By Moose

By the time we wander down the stairs into the old cargo hold that's now the main stage and bar at the Thekla, a fair old crowd had pitched up, and when I say old I'm not kidding!!! I'm normally the one left thinking I'm the oldest punter that's pitched up for a night of live music, but not tonight - I'm one of the youngest there!!!! Not sure how close to sold out tonight was, but it can't have been too far off. There were probably three times the number of punters that turned up to see Schenker a while ago……...

Trower is an old bugger now as well. He has the same selection of facial expressions and grimaces that you may be familiar with, it's just the face he's making 'em with hasn't faired quite so well. It's kinda like your old uncle or grandfather has pitched up to show us what he can do with this old Fender guitar he's had under his bed for thirty years…....

Actually, it's a rather new looking red 70's style re-issue Strat that he hauls up onto stage, but his back-line is very old school, with a couple of what look like boutique valve amps driving a couple of retro-looking 2x12's, plus the obligatory Marshall 4x12 for good measure as well. From where I'm standing he plays friggin' loud on stage too - another clue to his old-school background.

The band are old too, but by god are they tight! They thump out a selection of heavy blues-based workouts, a couple of which are apparently drawn from Trowers first solo release from way back when. Drums snap along with a solid groove, while the bass player finger-styles his way through the set with a rich bottom end from what looks like an interesting/newer bass rig - 6x10 cab and everything. He has an odd looking bass too - early Fender style neck with the Tele type headstock, but a slightly different take on a Precision bass in the body department.

The vocalist reminds me occasionally of the singer that Ronnie Montrose recruited for the Gamma project he put together after Montrose knocked it on the head, but I've no idea if he's the same guy. Either way, he holds down the vocals in fine style.

But it's Trowers sound and unique approach to the guitar that's obviously the main focus. He spends 90% of the set using the neck pickup of his Strat, and only switches to one of the "middle" settings for a couple of the solo's or more intricate quieter parts. How many rock guitarists do you know that don't ever use the bridge pickup?? He also has a set of Fulltone effects that he uses throughout to get his tone, including a swooshy roto-vibe thing that's very distinctive, a bottom end boost to fatten up his already fat bottom-endy sound and a one off prototype overdrive thing. He also kicks in a wah-wah on some of the solo's, almost all of which are played with some complex double-stops or sweeping almost-chords - the guy rarely plays single note runs or licks, even in his most animated of solo moments.

So, I didn't know a single song played all night and it wasn't really "metal" enough for my personal tastes, but it was still a good night. The Hendrix comparisons are probably right, but he has his own particular twist to both sound and style. If you're a fan of old school guitar playing he's well worth checking out if he happens to come back to Bristol anytime soon.