Bob Walkenhorst, March 5, 2005 (part 2)
Well, even though I already posted a few comments in the "Sat. March 5 - pub crawl" thread, I'll start a new thread here for posting pictures and making a bit more comments.
Whoever has read what I wrote there should probably thank Ernie for his post. Replying to his post gave me some organization to what I wrote just after arriving home after the show. Otherwise you all would have gotten something along the lines of me repeatedly saying "wow".
Seeing and hearing Bob play drums was so cool. Okay, so, this isn't actually the first time. But, first, this time it was a full drum set. Plus, this time nothing else was different (er, on stage, anyway). When Mike Bliss was there, well, Mike Bliss got a lot of my attention and Bob over playing drums not as much, though I did notice and appreciate his drum playing. And at the Christmas show when they were doing the lounge jazz trio thing on some of the Christmas songs, I was too busy being astonished by Jeff's piano playing to pay any mind at all to Bob's drum playing. This time, all my attention was on Bob. :)
Okay, maybe not all. I did notice some quite nice bass playing from Gary. He's an excellent bass player.
But mostly I was watching and listening to Bob's drum playing.
Story time. I didn't used to pay any mind to drumming. Except for those occasions when my subconscious took to analyzing the drums (and drum machines) on Don Henley's Building The Perfect Beast But Pat Tomek's drumming caught my attention. (On the other hand, Bob's drums on his solo album didn't. At least they hadn't yet then.) Then I got a copy of Balls. My impression of Bob's drumming having been formed from the two live Steve Bob and Rich videos on the video anthology, I was expecting to not like hearing what is essentially Rainmakers music, but with Bob rather than Pat on drums. So, I was pleasantly surprised to listen to it and discover I couldn't tell the difference on the drums. Heck, just today, after hearing and watching Bob play drums last night, I was listening to the latter half of Balls and noticing the drums and having to remind myself "that's not Pat, that's Bob".
They aren't the same, and I'd certainly say Pat's a better drummer, but Bob's a pretty darn good drummer too, and there is something similiar in the feel of Pat's drum playing and Bob's drum playing.
So, I suppose I'd say that, as far as liking Bob's drum playing, it's not that he's a great drummer. It's that he is a good drummer, and I like his style.
Anyway, it was way cool hearing and seeing Bob on drums.
Okay, now some actual comments on the show.
John Northern opened. He was good as always. Lots of rugby players there while he was playing. At least two of them commented positively to me. Also, they didn't realize that he was an opening act, it seems.
Most of the Rugby players didn't hang around to hear Bob, Gary, and Jeff. Though a few did.
They started off with Bob, Gary, and Jeff on their usual instruments, playing minus the drums. Bob said this was the mellow part of the show (or something like that). They did in there do one song with Jeff on drums.
Somewhere in there, I noticed a really nice Jeff guitar part. Not a mere good guitar park. A make Ellen swoon guitar part. Or maybe swoon isn't quite the right word, but something like that.
Then, right about 10:30, the pub crawl arrived at Molloy's. (And stayed till midnight.) At this point they switched stuff around and Bob played drums for the rest of the night, singing while playing. Now, seeing a guy singing and playing drums isn't a novelty for me. I've been to quite a few Nace Brothers shows in the past year or so. Seen Night Ranger several times over the past few years. Yet, somehow, seeing/hearing Bob do it, it seemed odd. Though less odd as the evening moved along.
Lots of people. And, okay, the Elders shows get pretty darn crowded, so it's not like seeing Molloy's jam packed with people is a novelty. But this was a distinctly different crowd. Okay, that's an understatement. The same comparison goes for comparing to a regular Bob show. There's a distinction between people who are there to see a particular performer or band, and people who are there to party, have no clue who the band is, and are ready to have a good time. Bob and band kept them entertained.
I remember there was one cover tune they did that got quite a lot of cheers when they started it. I forget which one, unfortunately. But I remember wondering why that song in particular.
They played quite a few covers in that later part of the show. Though a bunch of originals too. It got heavier in covers later in the show. Nothing unusual for a Bob show, there. And nothing unusual in the choice of covers. I haven't seen them do that many covers at a weekend show previously before, though. Appropriate, I think, to throw in some good, fun, covers for the pub crawlers.
View the photo album to see more pictures.
Posted originally on the Rainmakers Message Board.
Whoever has read what I wrote there should probably thank Ernie for his post. Replying to his post gave me some organization to what I wrote just after arriving home after the show. Otherwise you all would have gotten something along the lines of me repeatedly saying "wow".
Seeing and hearing Bob play drums was so cool. Okay, so, this isn't actually the first time. But, first, this time it was a full drum set. Plus, this time nothing else was different (er, on stage, anyway). When Mike Bliss was there, well, Mike Bliss got a lot of my attention and Bob over playing drums not as much, though I did notice and appreciate his drum playing. And at the Christmas show when they were doing the lounge jazz trio thing on some of the Christmas songs, I was too busy being astonished by Jeff's piano playing to pay any mind at all to Bob's drum playing. This time, all my attention was on Bob. :)
Okay, maybe not all. I did notice some quite nice bass playing from Gary. He's an excellent bass player.
But mostly I was watching and listening to Bob's drum playing.
Story time. I didn't used to pay any mind to drumming. Except for those occasions when my subconscious took to analyzing the drums (and drum machines) on Don Henley's Building The Perfect Beast But Pat Tomek's drumming caught my attention. (On the other hand, Bob's drums on his solo album didn't. At least they hadn't yet then.) Then I got a copy of Balls. My impression of Bob's drumming having been formed from the two live Steve Bob and Rich videos on the video anthology, I was expecting to not like hearing what is essentially Rainmakers music, but with Bob rather than Pat on drums. So, I was pleasantly surprised to listen to it and discover I couldn't tell the difference on the drums. Heck, just today, after hearing and watching Bob play drums last night, I was listening to the latter half of Balls and noticing the drums and having to remind myself "that's not Pat, that's Bob".
They aren't the same, and I'd certainly say Pat's a better drummer, but Bob's a pretty darn good drummer too, and there is something similiar in the feel of Pat's drum playing and Bob's drum playing.
So, I suppose I'd say that, as far as liking Bob's drum playing, it's not that he's a great drummer. It's that he is a good drummer, and I like his style.
Anyway, it was way cool hearing and seeing Bob on drums.
Okay, now some actual comments on the show.
John Northern opened. He was good as always. Lots of rugby players there while he was playing. At least two of them commented positively to me. Also, they didn't realize that he was an opening act, it seems.
Most of the Rugby players didn't hang around to hear Bob, Gary, and Jeff. Though a few did.
They started off with Bob, Gary, and Jeff on their usual instruments, playing minus the drums. Bob said this was the mellow part of the show (or something like that). They did in there do one song with Jeff on drums.
Somewhere in there, I noticed a really nice Jeff guitar part. Not a mere good guitar park. A make Ellen swoon guitar part. Or maybe swoon isn't quite the right word, but something like that.
Then, right about 10:30, the pub crawl arrived at Molloy's. (And stayed till midnight.) At this point they switched stuff around and Bob played drums for the rest of the night, singing while playing. Now, seeing a guy singing and playing drums isn't a novelty for me. I've been to quite a few Nace Brothers shows in the past year or so. Seen Night Ranger several times over the past few years. Yet, somehow, seeing/hearing Bob do it, it seemed odd. Though less odd as the evening moved along.
Lots of people. And, okay, the Elders shows get pretty darn crowded, so it's not like seeing Molloy's jam packed with people is a novelty. But this was a distinctly different crowd. Okay, that's an understatement. The same comparison goes for comparing to a regular Bob show. There's a distinction between people who are there to see a particular performer or band, and people who are there to party, have no clue who the band is, and are ready to have a good time. Bob and band kept them entertained.
I remember there was one cover tune they did that got quite a lot of cheers when they started it. I forget which one, unfortunately. But I remember wondering why that song in particular.
They played quite a few covers in that later part of the show. Though a bunch of originals too. It got heavier in covers later in the show. Nothing unusual for a Bob show, there. And nothing unusual in the choice of covers. I haven't seen them do that many covers at a weekend show previously before, though. Appropriate, I think, to throw in some good, fun, covers for the pub crawlers.
View the photo album to see more pictures.
Posted originally on the Rainmakers Message Board.
posted by Ellen Kozisek at 10:47 PM
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