Location: Velden Am Woerthersee (Vrba na Koroškem) / Bluesiana Rock Cafe / Austria
Concert date: March 17, 2012
Attendance: 200
Ticket price: €36.00 (advance) / €39.00 (day of show)
After a good year away, Richie Kotzen has headed out on another European tour. In mid-November 2011, this guitar giant with the unmistakable velvety voice released a new studio album called »24 Hours« – RockLine review HERE – and it was only a matter of time before we’d get to see and hear it on stage. And where better to catch a Kotzen show than at the good old Bluesiana on the gorgeous Lake Wörthersee in Austria?
Richie has said more than once that, thanks to all the touring, hotel rooms feel almost more like home to him than his actual home, but this time he hit Europe in a big tour bus with living quarters. The wider public got a tour of it through the video blogs Kotzen has been posting on his YouTube channel all year long, throughout the whole European tour (around 50 so far). So when we pulled up, the huge white bus was already parked in front of Bluesiana a little before eight in the evening, and we parked next to the club too. There’s no point showing up at Bluesiana before eight, because the doorman doesn’t let anyone in before then. Around eight, a pretty sizable crowd had gathered outside, and once the doors opened, the great club, decked out with new photos of Richie Kotzen, filled up fast. Warming up the stage this time were the support act for Kotzen’s entire European run, the Luxembourg band Porn Queen. They describe themselves as playing real rock ‘n’ roll and hard rock, but the moment they got on stage at Bluesiana they sat down on bar stools set up for them in advance and eased into their set pretty mellow. Later in the bar the guitarist told us they’d been told that the Bluesiana crowd prefers calmer rhythms and a not-too-heavy sound, so they played tonight’s show without distortion. The Bluesiana crowd welcomed them nicely, though, so shortly after the start the singer told the guitarist and bassist to just get up already. Even once everyone was standing there wasn’t much stage energy, but there wasn’t much they could do about it anyway, since Bluesiana’s tiny stage was literally jammed with instruments and gear. They certainly didn’t take the crowd to any ecstasies or higher states, as the band’s name might suggest. They ran through a handful of originals and a few covers and wrapped up their part of the show after a good half hour.
Then came the chaotic clearing and setting up of the stage for the Kotzen crew. Anyone who has ever been to the extremely hospitable Bluesiana when it’s packed to the last corner knows that this was by no means an easy job. But the seasoned roadies, with a hand from the Porn Queen guys, sorted it out pretty quickly, and once only the Kotzen band’s gear was left on stage, the great Richie himself soon strode out. This time in a hat and with a scruffy face, he gave the roaring crowd a quick hello and opened the show with Bad Situation. His fingers flew wildly over the strings during the solos, and Richie showed that he still commands his instrument down to the last detail, just like his softly soul-tinged voice. Keeping him company on stage were the wild, young, high-energy drummer Mike Bennett, already familiar to Bluesiana regulars, and newcomer Dylan Wilson on bass. A pleasant and welcome surprise: both of them also joined Kotzen on backing vocals throughout the whole show.
Kotzen continued with three more songs from the new CD, then played Player, which we’d already half-heard live in one of those video blogs I mentioned. Next came Fooled Again, a staple of his shows, and then, to the surprise of most of the crowd, a whole block of songs from the album »Into the Black« (2006), including quite a few that haven’t been played live on recent tours. A nice change of pace for those of us who follow Richie around Europe a lot and would love to hear something besides the endlessly repeated Remember, High, Stand,… The »Into the Black« block was interrupted only by Peace Sign from the album of the same name and by a group jam with an improvised melody (though that’s not entirely true, since this bit was very similar to the one at his show in Zagreb the next day). He showed his love of improvisation and of enjoying spontaneity on stage again before Sacred Ground: Richie completely lets go and falls right into the music, closes his eyes, rises slightly on his toes and sinks back down with the rhythm and melody, while your eye can barely keep up with what’s happening on the guitar. He closed the main set with one more song from the new CD: OMG What’s Your Name? After that the musicians said a quick goodbye, told us they’re coming back to Europe once more this year, in September, and left the stage, but the crowd’s loud chanting soon called them back, and after a long intro they played the fan favorite Go Faster.
After the obligatory encore, the crowd kept on roaring, whistling, clapping and calling, but the musicians stayed firm and never came back out, and we listeners slowly said our own goodbyes with that bitter realization.
From a musical standpoint, there’s nothing to fault Richie Kotzen for. His stage performance is solid, with plenty of improvisation, yet also very professional. You can’t expect chattiness or theatrics on stage from him, but what you do get is exactly what you pay for – a musically flawless show with good music. Still, there was a bitter aftertaste in realizing that Kotzen has become an industry. It was sad to watch the merch stand, where after the show Kotzen’s manager sold the CDs with no Kotzen beside him to sign them and take photos with fans – for that purpose VIP tickets were offered in advance for the first time this year – while the Porn Queen guys wandered around the club the whole time, relaxed, posing for photos with everyone. Especially in a club like Bluesiana – rightly nicknamed »the living-room« – this decision by the singer was a surprise. Still, some of us got lucky and caught Richie on a quick pass through the club. I hope it was a one-off and that in the future we’ll be able to meet Richie in the club after the show again.
Setlist
PORN QUEEN:
1. I Wanna Get High
2. Dirty
3. I Believe
4. Liar
5. Medley
6. Welcome to Your Nightmare
7. Blues
8. Leave that Bitch
9. Pick Pocket
RICHIE KOTZEN:
1. Bad situation
2. Help Me
3. 24 Hours
4. Love is Blind
5. Player
6. Fooled Again
7. Fear
8. My Angel
9. Livin’ in Bliss
10. Peace Sign
11. Instrumental Jam
12. You Can’t Save Me
13. Doing What the Devil Says To Do
14. instrumental jam / Sacred Ground
15. OMG (What’s Your Name?)
—encore—
16. Instrumental Jam / Go faster
Photo Gallery
