Roger McGuinn Playing South Orange NJ Sept 18, 2011

[stsang]

http://www.sopacnow.org/668/roger-mcguinn-in-concert

Roger McGuinn, leader of the legendary Byrds, will perform a benefit concert for EIES of New Jersey.
As frontman for the legendary folk rock group The Byrds, the Rock and Roll Hall of Famer pioneered the musical genre that created the most influential band of the 60’s. With his trademark jangling 12-string Rickenbacker and the now famous opening guitar riffs of “Mr. Tambourine Man”, McGuinn’s vision effectively created the template for an American challenge to the British Invasion.

Established in 1974, EIES is a northern New Jersey based Radio Reading Service for the Blind, visually impaired and physically disabled. EIES serves some 1000 people through its daily readings of newspapers and magazines. More info at http://eiesofnj.org/

I just got my tickets and can't wait. This will be my first chance to see the great McGuinn live. I've been getting my wife psyched by playing my Roger McGuinn DVDs.

Will anyone else from RRF be there?

[Folkie]

That's pretty exciting, Simon! Please be sure to give us the full report after the show!

[stsang]

Sure thing. Based on what I've been reading about Roger's shows, I'm not sure I'll be able to take any photos but I'll certainly try to jot down some notes about his set list, his stories, how he appears, his Rickenbacker (of course!), etc.

[beatbyrd]

Sure thing. Based on what I've been reading about Roger's shows, I'm not sure I'll be able to take any photos but I'll certainly try to jot down some notes about his set list, his stories, how he appears, his Rickenbacker (of course!), etc.

You can take all the pictures that you want......... as long as you don't use a flash. Enjoy the show. Tom

[mrtamfan]

Saw him play in Syracuse this past Saturday, Sept. 10, and he sounded better than ever. You'll love the show!

Tom Q.

[stsang]

Saw him play in Syracuse this past Saturday, Sept. 10, and he sounded better than ever. You'll love the show! Tom Q.

Thanks Tom! Good to hear that Roger is in good form. I'm really looking forward to Sunday.
-Simon

[stsang]

You can take all the pictures that you want......... as long as you don't use a flash. Enjoy the show. Tom

Thanks for the advice! This will be a good chance to test the low light capabilities of my new camera. If any of them turn out OK, I'll post photos here.

[stsang]

Wow! The Roger McGuinn concert this evening was amazing. Roger was in superb form. Before the concert started, my wife and I had a chance to chat with Camilla McGuinn outside at the merchandise stall. She was really friendly and sweet. I ended up getting the Limited Edition and CCD signed CDs. Photography was not allowed during the concert, so I don't have any photos to share with you all, unfortunately. Roger played for about 1.5 hours and covered a wide selection of material from his pre-Byrds, Byrds and post-Byrds periods. He told stories from his past about how he started in music, discussed the development of his 7-string Martin acoustic and generally charmed the audience with his warmth, friendly chat and humility. He even played Mr. Spaceman twice because someone in the audience complained he missed it because he had gone to the restroom.

Roger's playing and singing were top form. It's certainly a more visceral experience than listening to CDs to see him in person attacking his 7-string Martin or Rickenbacker or singing with such passion (particularly on The Bells of Rhymney, Eight Miles High and May The Road Rise To Meet You). Even my wife was impressed! He played mostly on his 7-string Martin acoustic, but he played a few on his Rick 370/12 and one each on his Martin 12-string acoustic and Banjo. Since this is the Rickenbacker Forum, I'll spend a bit more time discussing his Ric. He played the following songs on his Ric: My Back Pages, Mr. Tambourine Man, Mr. Spaceman, and Feel A Whole Lot Better. His Ric appeared to be a modern stock Rickenbacker 370/12 even though it had his Roger McGuinn Limited Edition pickguard on it. Things I noticed: it had a headstock with slots that went all the way through; it had high-gain pickups (!); and it had the standard 5 control layout (not his 370/12 RM layout). I got a chuckle from seeing the high-gain pickups because he sounded clean, bright and jangly - he sounded like Roger McGuinn! This makes me wonder about all this discussion and gnashing of teeth concerning high gains vs toasters vs 7.4K vs 12.4K toasters. It didn't seem to matter to Roger what pickups were on his Ric.

All in all, I feel incredibly lucky to finally have seen Roger in concert. It was a borderline surreal experience after having spent so much time just listening to his recordings. We are so blessed that he is still willing to go on the road and is still performing at such a high level. I hope you all have the chance to share the experience.

All the best,
-Simon

[stsang]

BTW, here's a post show photo of Roger's instruments that my wife took for me with her iPhone, so apologies for the blurriness! His 7-string acoustic is missing because he left stage with that strapped to him.

[libratune]

Simon,

Thanks for sharing your experience!

It's great that Roger is still out there performing.

[jdogric12]

21-fret Rick, so it's something of an oddity... no surprise, given the odd one his son sold.

[Folkie]

After Tom O'Keefe's report that Roger's technique was slipping at two shows a few months ago, it's reassuring to hear that he's back in top form. All of us are human and sometimes have off nights (The last time I saw Buddy Guy, he was not up to his usual level). Creativity and technique are strange things. Roger is now 69 years old and still jangling and exposing the world to the music that inspired him. I hope to see him the next time he makes a stop here!

[beatbyrd]

After Tom O'Keefe's report that Roger's technique was slipping at two shows a few months ago, it's reassuring to hear that he's back in top form. All of us are human and sometimes have off nights (The last time I saw Buddy Guy, he was not up to his usual level). Creativity and technique are strange things. Roger is now 69 years old and still jangling and exposing the world to the music that inspired him. I hope to see him the next time he makes a stop here!

Please don't assume that I was knocking Roger just for the sake of bashing him. He's long been a R&R hero of mine, so he gets extra grace when it comes to reviewing his show. The thing is, the two nights in question were the 3rd and 4th times I had seen his show over the past couple of years. I pay rapt attention to the singing and the playing at shows. The first time I saw him, I had nothing to compare it to and came away very impressed with his playing. There are old threads in this subforum about every McGuinn show I've seen and I think I posted how impressed I was.

The thing is.... everything was 'new' the first time I saw the show. After that, I had something to compare other shows with. When you basically see the same show repeatedly (at least 80-90% of it), there is not much 'new' to overwhelm you. So, you start drawing comparisons. The second time I saw him, it was outdoors on a chilly, damp night in Long Beach. His singing and especially, his playing were (I think) affected by the chill and I noticed more clunks and clanks than the first show I had seen. I think I mentioned that in my thread, but I felt that most guitarists would be affected the same way.

This past April, I saw him on both Friday and Saturday nights. Friday was the one where he had a lot of trouble. He stopped a Byrds song he has probably played a jillion times, midway through. Anyone who's ever been in a working band knows that this is total capitulation (I surrender!). He started the song again (from the beginning) and messed it up again, although not as badly. He made numerous other clams and had to really simplify his showpiece: "Echoes / 8 Miles High". He was grimacing at each clam that he made, because he's a pro and obviously was not having an easy time of it. I had a front row center seat, so I could see every expression he made.

He played and sang a lot better on Saturday, but not nearly as well as the first time I had seen him. Same Byrds song - same trouble. I was trying to convey my concern in an honest and objective manner. Age, wrist injury, fatigue, climate, rigors of touring..... pick your reason(s). The more I see the show, the more accurately I can review each one. I would still encourage anyone to see Roger live. I think the guy is a national treasure and will probably go see him many more times. And I'll keep my eyes and ears open each time I go. Tom

[stsang]

Please don't assume that I was knocking Roger just for the sake of bashing him.

Hi Tom,

I don't think anybody was accusing you of this. It's great that you posted an honest report from his shows. I had a front row seat for the South Orange show and since this was my first show, I could only compare his live performance against his recordings, his DVDs and YouTube videos of other shows. I guess Roger has his good and bad days (like everyone does) as Folkie mentioned. I guess this makes me feel even more lucky to have seen him on a very good day! It also helped that sound quality at the venue was outstanding.

All the best, (and please keep sending show reports!)
-Simon

[Folkie]

Tom,

I thought you gave a very honest assessment of the way McGuinn played at those two shows. I never meant to suggest that you were bashing him in any way. I think you probably have a finer set of ears than most of us, so you were able to detect flaws in his playing that others might miss. But you've obviously had a lifelong dedication to his music, which comes through in your admiring covers of his songs. So I'm sorry if what I said came out the wrong way.

Robert