Paul Gilbert Live: my review

[fullmetalguitar]

Well I went to the first of two sold out shows at The Viper Room last night. One word describes it:

AWESOME!!!

Paul has the one and only Bruce Boulliet in his band. This was their first time on stage together since '88. I was so psyched to see Bruce again. The audience was eating it up. People kept yelling "Bruce!" between almost every song. He had a lot of fans there.

They did a bunch of songs from Paul's latest instrumental CD. Only two from Racer X, but those two were impressive: "Scarified" and "Scit Scat Wah" from the first live album. I've never seen "Scit Scat Wah" performed live before so I was thrilled. More stuff from Paul's various solo releases including the songs "Space Ship One," "I Like Rock," and more. From Mr. Big they did "Green Tinted 60s Mind" and "Addicted To That Rush" and maybe another. He quickly did the solo for "To Be With You" but not the song. People were yelling out song titles the whole time. You'd hear "Superheros!" from someone in the crowd and Paul would tinker around with it for a few bars.

More of this review coming later today so stay tuned to find out HOW they played, especially Bruce...

[Wayniac]

You lucky bastard !! Bruce is awesome

[Top Jimmy B]

yeah, that Gilbert kid is pretty good too.

[fullmetalguitar]

My Review Part 2

They started the show by playing the opening bit from Get Out of My Yard. Bruce was using his finger like the capo while Paul did those amazing arpegios. It was brilliant. Paul was playing a white double neck. He also played an Iceman that was reversed (upside down) in a natural finish, and an old orange Ibanez with a bunch of silver stickers on it.

Bruce was playing two Ibanez Les Paul like models.

Paul's playing was flawless as always. That guy is from another planet of long fingered guitar heros.

OK, what about Bruce. Well, he seemed kind of nervous at first, concentrating hard on his parts. And who can blame him, playing next to Paul. I think he might have messed up a tiny bit here and there, but it was barely noticable. Both the Racer X tunes came off without a hitch. As the night went on, Bruce seemed to relax more and play better. To put it simply, he played great. However, I have to say not as good as when I saw him several times in 89/90.

The biggest problem was the freakin' sound guy. Why is it that these club sound guys never seem to be paying attention? Practically every solo was half way over before the guy got a clue and boosted Paul's or Bruce's guitar in the mix. There were several parts where Bruce's fingers were just a blur and I knew he was playing some amazing shred licks, but it couldn't be heard.

Paul's super cute Japanese wife also played keyboard on about half of the stuff. But again, the retarded sound guy had her so low in the mix that you could barely hear it.

There was a drum solo, but no unaccompanied guitar solos that I was hoping for. The whole night was basically one big guitar solo anyway. Paul seemed very happy to be sharing the spotlight with Bruce. When Bruce would be doing a great shredding solo, Paul would be watching him with a huge grin on his face. I'm hoping that this is the beginning of many more collaborations between these two guys.

If I can think of anything else, I'll add it later. Any questions?

[VitaminG]

Paul's super cute Japanese wife also played keyboard on about half of the stuff. But again, the retarded sound guy had her so low in the mix that you could barely hear it.

can you say: "Linda McCartney"?

sounds like an awesome gig. I love Paul's playing and even dig a lot of his solo stuff. Wish he'd tour over here

[Wayniac]

yeah, that Gilbert kid is pretty good too.

Yes he is, but I've seen him play probably a half dozen times - never got to see Bruce though..

[thenine]

whoa! would have loved to have been there. PG is the man!


9

[Racerx2k]

Lucky bastard! hehe. I'm sure it was great. Wish I was there.

[fullmetalguitar]

can you say: "Linda McCartney"?

Not even close! His wife, other than being super cute, can actually play very well and sings perfectly on key. She also plays on his latest CD. I could hear her backup harmony vocals very clearly and they were right on pitch.

[VitaminG]

Not even close! His wife, other than being super cute, can actually play very well and sings perfectly on key. She also plays on his latest CD. I could hear her backup harmony vocals very clearly and they were right on pitch.

I was just joking around.

Y'know, wife of bandleader joining hubby on keyboards and backing vox with volume turned down made me think of Wings with Linda McC

[Racerx2k]

A bad-singing wife always reminds me of Yoko.

[RacerX]

Was this a one-off, or is he doing more local dates?

[fullmetalguitar]

It was a two-off I guess you could say. Last night and tonight at The Viper Room, both sold out. Later this month they are off to Japan for a tour. These are the warm up shows. It says on his website that he may do more shows in the U.S., but who knows.

[skorb]

A bad-singing wife always reminds me of Yoko.

totally :ROTF:

[jwoods986]

That's awesome, I wish I could see it. And considering both shows sold out, it would make sense to play some more after Japan.