Johnny Winter/David Gogo blues night reviewed
February 17, 2007
T he Polish Hall was filled to the brim with lovers of the blues last night. The draw was Johnny Winter, the 62-year-old bluesman who has an unbelievably loyal if not odd fan-base. It was a strange thing to be in a room with well over 600 people, the majority of which were guys, the majority of which were blasted, many of whom were wanna-be guitar players. It was a strange vibe. We sat in the balcony – and I have to say right now, the sound was not mixed for the 200 of us up there. The vocals were a muffled, faint-hope clause in the room. The guy who was wearing two coats, and after sniffing something and drinking a lot of beer, resorted to old CodCo routines…he squished poor Johnny’s head throughout the evening. The woman with him kept telling us not to encourage him. He was just a big dumb 45-year-old kid, harmless and having fun. I wound up liking him and the woman he was with. There were many "dudes" who looked over at me and slurred things like: "this is F-in' A! this is F-in A" or "Johnny!" I was the designated driver so I only had one beer at the concert. Maybe that was the problem.
The warm up act was David Gogo and his band –apart from the usual “let’s keep the sound quality down for the warm-up act and then turn it up for the main event” game (which really annoys me), this guy and his kicking band was far superior to anything offered up by Johnny Winter. Gogo’s voice is rich and throaty—his guitar soared. The Hammond organ (one instrument that will never be successfully digitalized!!!) added an element to the set that set it above old Johnny and his band. Gogo’s guitar tone was a bit thin at the start of his set but adjustments were made. Gogo’s “The Thrill is Gone” was the highlight of the night for me.
Okay, Johnny Winter, the albino blues icon…currently with a CD nominated for a Grammy. He looked like a frail 80-year-old as he was guided out on stage, where he sat with his eyes closed and played. Johnny is a poster-boy for what tattoos will look like as the human body ages....not a pretty picture. Note to Johnny, and the idiot soundman: there was a short somewhere in Johnny’s guitar—either the cord of the guitar itself. How the sound crew could miss this is a tragic mystery. The static was prevalent and very irritating—it took away from the entire set. I would go so far as to say the static ruined what might have been a great show. I’m sure old Johnny, who was too frail to stand, is a brilliant blues guitarist, but the awful static and thin, buried vocals mired the set in stupidity. I felt insulted. I went down in front of the stage and listened for two songs – the sound was marginally better, static was less prominent, but vocals still buried. I’ve heard better sound at community hall parties. Yes, the guitar was loud and so was the bass but the vocals and the static just dragged the show down. I kept thinking, the sound crew was too afraid, too in awe, too daft, to stop old Johnny and solve the static problem. A shame. I think the guy might be good. Hard to tell through all that static.
If I could have seen the soundman, I certainly would have squished his head, hard.