RM show March 21, 2009

[Janglyman]

The wife and I were at the RM solo show last Saturday, 3/21. The stage was set up like the recent photo on the home page. The show began with My Back Pages (no solo). It was followed up by Old Blue on banjo and a Leadbelly tune on acoustic 12. A large portion of the show was played on his new Martin 7-string. He made a big deal about it having an octave 3rd string, which made for some interesting tunes. The highlight of the Martin segment was the version of 8 Miles High which is on the Limited Edition CD. He even threw in a line from the James Bond Theme in the middle of it. He played a lot of the tunes from Limited Edition on the Martin. Unfortunately, he did not do If I Needed Someone. The usuals, Ballad of Easy Rider, Chestnut Mare etc., were also in attendance.

The Byrds tunes were mostly medleys, ie, All I Really Wanna Do, Turn, I'll Feel A Whole Lot Better, R&R Star. There were no solos in any of them. That was the only disappointing aspect of the show. I was looking forward to hearing a lot of Ric, but he seemed to have some problems with the wireless set up. He did do all 2 minutes of Mr. Spaceman and 5D and threw in The Trees Are All Gone (from Back From Rio).

There was a lot of talking to the audience, but none of us talked back. He was in fine voice. My wife loved the show even more than the Warren Haynes acoustic show last month. No word yet on whether that will translate into that '67 360-12 that's been floating around the forum. It was also very nice to meet Camilla.

If anyone else was there, I'd like to hear your thoughts on the show.

Janglyman

[doctorwho]

Thanks for sharing, Russell!

[steambyrd]

Russell, how much did he actually play the Rickenbacker? I saw the exact same show on March 14, and he started the show with the Ric on "My Back Pages," but only played the opening before apologizing about a problem with it, and switching to the Martin. I read a thread on the UMGF by a poster who had the same experience at the concert he attended. I would hate to think that Roger is just taking the Ric as a prop, to satisfy the Byrds and Ric fans, with no intention of playing it for the shows.

[Deanodime]

He played the Ric quite a bit during his show in Fort Worth last November. Don't know why he would neglect it now.

[steambyrd]

Dean, he played the Ric quite a bit when I saw him in February 2007 as well. I just think it's odd that I have now heard from 2 other posters on this year's tour plus myself, who have reported him having a problem with the Ric and going acoustic for the bulk of the show.

[JakeK]

He was so-so with the Ric when I saw him in May of last year...still a good show, though. I can safely say I saw a 370/12RM in person

[Janglyman]

Steambyrd:

The 3/21 show was the same as the others. Start with MBP on the Rick. I kinda got the impression that RM only used the Rick because he had to play some Byrdsongs. He was much more enamored with the 7 string Martin. He uses it a lot on the Limited Edition CD. Based on the other posts, it seems he's been having trouble with the Ric kor with the wireless unit at every show.

I guess if we want a Byrds show, we've got to see Second Flyte.

Janglyman

[JakeK]

If Roger is having problems with the wireless unit, he should simply use a Fender Deluxe Reverb/Super Reverb/Twin Reverb or Roland JC-120 with a Janglebox. Much better than the wireless setup, in my opinion.

[jimk]

That's what you'd do. And that's probably what I'd do. But the story is widely told what a gadget freak RM is. I've a hunch he'll tinker with it until he gets it right.

JimK

[Janglyman]

I think he'll just tinker.