Introduction:
What Baby-Boomer could forget the 1974 Robin Trower album Bridge of Sighs? Featuring the outstanding tones and tunes of the ex Procol Harum guitarist. “Day of the Eagle” the kick-off song from the album blew our minds. Robin had this uncanny talent for taking the sounds that Hendrix pioneered in the 60’s and refined them to make it his very own in the 70’s. The band at the time was just a trio with James Dewar on bass/vocals and Reg Isidore on drums, later replaced by Bill Lordan. One of my favorite moments was when he teamed up with bass legend Jack Bruce and Bill Lordan to form B.L.T. An absolutely wonderful album which debut in 1981. I distinctly remember running out and buying this album in NYC at my local Musical Maze record shop. Featuring such tracks as “Into Money” (a sharp criticism of his ex-Cream bandmate Eric Clapton). Other such stand out tracks are “Life on Earth”, “No Island Lost” & “End Game”.
Opener:
Now at the golden age of 81 Trower has come back with a vengeance to The Plaza in Orlando supporting his new album Shine featuring Richard Watts on bass/vocals and Chris Taggart on drums. I have to say I was very impressed with the opening act Katy Guillen & The Drive. I usual don’t bother to see the openers, but I arrived early for this show. And I’m glad I did because it features 2 young girls who really rocked the opening spot! I’m a girl dad so it was so refreshing to see woman in their 20’s playing instruments and give off great energy. My kids are the same age but like a whole different style of music that I can’t relate to these days. Katy G & The Drive were reminiscent to the White Stripes in the sense of their stage set up. Only guitar and drums with no bass player. However, there was pre-recorded bass in the stage monitors so perhaps a loop station was used. Either way they did a great job and were received very well by the older audience.
Main Event:
When Robin Trower came on the audience was primed and ready for some heavy British blues of yesterday and he didn’t disappoint. He kicked off with “Too Rolling Stoned” from -you got it - Bridge of Sighs. James Dewar had a very distinctive voice so it’s not easy to get a replacement. However, Richard Watts sounded dead on for his replication on the Dewar tracks with a nice soulful raspy rock tone. Unfortunately, not many of us were familiar with his new album, but he played a combination of songs from his past releases. Honestly, I was hoping for a B.L.T. moment from the Jack Bruce era, or a Victims of the Fury song but we never got there.
Robin played his signature Fender Strat guitar fitted with a Custom '54 single-coil in the neck, a reverse-wound/reverse-polarity Custom '60s single-coil in the middle, and a Texas Special single-coil in the bridge. Backline was a pair of Marshall ½ stacks powered by 2 Marshall 50-watt heads, Model 1989. Accompanied by just a small pedalboard. The tone and sound all come from his fingers and feel. His distinctive Univibe tone matched the terrestrial radio sounds we all remembered from his classic albums. These recordings were the soundscape of our youth and molded our mindset for musical taste. Highly recommend seeing this show, Trower’s still got it and delivers flawlessly!
