Photos: Aleš Podbrežnik
Location: Bluesiana / Velden am Woerthersee / Austria
Concert date: 05/23/2009
Attendance: 20
Ticket price: €30.00
Kee Marcello is the guy who, twenty-three years ago, rather unexpectedly landed the guitarist gig in what was then the biggest rock act on the planet, Europe. The album The final countdown, recorded by Norum, who then quit the band, disappointed by the overly polished production, took over every chart without breaking a sweat, and Kee and Tempest happily headed off on a world tour to skim the cream. Two more albums followed, Out of this world, which many consider the best Europe album, and Prisoners in paradise, and then the Swedish phenomenon fizzled out along with most of the other bands of its kind from the eighties. Kee stashed away the (in all likelihood) hefty sum he’d earned over five years of touring the world, and then slid into involuntary anonymity.
Bluesiana was strangely empty that night, something The Lorean, the Italian support act touring with Marcello, complained about, but the guys didn’t give any less on stage because of it. After forty-five minutes of easygoing but far from lousy rock, Kee took the stage with his bassist and drummer and, with a handful of tracks from his solo projects, thoroughly delighted a good dozen fans down front. If it’s sad on the one hand that a musician of his caliber and reputation has to play for a handful of people, it’s also true that gigs like this are always something special thanks to the intimate vibe. So we got to marvel up close at the masterful solos that grace Ready or not and Just the beginning from the album Out of this world, and we also heard the anthem Rock the night, which dates back to the Norum era.
Marcello is an incredibly fluid guitarist. Despite relatively small hands and the fact that he hardly uses his pinky in his solo escapades, his skill and speed are at an enviable level. Another thing in his favor is that he doesn’t limit himself to a single technique (like plenty of other self-proclaimed virtuosos do), but effectively blends everything from classic sweeps to sophisticated tapping and fast picking in his phrases. He floored us with that last one in the encore, with a dazzling take on Flight of the Bumblebee (or Il volo del calabrone, as his backing band would put it), written a good century earlier by the Russian composer Rimsky-Korsakov. Back in the eighties, Marcello often used that piece to entertain packed stadiums, back when Tempest, as was the custom at the time, took a few minutes for the female fans backstage. But of course, Marcello’s greatest asset isn’t technique, it’s his unmatched feel for a musical phrase. The last song of the night, the epic Superstitious, confirmed that once again, boasting one of the most beautiful solos in rock history. We probably wouldn’t be exaggerating if we called this little slice of perfection, Plato-style, the musical definition of beauty, since every note is exactly where it belongs, and the technically demanding parts weave together with the melodic ones into a harmonious and pleasant whole. Fast fingers can’t replace substance, then, they can only complement it effectively in the right places. Kee clearly learned that lesson back in 1988.
After the show, the Rockline crew met up with Marcello backstage, where the Swede from Gothenburg, after the obligatory photo session, pulled a few more tricks out of his sleeve and said that, given a proper invitation, he’d gladly stop by on the sunny side of the Alps too. His show would undoubtedly be a great fit for the home capital and would carry on the promising season of guitar concerts kicked off by the recent gigs from Paul Gilbert and Richie Kotzen.
Photos: Aleš Podbrežnik
Setlist
1. Get On Top 2. Enemies 3. Raptor 4. Evil Ways 5. Falling Apart 6. Ready Or Not 7. Just The Beginning 8. Coming Home 9. Midnight Sun Mojo 10. Drum solo 11. Bass solo 12. Rock The Night —encore— 13. Mind In The Gutter 14. Bumble Kee 15. Superstitious
Photo gallery
