Post by cozyal on Jun 30, 2009 6:10:07 GMT -5
John Waite live review – The Hayloft, Mt. Clemens, MI. Sat. June 20th, 2009.
REVIEW BY: Cozy Al for Rock N Roll Universe
John Waite actually played an unplugged gig at this venue last year, which unfortunately I could not attend as I seem to recall I went to another gig already planned, way before the Waite gig.
Anyway, I was looking forward to this one as it’s been 3 years since I last caught his live set.
With a pedigree career with The Baby’s, his solo work & Bad English, he’s loads of material to choose his set from.
His current, very tight band includes Luis Maldonado – Guitars / B.Vocals (great young talent), Tim Hogan - Bass, Billy Wilkes – Drums & newest member John Korba – Keys & b.vocals.
Coming on around 11pm they ripped into Best Of What I Got from the Bad English days, fighting feedback & not great sound but certainly coming across as a strong unit.
Back On My Feet Again, classic Baby’s stuff kicked in next & the sound was getting better & the band was kickin’!
Change is next & is a song that I really only got into about 5 or so years back believe or not, as so much of John Waite success has really been here in the US, rather than his homeland.
When I lived in England, I don’t even remember anything much publicized about his touring, except for when he had his success with Missing You with the No Brakes band, other than that his homeland often seemed to overlook him. That said, from what I can gather the dates he played there last month (May), went down well.
By the next song, When I see You Smile the sound was well balanced generally & all the band looked a lot happier.
There’s no doubting John’s back catalogue includes many gems as he has most of this crowd up on their feet & towards the front of the stage singing along with pretty much everything!
Next we get In Dreams, from the Temple Bar album which is another winner, if perhaps a little lesser known than the rest so far. Still a winner with the crowd tonight!
At the end, John tells us a little about the European tour which was an experience & a half, with drummer Billy Wilkes getting arrested & then Luis getting appendicitis over there & telling us, “… but more on that later!”
We never did hear anymore on that, but then who cares, the music was speaking for itself!
OK, next track was one I wasn’t familiar with before we got Mr. Wonderful which seemed to raise the roof with the crowd, great track!
John introduces the next track as, a Bob Dylan song done our way … I have to say, it was a great interpretation of All Along The Watchtower, not Hendrix but still pretty special.
Back to the Baby’s hits with Isn’t it Time, before his own biggest solo hit in Missing You.
The Baby’s were obviously his career step up & we get a run of more with Love Don’t Prove I’m Right, Everytime I Think of You, Midnight Rendezvous & set closer Head First.
Wow! This band was hot & to say they were on form is just too small a description for these guys.
How about a rip roaring version of Zep’s Rock ‘n’ Roll to say goodnight with?
We all loved it!! Sure the sound started rough, but that’s so often the case.
This was a great gig many of us will not forget in a while.
Al Williams
REVIEW BY: Cozy Al for Rock N Roll Universe
John Waite actually played an unplugged gig at this venue last year, which unfortunately I could not attend as I seem to recall I went to another gig already planned, way before the Waite gig.
Anyway, I was looking forward to this one as it’s been 3 years since I last caught his live set.
With a pedigree career with The Baby’s, his solo work & Bad English, he’s loads of material to choose his set from.
His current, very tight band includes Luis Maldonado – Guitars / B.Vocals (great young talent), Tim Hogan - Bass, Billy Wilkes – Drums & newest member John Korba – Keys & b.vocals.
Coming on around 11pm they ripped into Best Of What I Got from the Bad English days, fighting feedback & not great sound but certainly coming across as a strong unit.
Back On My Feet Again, classic Baby’s stuff kicked in next & the sound was getting better & the band was kickin’!
Change is next & is a song that I really only got into about 5 or so years back believe or not, as so much of John Waite success has really been here in the US, rather than his homeland.
When I lived in England, I don’t even remember anything much publicized about his touring, except for when he had his success with Missing You with the No Brakes band, other than that his homeland often seemed to overlook him. That said, from what I can gather the dates he played there last month (May), went down well.
By the next song, When I see You Smile the sound was well balanced generally & all the band looked a lot happier.
There’s no doubting John’s back catalogue includes many gems as he has most of this crowd up on their feet & towards the front of the stage singing along with pretty much everything!
Next we get In Dreams, from the Temple Bar album which is another winner, if perhaps a little lesser known than the rest so far. Still a winner with the crowd tonight!
At the end, John tells us a little about the European tour which was an experience & a half, with drummer Billy Wilkes getting arrested & then Luis getting appendicitis over there & telling us, “… but more on that later!”
We never did hear anymore on that, but then who cares, the music was speaking for itself!
OK, next track was one I wasn’t familiar with before we got Mr. Wonderful which seemed to raise the roof with the crowd, great track!
John introduces the next track as, a Bob Dylan song done our way … I have to say, it was a great interpretation of All Along The Watchtower, not Hendrix but still pretty special.
Back to the Baby’s hits with Isn’t it Time, before his own biggest solo hit in Missing You.
The Baby’s were obviously his career step up & we get a run of more with Love Don’t Prove I’m Right, Everytime I Think of You, Midnight Rendezvous & set closer Head First.
Wow! This band was hot & to say they were on form is just too small a description for these guys.
How about a rip roaring version of Zep’s Rock ‘n’ Roll to say goodnight with?
We all loved it!! Sure the sound started rough, but that’s so often the case.
This was a great gig many of us will not forget in a while.
Al Williams
