Location: Wiesen, Austria
Concert date: 15.07.2007
Attendance: 4000
Ticket price: 49 euros
If you haven’t had your fill of this summer’s festival action yet, then chances are you were spotted last weekend bouncing around energetically in eastern Austria, more precisely in the little town of Wiesen, some sixty kilometers from Vienna. Ever since the start of summer, a one-of-a-kind music spectacle has been running there, serving up plenty of good stuff to party-hungry folks. On Friday, for example, the old-school crowd was entertained by rock veteran Joe Cocker, while Saturday night’s heat was taken care of by Roger Hodgson and good old CCR man John Fogerty. Both of them, each in their own style, kicked our feverish bodies into gear (with John, of course, leading the charge on that front), and in my eyes added one more unforgettable night to this year’s scorching summer.
ROGER HODGSON 19:15 – 20:25
Warming up the atmosphere with the legendary “Supertramp guy” Roger Hodgson is going to strike plenty of people as one of the odder organizational moves, especially if you picture all the racket and Yankee patriotism that followed an hour and a half later, accompanied by a selfless spray of intense ham & eggs aroma, after this interesting demonstration of modest singer-songwriter humility. Anyway, besides admiring all the undeniable performing qualities the man nurtures like a proud father, Roger’s set deserves special attention mostly for its convincing, confident presence, which is built entirely, believe it or not, on just three instruments. Dead boring? Not a chance! In his hour-and-a-half show, good old Roger kept up a strong bond with the audience, who obediently ate out of his hand the whole time. Every Hodgson creation, famous or less so, was met without exception with “singalong” approval from young and old alike, gathered in a fuzzy formation beneath the stage of the Wiesen tent.
I have to admit that my heat-worn but still, of course, comely little body got a real little shock when I realized that a pile of brass, six to twelve stringed instruments, a piano and a synthesizer were all meant for one single person. Hodgson, visibly oblivious to this discomfort of mine, carefully approached the microphone with a guitar in hand around a quarter to eight, greeted us nicely, and without hesitation served up a splendid Take The Long Way Home. Tempers hadn’t even settled yet when Give A Little Bit, beautifully fleshed out with winds thanks to young McDonald, claimed its space, followed boldly by Lovers In The Wind and another Supertramp gem, Hide In Your Shell, which Roger, if his words are to be believed, unlike in days past, now plays with pleasure these days! Interesting, no? “Let’s try this one”, were his next proudly spoken words, triumphantly announcing the arrival of The Logical Song. I don’t think I need to describe in detail the delirium that immediately gripped our northern neighbors here, but Uncle Hodgson certainly won with that very Supertramp classic (accompanied by piano alone!). From there on, the man’s evening only went steeply upward. Lord Is It Mine?, Dreamer, It’s Raining Again, the emotional Don’t Leave Me Now and the other indispensable gems no doubt profited most from the roaring reception of that superbly performed predecessor. The closest Hodgson gets to matching its impact is the dreamy Breakfast In America, yet another emotional peak of this astonishing demonstration of simple but strong-charactered musical interplay, which delighted everyone present. Highly recommended!
JOHN FOGERTY 21:00 – 22:30
John Fogerty’s set, the former Creedence Clearwater Revival member and the only one of the four who successfully carried on a solo career after the band broke up, started right at 9 p.m. as announced, and I was also thoroughly delighted by the appearance of one of the best drummers of our time – Kenny Aronoff. Through a hazy curtain of fog, John Fogerty appeared to the opening sounds of Travellin’ Band, bouncing and dancing around the stage in a springy stride through the entire show. As is typical for him, he swapped guitars for every song at this gig too, and also showed off his harmonica skills. For the other instruments (drums, keyboards, saxophone, bass, etc.) with which he recorded the 1985 album Centerfield all by himself, there sadly wasn’t time. He carried on with
Green River, Who’ll Stop The Rain, It Came Out Of The Sky, Born On The Bayou, Lookin Out My Back Door, Cotton Fields, in short all the songs that marked the lifespan of CCR.
Next came the ballad I Will Walk With You, which John claims means the most to him and which he wrote for his daughter Laurie. With Ramble Tamble and Midnight Special he only cranked the mood up further. Despite the rain-colored days on John’s European tour, the day of the concert brought us sunny weather with temperatures above 35°C. Naturally, Have You Ever Seen The Rain followed, roaring out of a thousand throats under the Wiesen tent. After that we heard a song from the new album Revival called Summer Of Love, which in structure, guitar sound similarity and the plot of the song itself is quite like Sunshine Of Your Love by Cream. John, did you go borrowing other people’s ideas?
The show went on with Keep On Chooglin’, Down On The Corner, Good Golly Miss Molly, Old Man Down The Road, all of them excellently performed, as was everything else. Besides Kenny Aronoff, John was surrounded by excellent musicians, and for the next songs he allowed himself a bit of promoting his own blood, inviting his two grandsons on stage, who helped him out on guitars with Bad Moon Rising, after which John said his farewell with Fortunate Son, which marked the official end of his set. Of course that was nowhere near enough to satisfy the craving for CCR songs and for John’s unique voice, so, to roaring ovations from the crowd, he was obliged to step onto the Wiesen stage one last time, from where he finally bid farewell with Rocking All Over and the immortal Proud Mary.
Text for intro and Roger Hodgson: Daniel Pavlica
Text for John Fogerty: Peter Strnad
Photography: Daniel Pavlica
Setlist
Roger Hodgson: 1.Take The Long Way Home 2.Give A Litle Bit 3.Lovers In The Wind 4.Hide In Your Shell 5.Oh Brother 6.The Logical Song 7.Easy Does It 8.Along Came Mary 9.Breakfast In America 10.Lord, Is It Mine? 11.Child Of Vision 12.Don’t Leave Me Now 13.Dreamer 14.It’s Raining Again John Fogerty: 1.Travellin’ Band 2.Green River 3.Who’ll Stop The Rain 4.It Came Out Of The Sky 5.Born On The Bayou 6.Lookin Out My Back Door 7.Cotton Fields 8.I Will Walk With You 9.Ramble Tamble 10.Midnight Special 11.Have You Ever Seen The Rain 12.Summer Of Love 13.Keep On Chooglin’ 14.Down On The Corner 15.Good Golly Miss Molly 16.Old Man Down The Road 17.Bad Moon Rising 18.Fortunate Son 19.Rocking All Over 20.Proud Mary
Photo Gallery
