Paul & Joe at Birmingham Symphony Hall

markg5150 · #1 05-13-2008, 04:31 AM

Well, it was a great show last night at Birmingham.

Paul Gilbert was excellent and played a 45 min set including most of the songs off SFBADR and finished up with Down To Mexico. It would've been great to see him play GOOMY but nevermind.

Joe played for over 2 hours a stranged mix of new and old. He sounded great but really struggled to get the crowd going. He looked really p!ssed as he went off stage for Stu Hamm's solo spot.

Stu's spot seemed to finally get the crowd going and Joe finished off with AWMAWA, surfin', crowd chant and summer song.

I think the reason for the flat crowd is that the average age of the audience was about 40, Symphony Hall is quite a posh venue, and his new material isn't as foot tapping, crowd clapping and screaming as some of his old stuff.

I took lots of pics (from row T!!) and will post some this evening when I'm back from work.

JJEMMER777 · #2 05-13-2008, 04:46 AM

Cool Mark!! Glad you got to see them.

As far as Joe, I'll probably get a bounty on my head for this one

but his shows aren't doin a whole lot for me anymore either. I don't get bored, but I don't get that ~feeling~ in my stomach anymore.

Best Joe show I saw (believe it or not) was the Engines tour

Paul and Annie rule

Steve Vai's shows will get ya goin EVERY TIME

markg5150 · #3 05-13-2008, 04:52 AM

That's how I felt - not boring but not exactly a hell raising rock epic!

Best Joe tour for me was SWTA - I was 20 years younger and so was Joe !!

marianozz · #4 05-13-2008, 09:03 AM

Live Joe has lost it for me, best ive seen was the Joe Satriani album tour, 1st bald tour, and it rocked... Crystal Planet tour was great too, but since then it just got more and more boring... doesnt help that the albums started sucking either up til the last one (which i like, but, as said, its no crowd mover).

Paul on the other hand never ceases to amaze and entertain

Roryrockslinda · #5 05-13-2008, 09:40 AM

I blame the venue for the lack of crowd response.
(I was on row S near the doors, perfect view, but too far away for my liking!)
The fact it was a seated gig sucked for me, I was smiling for most of it and tapping my foot adn bobbing the head, but a standing gig gets you going so much more, trying to get as close as you can, having the stage right there in your face, but seated is more of a "show" which makes it a lot more boring.

However paul and joe both rocked!
I loved Bronx going into Technical Difficulties and when it went into Down to Mexico. Annd the fact he played Suite Modale made me forget how lame the venue was

Also I didn't realise it was a bow doing the sound on SFBADR

Joe was also great, he played greatly and did some great songs, however STu Hamms bass spot was boring and terrible. I liked it when he was doing the Zep bit at the start, was nice, but he hit the bass oddly at many spots that just sounded weird and off, it lasted too long too.
And mentioning that his bass spot got the crowd going further up here makes me feel a bit bad cos I know when I was cheering, it was to get Joe back on!

Yeah, wasn't the biggest fan of Hamm.

However I did like at the end (I noticed peopel started flooding out of the gig when they went off which was a bit silly) when everyone rushed to the front for Crowd Chant and Summer song.

I ended up spending over £100 there v_v hehe.

Was a good night.

**moebius** · #6 05-13-2008, 10:20 AM

Stu Hamm stole the show when I saw Joe on the Crystal Planet tour. But Joe was playing great at that show. However, of the three tours I have seen him on, (Time Machine, Crystal Planet, Super Colossal) the Time Machine show was the most energetic. Maybe it was because he still had hair.

Gurj · #7 05-13-2008, 01:35 PM

I enjoyed the gig, but totally agree it took a long time for the crowd to get going. Same happened last time I saw Satch.

markg5150 · #8 05-13-2008, 03:45 PM

Here's some pics as promised - taken with a crappy Fuji compact with a digital zoom, Sorry

Roryrockslinda · #9 05-13-2008, 05:47 PM

That was black Dog he was using right? (second pic) I couldn't see from where I was (which is surprising my seat was quite good for the SYmphony Hall, I really dislike the Symphony Hall

)

Lewis · #10 05-13-2008, 07:07 PM

I dont know what you guys are on about the symphony hall is a great venue, the crowd did take a while to get going, But I enjoyed the hell out of it, I really thought the LED display was cool. The only thing is, I wished Paul came out at the end for a jam with joe.

Gurj · #11 05-13-2008, 07:40 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by markg5150

I took lots of pics (from row T!!) and will post some this evening when I'm back from work.

Dude, I was in row U. Was that you in a red top in front of us?

Petie · #12 05-13-2008, 08:14 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Roryrockslinda

That was black Dog he was using right? (second pic)

It's not the original Black Dog, it's the prototype of the replica Ibanez will be releasing next year.

markg5150 · #13 05-14-2008, 04:21 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gurj

Dude, I was in row U. Was that you in a red top in front of us?

Yes !!, I had my daughter with me - Small world !!!

Gurj · #14 05-14-2008, 05:42 AM

Nice one!! I felt sorry for your daughter when everyone stood up. Looked like she was struggling to see anything then!

markg5150 · #15 05-14-2008, 05:51 AM

She had a great time, and has asked me to put all my PG albums on her iTunes!!

She was telling all her friends at school about it - none of them had heard of Paul & Joe

I might take her to Whitesnake/Def Leppard next - that should be a bit rowdier than Joe !