Location: Vrba na Koroškem (Velden Am Wörthersee) / Bluesiana Rock Cafe / Austria
Concert date: 26.09.2014
Attendance: 200
Ticket price: €39.00 (advance) / €43.00 (day of show) / €33.00 (students, high schoolers, youth)
For all its variety, Bluesiana’s yearly concert program wouldn’t be complete without a Richie Kotzen show. In the past, Richie would stop by this cozy club, just a stone’s throw over our northern border in Austrian Carinthia, several times a year, but lately he graces the Velden »living room« with one gig annually. Last year he showed up with his girlfriend Julie Lage on bass for an acoustic set, and this year he plugged back in with his band. And of course, this year we also got to admire this seasoned musician right here in Slovenia, with The Winery Dogs in Laško at the Pivo in cvetje festival.
Richie Kotzen is one of the most prolific songwriters and performers of recent times. In 25 years of activity he’s put out 19 solo albums, and his musical résumé grows considerably once you add his work with other bands, the best known of which are Poison and Mr. Big. This September saw the release of his latest compilation, a double CD and DVD titled “The Essential Richie Kotzen” (RockLine review HERE).
This time a pretty big crowd came to Bluesiana from Slovenia, which suggests that this guitar virtuoso’s profile is slowly growing on this side of the Alps too. Maybe it’s high time some Slovenian promoter got brave and brought Kotzen and his band to play on this side of the border as well. But let that thought simmer until his next European tour.
By half past nine in the evening Bluesiana was already pretty packed, and that’s when the Swiss band The Konincks took the stage. They’ve been warming up the crowd on every date of Kotzen’s European tour this year. The Konincks got together in 2013 and this year released their first EP with four original songs. The three guys on instruments were completely overshadowed during the set by their vocalist Jules Herzog, who was the only one showing any energy on stage. Because of the other members’ stiffness, the show left a rather lukewarm impression, apart from that outstanding voice. In their trademark psychedelic blues style the band played their whole EP plus 2 extra songs, and left the stage after half an hour. Bluesiana crowds are generally kind to opening acts, so The Konincks got sent off with loud applause too.
As the openers left the stage, the crowd up front visibly thickened. Even though the stage was set up quickly, Richie Kotzen and the guys still kept us waiting quite a while. Finally we could hear Richie’s guitar being strummed backstage, already hooked up to the amp through a wireless system. But the guys were still nowhere to be seen. We had to wait a few more minutes before the guitar maestro with the breathtaking soul-blues voice, Richie Kotzen, emerged from behind the curtain with his band, made up of Mike Bennet on drums and Dylan Wilson on bass.
The guys immediately took their positions and got straight down to business with no unnecessary chatter. They kicked off the show with the new song War paint, which you can find on the new CD/DVD compilation The Essential. The setlist on the stage floor was a bit of a letdown at first glance, with a measly 13 songs, a few of them scribbled in at the end as maybes. But Kotzen never disappoints at his shows, and this time was no exception. Every solo instrumental spot was stretched into endless improvised verses, so each song on the setlist ran at least 3 minutes longer than its studio version on average. The fear that the show would be very short because of the modest setlist was totally unfounded.
After War paint the guys moved on to songs more familiar to the crowd, which they likewise stretched out with long jams in between. Richie only spoke for the first time at the 4th song on the setlist, when he said they’d play something brand new that we hadn’t heard yet, since it’ll be on his new solo album, which he’s already preparing material for. So they played Cannibals. They continued with another song from The Essential box, called Walk with me. Unfortunately, Kotzen’s Facebook request for the audience to sing the melody that Richie plays on the theremin on the studio recording didn’t work out at Bluesiana. But the atmosphere was at its peak anyway. The guys went on with Fear and Doing what the devil says to do. Everyone on stage seemed very focused on their playing, sometimes so deep in their instruments that they forgot to follow each other’s rhythm, but you can’t blame them for that. After an extended Peace sign, Richie left the stage for a few moments and the audience’s attention turned to Mike Bennet and Dylan Wilson. Both did short solo spots, and then Richie came back on stage. Mike called Richie over to sit behind the drums, and for a few minutes we got to enjoy Richie banging away on the kit while Mike danced around him and got the crowd clapping along to the beat. Without a break, Mike and Richie smoothly swapped places and Richie’s drum solo flowed into the song Help me. Richie took his place once again at the instrument he masters best – the guitar. With incredible ease and surgical precision, Richie’s fingers wander across the strings and coax out tones that are sometimes relaxingly soothing, sometimes wild, untamable and unsettling, and sometimes an unexpected mix of all of the above. You could feel all of this especially when Mike and Dylan left the stage to grab a fresh drink, while Richie, alone, or rather with the audience on backing vocals, sang and played What is. Then Mike and Dylan came back and together they played the last song of the main set, Fooled again, and after an extended ending the guys said a temporary goodbye. The packed Bluesiana of course demanded an encore. The guys were soon back and after an improvised intro Go faster rang out. At the end of the song Mike had already stood up from behind the drums, Dylan had put down his bass, and Richie announced they’d play one more. Mike and Dylan picked their gear back up and they played Hendrix’s All along the watchtower. After almost two hours of playing the trio finally took a bow and said goodbye, and we headed home too.
What can you say about yet another Kotzen night at Bluesiana? It’s a shame guitarists of Kotzen’s caliber don’t visit our country more often, and a stroke of luck that we’ve got a club like Bluesiana so close to the border, where owner Gudrun Kofler always makes sure good music is within our reach too. Next year we can most likely look forward to Richie’s new solo record and, of course, a new European tour.
Setlist
1. War Paint
2. Love is Blind
3. Bad Situation
4. Cannibals
5. Walk With Me
6. Fear
7. Doing What the Devil Says To Do
8. Peace Sign
9. Drum & Bass Solo
10. Help Me
11. What Is
12. Fooled Again
—encore—
13. Go Faster
14. All Along the Watchtower
Photo Gallery
