Venue: Bluesiana Rock Caffe / Velden am Woerthersee / Austria
Date: October 30, 2007
Attendance: 150
Ticket price: €26.00 (advance), €29.00 (day of show)
Velden’s Bluesiana, the Austrian mecca for incorrigible music enthusiasts who’ve been hidden away for far too long in countless rural corners of the tri-border region, keeps gaining status as the go-to alternative for every music lover at the foot of the Alps who’s getting more and more sick of burning their hard-won free time on mindless slogging around Ljubljana’s pseudo-rocker dives. This tiny but oh-so-friendly venue isn’t skimping on eminent musical events this fall, and in October, for the first time in ages, the place shook with the unpredictable vibrations of traditional blues, too. And in keeping with good old Slavic tradition, the hot October finally turned red with the arrival of the generous guitar virtuoso Richie Kotzen, yet another in a long line of music giants who’ve left an indelible mark on this friendly little lakeside town.
Richie Kotzen is a guitar legend, and I could say without much hesitation that he’s one of the few guitar heroes of the eighties glam rock school who are still alive, or at least still intensely active today. A real anomaly in the make-up-slathered, tastelessly overblown extravagance of the long-forgotten American rocker scene, his musical diversity is miles away from the proverbial narrow-mindedness of the masquerade parade mentioned above. Sure, most of us mere mortals will forever link the name Richie Kotzen with the tight corsets and hairdos standing at attention of the legendary glam rockers Poison, but you really have to watch your step with that kind of stigma when it comes to the guitarist’s musical image. After all, Richie is one of the few who was saved from the raging, bloodthirsty whirlpool of the apocalyptic ending of the fairy tale of happy rockers by a rich harvest of individuality, charisma and, above all, balls (and Richie drew attention to how hard those balls work with his successful or not, depending on your point of view, inseminating of Rockett’s fiancée)! Anyway, Kotzen took the gifts of free musical expression served up from heaven with open arms and, in his own style, pushed them to the limit: sixteen excellent albums, collaborations lining up as if on an assembly line with some of the most eminent names in music like Stanley Clarke and Greg Howe, and above all devil-sent blues rock that, apart from maybe a shade too much enthusiasm for narrow-minded testing of how fast the guitarist’s fingers can fly, you honestly can’t fault.
Kotzen’s musical language is a mix of sharp, gritty blues elements, often enriched with colorful funk-tinged rhythms, over which an extremely tasteful vocal delivery reigned all night long. To be honest, I never expected such a confident stride between soul- and blues-inspired vocal lines, not even in my dreams. Richie didn’t waste any words. On Bluesiana’s little stage he exploded with the charge of a self-assured teenager, which should undoubtedly be read as the result of growing up musically in the golden age of MTV-style indoctrination. In total contrast to the views of the latter, Kotzen’s message remains an original, unadulterated bluesy agitation, where the odd sprinkling of assorted slips only does the spontaneity of the whole evening good. Richie lit the fuse for us with the cutting Go Faster, the opening track of his latest self-titled album, followed by a bunch of Into The Black-oriented numbers, which made the mileage this great guitarist has covered more and more obvious. Although I’m not quite sure what was going through Richie’s head while he demonstrated all sorts of gymnastic moves, the intensity of his emotional grip stayed astounding. As the night went on, the exceptional form of our enthusiastic youngster became ever more obvious, as, backed by the tight and direct rhythm section of Johnny and Pat, he stormed through Sacred Ground, Living In Bliss and the rough-hewn Doin What The Devil briskly and with unbelievable ease. Surprises were correspondingly few, maybe only Shapes Of Things (a boldly executed Yardbirds classic) and the treat of the night, Stand, the biggest Native Tongue triumph, both delivered with just the right dose of heart and self-belief, the two essential elements of Richie Kotzen’s music, which today sounds more dominant than ever. A fact that, after what I saw, isn’t surprising at all.
Words: Daniel Pavlica
Photos: Aleš Podbrežnik
Setlist
1.Go Faster 2.Misunderstood 3.Fear 4.The Shadow 5.Doin’ What The Devil Says To Do 6.Till You Put Me Down 7.Sacred Ground 8.Your Lies 9.Living In Bliss 10.Shapes Of Things 11.You Can’t Save Me 12.Stand 13.My Angel 14.Reach Out I’ll Be There
Photo Gallery
