Location: St. Veit an der Glan / Austria
Concert date: 03.07.2009
Attendance: 400
Ticket price: 38 €
Much like the obsessive state of heightened sexual activity of the average SDS voter, once a year the time comes for a quick hop over the Ljubelj pass, specifically into the sleepy embrace of St. Veit, where for the tenth year running the Burgkultur St. Veit society puts on a colorful festival program (in the words of the official bulletin, “events at a high artistic level”). Besides the traditional lineup of classical and jazz evenings, meant for the needs of the more cultivated crowd of music consumers, this time St. Veit was also haunted by the morally less accessible apparition of Eric Burdon, backed by the latest reincarnation of The Animals, which sadly failed to live up to the greatness of the name.
So what went wrong? First off, it has to be said that Eric, as the founding member of the outfit he started way back in 1962, has every right to handle its legacy, and the use of the legendary band’s name is left solely up to him. Undoubtedly with good reason! Who would even dare question Eric’s judgment? Probably that’s also why my first look at the stage (I mean the curious scouting of the terrain, which for every devout music addict is basically a mandatory ritual before any long-awaited gig) promised much more than the musical tinkering that was served up later, delivered with predictable sterility and a whiff of monotony. The band, stoically lined up at first glance, clearly wanted to stand out mainly thanks to auntie Georgia Ntagaki, whose oriental-sounding approximation of a violin promised an exotic sonic aftertaste. All that enthusiasm was in vain, and the young lady, in her own way, ended up the biggest letdown of the whole evening. Despite all her prettiness, the gal simply lacked convincing musical outbursts, though it’s true that her heavily trimmed room to maneuver didn’t do her any special favors. Still, that wasn’t the night’s only minus. Looking at the whole picture, too, the performance of the instrumentally colorful backing band of the legendary “animal” won, if we’re being completely honest, an unenviably small amount of sympathy. The lukewarmness of the five-piece’s approach was obvious, and the lack of emotional input was downright inexcusable, especially when we were forced to soak up keyboardist Red Young’s overcooked keyboard runs. From the flood of the gentleman’s fast-fingered maneuvers, technically flawless but all the more impoverished in terms of motifs, it was practically impossible to extract anything overly exciting. A similar problem plagued guitar juggler Billy Watts, whose moves felt all too much like makeshift putty for the rare, forcibly conceived instrumental-melodic dialogues. The chilly vibe on stage could hardly give rise to any energetic action for Eric Burdon’s magnificent vocal delivery to feed on
The story with Eric Burdon himself, luckily and to great relief, is a completely different one. At first glance Eric does look like a wizened old avocado with a stylishly provocative toupee, but the little old fella still has a formidable vocal caliber, one that in places does hint at some barely noticeable rust. Despite the years, his voice holds exceptional power and charisma. He’s still defined by turbulent emotional currents and, of course, an inexhaustible love of the blues, a genre that has been inseparably tied to Eric Burdon for the last 45 years. Eric’s vocal lines stretch out for entirely natural reasons, without rote-learned, or rather heartlessly drilled, excursions, in an old-school style of intuitive guidance. The higher registers gave Eric no major trouble all night, and the energy with which the old guy tackled a dozen career highlights was especially thrilling. His repertoire was, as expected, hit-oriented, with the Animals classics up front, whose monolithic status Burdon fearlessly smashed up by serving fresh, arrangement-packed takes. Eric stood up to the hackneyed nature of these evergreens with inventive sonic adaptations that borrowed from all sorts of often unexpected genre landscapes. Don’t Let Me Be Misunderstood, for instance, showed up dressed in a laid-back reggae rhythm that blended surprisingly smoothly with the raggedness of Eric’s voice. Understandably, the most emotional sparks came from House Of The Rising Sun, which, alongside It’s My Life and We Gotta Get Out Of This Place, predictably drew the peak of roaring shouts and harmonious singing from the crowd. See See Rider and a fairly restrained take on Hooker’s classic Boom Boom gave the gathered masses another excuse to show off their modest dance moves, and its extremely cautious performance obligingly nodded to the accessibility of San Franciscan Nights and When I Was Young.
Even though the good hour and a half with the legendary musician flew by too fast, and the repertoire had its share of songs deliberately stretched out with not-so-convincing instrumental interludes (at the expense of which room was shamelessly sacrificed for the shine of other Animals gems like Bring It On Home), I can say without a doubt that catching an Eric Burdon show in every respect goes beyond the duty of paying your respects to a legendary musician’s status, because Eric’s stage presence still thrills with its vitality, its charisma, and the sheer conviction of the performance itself. The experience with Eric Burdon thus belongs to that category of special musical moments that leave a lasting mark deep in the listener’s soul.
Photos: Mojca Perdih
Setlist
1. When I Was Young 2. Don’t Bring Me Down 3. San Franciscan Nights 4. The Night 5. Don’t Let Me Be Misunderstood 6. I Believe To My Soul 7. Boom Boom 8. See See Rider 9. Fourty Four 10. House Of The Rising Sun 11. We Gotta Get Out Of This Place —encore— 12. I’m Crying 13. Sky Pilot/It’s My Life
Photo Gallery
