Location: Vrba na Koroškem (Velden Am Wörthersee) / Bluesiana Rock Cafe / Austria
Concert date: April 15, 2013
Attendance: 170
Ticket price: €36.00 (reserved) / €39.00 (day of show) / €29.00 (students)
It’s been quite a while since Sardinas last visited Bluesiana. He used to be a regular at this Austrian club, even dropping by several times a year, but in 2012, on his world travels, he literally forgot to stop in this charming corner of Carinthia, so the last time we saw him was November 2011. A break that long naturally promised an even more fiery show, and once again those of us at Bluesiana were not disappointed.
So much has already been said and written about Bluesiana that it’s a shame to waste words on it again – you simply have to visit, see it and experience it. The same goes for an Eric Sardinas concert. No recording, whether audio or video, can replace the feelings this big black American coaxes out of the crowd together with his friend, the »Dobro« guitar.
Eric Sardinas started strumming strings at the age of six. Although he’s left-handed, he learned to play guitar right-handed, which certainly wasn’t an easy task, but that’s probably exactly what added some special sparks to his playing. Even as a kid he looked up to the legends of blues and r’n’b, and he has stayed true to those sounds throughout his whole career. He’s best known as the king of the resonator (slide) guitar, which gives his songs that distinctive edge.
The club filled up slowly but steadily. People looked curiously around at the gear set up on stage and eagerly snapped photos of one of the resonator guitars. Anyone who came to check out the effects the great master might use was surely let down – Eric only occasionally uses a wah-wah pedal in his guitar adventures. But with a metal slide on his pinky and his own picking style, he’s able to pull the most unusual sounds and tones out of his Dobro.
At half past nine we finally got Eric’s entrance on stage. Wearing a cowboy hat, of course. And, most importantly, with a guitar around his neck. Eric is not a man of many words – he has always and everywhere put music first. This time too, after a modest greeting, he went straight to scratching at his strings. After an opening noodle, which Sardinas also used to get all his strings fully tuned, he was joined on their instruments by the other two members of Big Motor – the indispensable Lavelle Price on bass and newcomer Bryan Keeling on drums. And so it kicked off with Worried mind blues. The crowd immediately switched to moving to the rhythm, and Eric egged them on with his dancing around the stage. Without a break the song flowed into the next one – Flames of love. The bounce carried on, Eric took over the stage and moved around with his guitar so much that it was hard to keep up with him. The air heated up fast and sweat was running off Sardinas’ hands in streams. Soon it wasn’t just his hands that were wet, but his whole body and hair. But that neither stopped nor slowed him down. Full of energy, he carried on with the lively I can’t be satisfied, which the crowd joined with jumping and clapping. Eric’s fingers deftly worked the strings, while his strong left hand seriously bent the taut metal in every direction. Price and Keeling, backing him up, didn’t lag behind their matador either, though he made sure everybody knew he had taken over the arena with his slick solo bits. And with the crowd at the peak of euphoria, it was of course time for the indispensable Get down to whiskey, which the audience spiced up with their singing along. For a while Eric used his facial expressions to urge the listeners to sing loudly, then a moment later he closed his eyes again and sank into his playing, so that for quite some time he didn’t notice a guest who took pity on him, brought him a glass of whiskey from the bar and held it right under his nose. When Eric finally came to, he took the glass, sniffed it, recognized it like a connoisseur – Jack Daniel’s – thanked the selfless guest, downed the whiskey in one gulp and kept playing and singing without missing a beat. After big applause, Eric did decide to calm the scene down a bit: he unplugged the guitar, aimed a microphone at it, and sang past it in his trademark way, slightly hunched over, stomping the floor with his heavy cowboy boots. Price and Keeling used the break for some refreshment, but their break didn’t last long, because things got lively again with All I need. Eric showed his great fondness for his best friend, the guitar, to the audience too, when he turned the tuning pegs mid-song, apologized loudly to the guitar with »I’m sorry, baby«, lifted it up to his face and kissed it, then played on without any hesitation. After that he let his guitar and his fast fingers rest and gave Price and Keeling the chance to show off their talent in solo spots. The crowd definitely didn’t stay indifferent to their playing either. When Eric came back on stage he unplugged the guitar again and sang past the microphone, and all three carried on with the lively Full tilt mama, getting the crowd dancing again. Next came It’s nothing new, and the regular set closed with the staple Texola. As sparing with words as he’d been all night, Eric thanked the crowd, said he likes coming back here and that the blues is at home in Bluesiana, thanked the hostess Gudrun and said goodnight. But of course not for long – the crowd soon lured him back with loud clapping, shouting and whistling. They played Treat me right and Behind the 8, and then the bouncy blues night was finally over.
The show, which ran a good hour and a half, surely couldn’t leave anyone indifferent. The way Eric Sardinas plays and pours experiences straight from the depths of his heart is something truly unique, and his facial expressions and movement while playing only deepen the already powerful message of the lyrics. Theatrical. Heartfelt. Unforgettable. And of course worth seeing again.
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