Sunday night I saw Peter Frampton on his Finale final tour. For those that may not know, he has a progressive debilitating muscular disease that will leave him unable to play the guitar in a few short years. He took the news with a fighting spirit and announced he would tour while he can still play. Jason Bonham's Led Zep Experience opened for Peter.
First Bonham. He has assembled the finest group of Led Zep musicians I believe on the planet. The guitarist even looks like Jimmy Page and has all his moves down. Playing and solos and tone and timing were flawless. The singer sounded like Plant in his prime. Jason talked about how he really didn't think too much about his dad being in a big band, "because it wasn't like they were the Beatles!" He also told his dad he wanted to grow up to be Sting. Something he regrets ever saying...! He said he cant sing anyway so that would never happen! He seems like a really cool guy. He kept thanking the audience and I think his last remark said it all. He said, "We are huge fans of Zeppelin just like you guys. I hope I was able to lend some authenticity to the effort tonight." That he did. He is a beast of a drummer. They played all the hits. Guitarist had a full stack and two single 4x12's next to the stack. Either 50 or 100 watt old Marshalls on top. Pilot lights were on, cords were plugged in, and there were blocking panels in front of the cabinets with mics on the speakers. I am assuming they were making some noise. There was some real feedback moments so.... It was a NO KEMPER ZONE! Yes!!!!
Peter was awesome. Not only did he play for over 2 1/2 hours, he told a lot of stories about how he wrote the songs and who was involved. He talked about musicians no longer with us. He talked about how Stevie Wonder happened to be in the studio when he recorded Signed, Sealed, Delivered and how Stevie was dancing around during the playback. When Peter asked him how he came up with the lyrics, Stevie said his mom wrote them! He said that back in the early 90's he was driving and Black Hole Sun came on and he was blown away by Chris Cornell's vocals and said to himself that some day he would have to work with him. On Peter's instrumental album, Fingerprints, he did Black Hole Sun. When it came out he got a call from Chris asking if Peter would perform it with the band live as they absolutely loved it. Peter said he was blown away and honored to do it. (Seriously?!? Seriously!!!! I think this shows he has no ego as he does not have to bow down to anyone with his pedigree!!!) He said that started a friendship with Chris and his family that is strong still today. Pictures of Chris were up on the video screen during the number and he dedicated it to his wife and kids. He ended the night with a few words about Steve Marriott and played Four Day Creep and I Don't Need No Doctor. The encore was While My Guitar Gently Weeps. The solo he played on this song made the hair on my arm stand up. It was simply amazing. He thanked everyone for the get well wishes and got visibly choked up when the applause did not stop and went on for a good, what seemed like, 3 or more minutes. He said with all that positive energy he was sure he would be cured. When it came time to leave the stage he said, "I'll wave, but I can't say goodbye." Oh jeez.... Not a dry eye in the house. The place looked like a sellout and the lawn was completely full. Not sure of the crowds at the other venues he has played but he kept mentioning how blown away he was with all the people that showed up. He kept telling the lighting crew to turn on the lights so he could see us. It was an amazing night but certainly bittersweet. Peter is one of those guitarist that as soon as you hear the first notes you know who it is. His phrasing is so melodic and just flows. He is also a major gear head and does a lot of the amp work himself. He had four 4x12 cabs on stage with two leslies sitting behind them. Could not see them but I know he has a rack full of old Marshalls. Mics on everything and again, some good ol fashioned feedback! Yesssss!
Meanwhile back stage... Who shows up? None other than Bob Heil who had dug up the original invoice for the talk box Peter bought from him in 1974. Peter was blown away and like a little kid was like, "Can I keep this?" Bob just laughed and said of course! It's almost like he doesn't realize how much people revere him and what he has accomplished.
Bottom line, I would certainly give the show five Marshall stacks out of five. So, if he is heading to any of your towns or close by, I would encourage you to go see this legend before it's too late.
Jim
Topic: Peter Frampton Concert Review (Read 8969 times)