 04/03/2010 12:45:51 |
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The_Doc
Gold Member
United Kingdom
509 Posts |
Posted - 04/04/2010 : 18:13:26
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Sure do Franz and for our gigs, playing classic rock covers, I only ever use the Clean and Crunch channels on the JVM which are wired up the same way as the early Marshalls. I get the variations I need through the pedal board.
I like to have the OD1 & OD2 channels there for messing around with in the studio & stuff, but these higher gain channels simply sound too brittle and lacking in character for the songs we do - I'm sure they are fine for heavier material - maybe one day 
Have you found the vid of the show on the BBC2 site yet archimedes? I can't find the vid but I've listened to the audio - excellent - I wish I'd been there even more now!!!
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archimedes
Silver Member
United Kingdom
191 Posts |
Posted - 04/05/2010 : 18:07:44
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quote:
Originally posted by The_Doc
Have you found the vid of the show on the BBC2 site yet archimedes? I can't find the vid but I've listened to the audio - excellent - I wish I'd been there even more now!!!
The video is here...
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00rv3z2
I am most visible after the final number, leaning over to say to my friend Arthur "I think we are going to be on TV!". I have a red check shirt, short grey hair and beard, Arthur is taller with more hair that is also white. My son has grabbed all the video for me and made a DVD, if you would like a copy Doc then PM me.
David
p.s. there is also a photo of me in the gig photos section of this forum
p.p.s. My Marshall is JTM 60 combo, they get some bad press but mine has been as sweet as a nut for 13 years and sounds lovely although I must confess that these days it stays on the clean channel (lovely) and I get my dirt from a Blackstar HT Drive pedal.
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Edited by - archimedes on 04/05/2010 18:11:04 |
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The_Doc
Gold Member
United Kingdom
509 Posts |
Posted - 04/11/2010 : 01:18:06
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Hi archimedes,
I watched the vid from cover to cover and enjoyed every minute of it - picked you out and you sure had the best seats in the house
Paul Rodgers looked like he was having a ball - he's on Jools next week btw. Thanks for letting us know about that - I wouldn't have had a clue about it if you hadn't posted it.
Cheers |
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Paul Rodgers and Bad Co, BBC radio theatre
