Friday,
7:30 pm - sound check was in progress and by 2:30 am equipment was loaded,
band and fans gone.
In between these four hours: magic, high energy,
passion and a dream come true.
Four
hours of musical excitement and a night we will never forget.
Carvin Jones:
Plays a Jimi Hendrix style of guitar music, Stevie
Ray Vaughan songs, and loves the audience. He plays behind his back, between his
legs, with his teeth, on the floor, on his back, and walks through the crowd at
will. When not on the stage you will find him and his guitar up in the balcony,
looking down and playing to Leo Lyons who is on stage playing to him while
looking up. Carvin rocks, no flash, no false pretense, no gimmicks and no
childish ego trip for this man. He's rolling thunder and he is on fire.
Leo Lyons: Who
invited us to come to the gig, looks the same as always except for his grey hair.
He looks and acts like a gentleman, school headmaster, except if you were called
into his office he would look at you over top of his reading spects and then
smile and say to you quietly "would you like to hear my Bass Guitar?"
On stage he rocks the house, nothing has changed with Leo, he is the ever stable
professional player, he wails the tar out of that poor instrument as is his trade
mark over all these years. While in the middle of "Sunshine Of Your
Love" Leo broke out into the "Good Morning Little Schoolgirl"
bass line, the crowd went crazy and moved closer to the stage.
Chick Churchill: The
youngest member of TYA is also treated as such, the younger brother who needs
nurturing and gets the family treatment from Ric and Leo at every opportunity.
They support Chick with good humor, laughs and their common bond - music. On
stage he needs no one to help him, he supports the music with that chomp-chomp
whirling sound of his keyboard. His sound is clear, and unmistakable, the only
difference is he's getting better but not older. Chick is the shy one but not
the quiet sort, he speaks his mind the same way that he plays - straight and to
the point.
Ric Lee: I always
knew that Leo was the "Rudder" of TYA and that Chick held the spirit
of the band, but it was Ric Lee that surprised me the most. I am not easy to
impress but Ric turned my head, and thinking around in short order. Once you get
over the Alvin Lee worship phase, and after you shake hands and pat Leo and
Chick on the back there is Ric.
I knew little or nothing about this member
of TYA until we met him in person, but now we call him our friend. He is the
driving force now for keeping our favorite band alive and well. Ric and Leo are
the sources to talk with to learn anything and everything that you would like to
know. It is now a fact that Ric has on paper all of the TYA recorded music
information from the vaults, he has control of this material. Ric is proud of
his responsibility, we are not talking ego, or power trip here, we are talking
about a job that should have been done twenty years ago. Now he has to do what
needs to be done and at the same time try and keep everyone happy, and do the
right thing. So if you are die hard TYA fans as we are please give thanks to Ric
Lee.
Herb Staehr used Leo and Ric as his direct sources for his great book.
On stage Ric has never played better or stronger, he is innovative, powerful,
and relaxed. Now that I know him in person I have modified my opinion of him, he
is somewhere between John Densmore, John Bonham, and Carl Palmer, all rolled
into one dynamic person. He is a loyal and dedicated supporter of the band, as
Densmore strong, powerful and centered as a Bonham (Bonzo) and as much a
perfectionist as Carl Palmer. What more could you ask for in a person or in a
drummer? (nothing)
The concert: Started
at ten o' clock sharp, the band and the audience were ready for each other. We
counted about thirty songs being played. One song ran directly into another, the
band was tight in playing but loose and relaxed on stage. All were happy to be
there, and it showed on all their faces, and in the music as well. We are at
great loss to give you all a blow by blow discription of this whole event, so
rather we will give you the overall feeling.
If it was announced to this band
they only had four hours to live, that is how they played on this night. They
all played their hearts out and, gave their all. You would have thought they
were playing to 50,000 fans instead of the 500 who attended with us.
Some of the
songs played were "Sunshine Of Your Love", "Going Down Slow",
"Before You Accuse Me", "When The House Is Rockin", "Going
To Chicago" and "Johnny B. Goode".
A thumping driving bass
solo by Leo and a ten minute outstanding drum solo from Ric.
Our review of the
songs is not the important thing, it is the star Carvin Jones . Carvin was born
and raised in Texas and now resides in Phoenix, Arizona. He earns respect the
hard way, he works for it, right from his soul. He is respected for his playing
and also as a great person from all who meet him. This man is likeable, loveable,
and has the most contagious smile that we have ever seen. As an ending to this
gig he plays two guitars at the same time, holding one in each hand.
From 7:30 on it
started, they all signed hundreds upon hundreds of autographs, on paper, on
record albums and on cd's. Ric signed one between songs on stage for a fan, and
with a smile. We had many questions and our heroes answered all of them. We also
took well over one hundred pictures with no problem from the band. The band didn't
hide between sets as most do behind closed doors, they were very visible, moved
around through the crowd and stopped, talked, signed, and were great to everyone.
News: Ric Lee and
Leo Lyons are both writing books. Ric told us that on the re-release of "Undead" are these added tracks - "Spoonful", "I Can't Keep From
Crying, Sometimes" and "Rock Me Baby".
Special
note: They played no TYA songs at this concert because it was Carvin Jones' night
to shine. But in the next six months TYA will return to Germany and the
"Blues Garage" and perform five TYA songs including "Love Like A
Man". Ric also said one blues set will be devoted to the music of Big Bill
Broonzy, an acoustic set at that. What a great concept!
We will of course be
there again and we would love to see as many fans there as possible.
Our special thanks
to: Ric, Leo, Chick, Carvin Jones, Will Toxell, Tony Tilotta (the professional
photographer), and Ramona and Henry Gellrich, the club managers - all of which
made our visit a happy and comfortable experience. Thanks to all of you.
Brigitte and
Dave
|
