BLACKFOOT

[damian]

Blackfoot is back and touring again!!! Saw them in Daytona and they were awesome!


edit because of

[steve]

Yeah I'm gearin' up to see Blackfoot and Hatchet here in town at the HOB in May. They were originally scheduled to play along with the ARS at some Southern Rock fest but that fell apart and have swithed venues but this time minus the ARS. I'll report back with a review.

[cofi]

Hey Steve, it'd be great to get a review from the show,
Have a good time at the show M8

[blackfootnorm]

Anyone out there know if Blackfoot are going to tour the U.K next year?
thanks, NORM!!!

[jesse]

Here's a review I did for a recent Blackfoot/Molly Hatchet Show:


Bad Boys Of Southern Rock: Blackfoot and Molly Hatchet 10/06/07


Well, I went to see two of my favorite Southern Rock bands last night. Blackfoot for only the 2nd time and Molly Hatchet for the 13th time. The venue this time was Penns Peak in the beautiful town of Jim Thorpe, PA. This is not a very easy venue to get to as I had about a 45 minute drive to the PA Turnpike, then about a half hour cruise at 80 MPH on the Turnpike, and finally another 15 minutes or so winding around back roads, steadily climbing uphill as we went. Just about the time I thought that I must've taken a wrong turn at Albuquerque, we saw the sign for the Penns Peak entertainment complex. I pulled in the driveway.......and continued to go uphill!
The parking lot turned out to be full! I wound up parking in a little nook where a bunch of construction equipment was parked. I'm not complaining though, last years' Starland Ballroom show was also packed, making me think that these guys might be due to play some bigger venues in the area in the near future.
Anyways, showtime was 8pm, but I expected the usual 3 or 4 mediocre to crappy local bands to begin the evening with........WRONG! The girlfriend and I got parked around 8:10 and walked up to the venue to the sound of Blackfoot playing "I Got A Line On You". We were kinda pissed about that, cuz we purposefully waited a bit before leaving so that we wouldn't have to stand through those 3 or 4 local bands plus the 2 headliners. But I won't complain, because we apparently didn't miss much as Blackfoot played about 13 songs during our watch.

Alright, so a little background on Blackfoot: They began their reunion tour with 3 of the 4 originals (only frontman Rick Medlocke bowed out, choosing to stick with the steady paycheck in Lynyrd Skynyrd) plus Guitarist/Vocalist Bobby Barth who made his career fronting Melodic Rock band Axe, but DID spend 3 years in the mid-80's as part of Blackfoot. By the time we saw them last spring, original Drummer Jakson Spires had passed away and Austrian drummer Christophe Ulrich (no relation to Lars) took his place. Also, Barth had neck surgery and his place was taken by former Rossington Band sideman Jay Johnson (son of Jimmy Johnson who produced the first 2 Blackfoot albums). That was last year. THIS year, Barth is back and Micheal Sollars is now on drums AND backing vocals.
Right from the getgo, I felt Barth did a better job on vocals than he did on the recent "Train, Train Live" CD/DVD, but not quite as good as Johnson had done last year in his stead. Also, perhaps because Barth is noticably older than Johnson and sets the tone or possibly because the recent death of Hughie Thomasson made them realize that they're not kids anymore, I noticed the energy level of Blackfoot was not nearly what it had been at last years show (but still higher than that of many bands half their age!) The biggest thing I noticed about Blackfoot though was that they changed the setlist up quite a bit. This in total contrast to Molly Hatchet who seems to have had only small changes in their setlists in the last 10 years or so.....but we'll get to Hatchet later. Blackfoot was tight and energetic. As I said, we missed the opening and by the time we got into the venue, "I Got A Line On You" was done and they started into a new song that I had never heard before. Didn't get a good feel for what it was, but it sounded good...like Classic Blackfoot. After some sitdown blues guitar playing from Barth, original Guitarist Charlie Hargrette went to center stage and lit into "Baby Blue". After that number, Micheal Sollars went into a drum lick that I really thought was gonna be "On The Run", but to my surprise, original bassist Greg Walker went to center stage and started singing! I take credit for this as, when I met him last year, I told him how great he sounded on backing vocals (Walker was the sole backing vocalist last year) and suggested he sing lead on a couple. So here he was center stage singing "Great Spirit", a song off of his NDN solo project which, if I didn't know any better, coulda passed for a Blackfoot classic. Apparently the crowd thought so too as this song got one of the greatest responses of the evening. From there, the 'Foots did the new blues song "Sunshine Again" which is a great blues song.......but I'm never looking for blues when I go to Blackfoot. Still, the song made for a great segue into "Wishing Well". After an extended version of "Wishing Well", another surprise as they began playing "Morning Dew" from 1984's "Verticle Smiles" album. The keyboardless version of "Morning Dew" brought a little more power to the tune by the end, but took away from the foreboding intro a touch. After "Morning Dew" things became a little predictable as they ended the night with "Rolling And Tumblin'/Fly Away", "Good Morning" , "Train, Train" with Hatchet's Phil McCormack on Harmonica and a marathon version of "Highway Song". No encore as it seemed they might've been running long and we still had Molly Hatchet to come out.

Surprisingly, it didn't take all that long for Molly Hatchet to get set up. Last time I saw these two bands, Blackfoot used Molly Hatchet's gear (drum set, guitar/bass rigs), this time Hatchet used Blackfoot's gear so there was minimum setup time between the two acts.
Soon the lights went down and Van Halen and Motley Crue music blasted over the PA system, after which the sonic boom of "O Fortuna" signaled that it was time for everyone to get situated for the start of the Molly Hatchet portion of the show. Phil McCormack wound up introducing the band himself and they went into "Whiskey Man" as their (usual) opener.
The first 2/3 of the night was EXACTLY the same setlist I had seen a year earlier. Same songs, same order. However, I DID get a sense that tonight was gonna be a little different during Dave Hlubek's "Gator Country" solo. I swear, he must've gone on for over 5 minutes!. He played like the friggin' energizer bunny: he kept going and going.......Man, was he having fun! From there, it was more of the usual, but definitely with a higher energy level than I've witnessed the last couple of times I saw them. After "Beatin' The Odds", I thoroughly expected to hear "Dreams I'll Never See" or something resembling an intro for it. However, Phil began a little harmonica solo and when the band joined in, it turned out to be a marathon medley of "T For Texas" and "One Way Out". I would've prefered a Hatchet original, but it was still cool, and more importantly, something different. From there, Phil and Bobby introduced the band and dedicated the next song to Stephanie Ingram (Bobby's deceased wife). The song turned out to be the second half of Eric Clapton's "Layla". Quite a beautiful version and I, for one, am willing to trade a Hatchet original in order to keep this in the setlist from now on. "Layla" then led into a LOOOONG Bobby solo. It was good and all, but probably dragged on a couple minutes too long (again, I'd rather he cut it a little short and fit another song in the set as, by this time, close to a half hour had gone by without them playing any Molly Hatchet material). Bobby's solo of course was the intro for "Dreams I'll Never See", which had an already rambunctious audience going even crazier.
Though Phil said goodbye after "Dreams....", we all knew they weren't done. When they took the stage for the encore, Phil even said that they couldn't leave without doing one last song. "Flirtin' With Disaster" right? WRONG. They played "Jukin' City" instead.....well, not exactly instead. They played the first 2 verses of "Jukin' City" and THEN broke into "Flirtin'....", complete with a huge, 1970's style, Arena Rock ending.
Certainly one of, if not THE highest energy level I've ever seen from Hatchet. Plus, it was a longer set and probably the biggest crowd I've seen for them since Danny Joe Brown was with them. I'd still prefer less screwing around with drum solos, guitar solos and cover songs and more original Hatchet material. I still don't see why they need to play the same damn songs, in the same damn order every time I see them. But it WAS a great show and it DID have some variety from last time I saw them. And it still beats the hell out of many other Rock acts out there. I just think they should take a page out of Blackfoot's book and change up the setlist a bit.


Blackfoot's Set: (This is what I heard, as I said, I was late, so there may be a song or two in the begining that I missed)

I Got A Line On You
New Song (Didn't catch the title)
Bobby Barth's Blues guitar solo
Baby Blue
Great Spirit (NDN song featuring Greg Walker on Lead Vocals)
Sunshine Again (New Song)
Wishing Well
Morning Dew
Rolling And Tumblin'
Fly Away
Good Morning
Train, Train,
Highway Song

Molly Hatchet's Set:
Whiskey Man
Bounty Hunter
Gator Country
Son Of The South
Fall Of The Peacemakers (Part one only, no end jam)
Devil's Canyon
Drum Solo
Beatin' The Odds
T For Texas/One Way Out
Layla (Slow second part only)
Guitar Solo
Dreams I'll Never See

Encore:
Jukin' City
Flirtin' With Disaster



Random thoughts:

-Sound was off all night.......but then again, at MY band's rehearsal the evening before, I thought everything was muddy too, so it MAY have been me. Still, even the girlfriend agreed that the drums were boomy, the guitars: trebley and you really couldn't hear the bass too well.

-It HAD to be house sound as the guys at the sound board had NO CLUE who was soloing when. Every solo spot started the same way: Barely audible above the rest of the music, then, WHAM, almost TOO loud above the rest of the music.

-The lighting crew also had no clue, often spotlighting the wrong guitarist during solos.

-Greg Walker sounded GREAT singing "Great Spirit". That song had a classic Blackfoot sound, making me think that, although Walker's name rarely appeared in any songwriting credits, he did indeed have a big part in creating their music. His voice also sounded a lot more similar to Medlocke's than Barth did. I think Walker should consider singing one or two Blackfoot songs in future concerts.

-Shawn Beamer didn't seem all that comfortable on Blackfoot's drum kit.......at least during the songs. When it came to the drum solo, I actually thought he kicked ass moreso than usual.


Somewhere, I have a review from last year's show too. When I find it, I'll post it here as well.

[cofi]

Great review who did you write that for
Was it for a magazine,

It's well written, and really explains the show and the bands well.
I'll look forward to the other review that you wrote,

Nice one, some good reading

[jesse]

admin said:

Great review who did you write that for
Was it for a magazine,

It's well written, and really explains the show and the bands well.
I'll look forward to the other review that you wrote,

Nice one, some good reading

Thanks. I wrote it for myself mostly, but I put it on Rocknrolluniverse.com's forum as well as a blackfoot forum. Still looking for last years review. I actually think that one was better.

[jesse]

Here's the review of last year's show:

A Night Of Southern Rock: Molly Hatchet And Blackfoot @ Starland Ballroom
Part 1: Get There Early!

May 6th was a beautiful spring day in North Jersey, great day for a show and all day I was getting butterflies in my stomach thinking about getting to see Molly Hatchet again for the first time since 2002 and Blackfoot for the first time ever! I always try to get the shows early, but this time I was bringing my girlfriend, Pam, along for the show and wasn’t sure how she’d hold up through 4 bands that she was unfamiliar with. Doors opened at the Starland Ballroom at 7:30, we left her house around 7 and it was an hour drive. I figured we’d get there part way through the first opening act……but no! The opener didn’t go on until about 8:20pm. Before that we got treated to video clips of such acts as Slade, Deep Purple, Nazareth, Stevie Ray Vaughn and others. Part way through a video of (I think) the Allman Brothers, the lights came down, the screen went up and out came the first opening act…….uh, I forget the band name!Whoever this band was, they were a red hot 3 piece blues band. Shame to say, I didn’t recognize anything they played until they ended with “Crossroads”, but I know they played at least 1 other Cream tune. The rest of their set was filled with some great blues, both fast and slow and kind of a Rockabilly instrumental. The guitarist was a pretty fat dude (though he looked rather slim after Molly Hatchet’s Dave Hlubek came out later!), with a fat guitar tone and a mean bluesy vocal. Bassist was real good too, but (IMO) wasted too much time changing basses in between songs. Drummer was steady and sang a good backing vocal. Overall a really good way to start off a night of Southern Style Rock’n Roll.
Next up was a Southern Rock cover band called (I remember the name this time!) Southern Fury…..and WOW! Much fury indeed! These guys came out absolutely ON FIRE! They lit into a high energy version of the Allman Brothers “Southbound”, then right into one of Pam’s favorite Skynyrd tunes, “Whiskey Rock’n Roller”. Their set was filled with the more rockin’ and rare songs by some of my favorite Southern Rock Bands including Marshall Tucker Band’s “Take The Highway” (my favorite Tucker tune EVER!) and the Outlaws “Gunsmoke”. They ended with a rousing version of “Sweet Home Alabama” and had the crowd all fired up for what was to come!I remember much more about these guys.

Their set was something like:
Southbound
Whiskey Rock’n Roller
Gunsmoke
Devil Went Down To Georgia
I Know A Little
Take The Highway
Sweet Home Alabama

You can check them out at www.SouthernFury.net If you’re ever in the North Jersey area, I do suggest you check them out!

[jesse]

Part 2: Tried And True

At the end of Southern Fury’s set, the singer told the audience to get ready for Molly Hatchet. That kinda confused us a bit as we thought Molly Hatchet was headlining……and I didn’t see any of Blackfoot’s backline equipment behind the Hatchet stuff. Then Pam said that she heard when she was outside smoking (yes, it is now illegal to smoke indoors in any public place in the great communist state of New Jersey!) that Blackfoot was going on last. Perhaps because Blackfoot really got their start in New Jersey Molly Hatchet figured on giving the closing honors to them. I dunno, I DO know that after Southern Fury got done playing, the place was more packed than any Molly Hatchet show I’ve seen since Danny Joe Brown left the group. Was it just because this was the first time I saw them on a weekend night, or because Blackfoot was there too?

In any case, after some difficulties in setting up the guitar equipment, in which Bobby Ingram himself had to come out and take care of (in all the times I’ve seen Molly Hatchet, I’ve NEVER seen Bobby come out on stage until they are ready to play), the lights went down and “O Fortuna” blasted through the P.A. speakers signaling the start of Molly Hatchet’s set! One complaint: the band, namely drummer Shawn Beamer, felt it necessary to jump up on stage before the intro music was done and noodle around on their instruments. Not only do I find that to be a bit annoying, but it takes away from the emotional build up that the intro music (I think) is trying to give us. “O Fortuna” didn’t even get a chance to end when the soundman turned it off and Molly Hatchet turned it up with set opener “Whiskey Man”.

As many of you know, for years, Molly Hatchet has continued to tour and record sans any original members, but tonight, and every night since the beginning of last year, this was not the case. Original and founding guitarist Dave Hlubek was once again on stage under the giant Molly Hatchet banner. Rounding out the band that night was guitarist Bobby Ingram, who originally replaced Dave Hlubek in late 1986 and has been with the band ever since, eventually purchasing the band name outright. Front and center was the man who was hand picked by original singer Danny Joe Brown to be his replacement, Phil McCormack, who is now in his 10th year as Molly Hatchet’s full time singer, though he filled in for Danny Joe on numerous occasions in the early 90’s. Rounding out the band was drummer Shawn Beamer (joined in 2002) and ex-Rossington Band bassist Tim Lindsey. No keyboardist tonight as John Galvin only does shows close to his home in Michigan and occasional tours in Europe.

Anyways, the boys from Jacksonville, Florida tore through their usual set. To be honest, it varied only slightly from when I saw them 4 years ago. It was shortened a bit as they didn’t play the usual set closer “The Journey”, I guess, in order to make sure Blackfoot had plenty of time for their set. Also, instead of songs from the 2001 album “Kingdom Of XII”, they played “Son Of The South” from last year’s “Warriors Of The Rainbow Bridge”. But other than that, it was the usual show for them, which, IMO, has always been their double edged sword. It’s great because, I know what they are going to do and therefore I knew Pam would enjoy their show, but at the same time, a little variation for us fans who come to see them again and again would be nice too. For most part it was the same songs, same moves, same audience banter as most other times I’ve seen them. Not necessarily a bad thing as I still think they were great, I mean, I AM the type of person who could be perfectly happy eating the same thing every day for breakfast lunch and dinner and be fine with it assuming it’s something I liked. There IS something to be said for tried and true. Hatchet found something that works and they’ve stuck to it.

The energy on stage was a little low for them as Bobby Ingram seemed to be having technical problems with his guitar rig and especially his acoustic guitar all night and Dave Hlubek……well, he just don’t move too well. They’d be lined up on stage and Ingram and Tim Lindsey would be swaying to and fro to the beat……and Hlubek was moving ever so slightly in the same motion. I guess his body doesn’t bend too good anymore LOL. However, Hlubek was a great addition in that it was no longer the Bobby Ingram show when it came to guitar solos. Dave traded leads on “Gator Country”, “Whiskey Man”, and “Flirtin” With Disaster, while taking darn near all of the lead on “Fall On The Peacemakers” and “Bounty Hunter”. Tim Lindsey and Phil McCormack exuded the most energy and made their stage show fun and the audience, which was close to a packed house, was feeling it. The place went nuts for them any time they did something from the first 3 records and stayed interested through the newer stuff as well. Apparently this was a Molly Hatchet crowd after all!

Set List was:
Whiskey Man
Bounty Hunter
Gator Country
Son Of The South
Edge Of Sundown (acoustic first verse)
Fall Of The Peacemakers (no end jam)
Devil’s Canyon
Drum Solo
Beatin’ The Odds
Dreams I’ll Never See
Flirtin’ With Disaster

And, as always, you can check them out on www.MollyHatchet.com

[jesse]

Part 3:Worth The Wait

Ok, a little background before I tell y’all about Blackfoot’s show:I got my first Blackfoot album in 1989, years after their hey day, but they immediately replaced Lynyrd Skynyrd as my favorite band. Within the year, I had 3 more of their albums and, because they were mostly out-of-print, it took until 2002 for me to get the complete Blackfoot catalog. Though original singer/guitarist Rick Medlocke continued to tour as Blackfoot until 1997, I NEVER got a chance to see them. They actually only came into my area once, in 1995, and I didn’t go, thinking I’d get another chance to see them soon. So, by around 2000, I had given up on them because I knew Rick Medlocke owned the name and had said in interviews that he was staying put in his new gig with Lynyrd Skynyrd and Blackfoot was toast. Late 2004, the 3 other original members wanted to reform Blackfoot, but Medlocke wanted nothing to do with it and wouldn’t give them the rights to do it. Not sure what all the behind the scenes crap was, but a deal was worked out where the 3 other originals plus guitarist/singer Bobby Barth (member of Blackfoot 1984-1987) would tour under the name Blackfoot…..OH GOODIE!

So here it is, May 2006. Original drummer Jakson Spires passed away but was replaced by his protégé Christoph Ullman and Bobby Barth is out temporarily from neck surgery and replaced by Rick Medlocke imitator and ex-Rossington band member Jay Johnson (son of Jimmy Johnston who produced the first 2 Blackfoot records), f**k IT, it’s STILL Blackfoot to me!I was a bit disappointed in my fellow Molly Hatchet fans as between ¼ and 1/3 of them left after Hatchet’s set, but it was still a good crowd when Blackfoot hit the stage……and BOY DID THEY HIT THE STAGE! They lit into “Good Morning” to start the show and HOLY shit! The energy levels on that stage were the highest I’ve seen in a long time from ANY band! Jay Johnson has the Rick Medlocke vocal down pat, probably sounding more like him than the man he filled in for, Bobby Barth. Bassist Greg Walker came on decked out like a Native American hunter with a buckskin fringe-coat, moccasins and beautiful Native American jewelry. Plus several feathers hanging from the head of his bass which swung all over the place as he ran around the stage.

They tore through a set heavily favoring their first 3 Atco albums (“Strikes”, “Tomcattin’” and “Marauder”) and NEVER let up. Even slower songs like “Fly Away” and “Left Turn On A Red Light” were souped up into energetic raucous rockers. Funny thing was, as high energy as it was, I don’t think they played anything too fast as had always been my complaint with their live album “Highway Song-Live” and most bootleg shows I have of them. They kept a steady pace and the tempo was real close to what is on record, but the ferocious energy made the songs spring to life. Pam knew very little of their catalog, only knowing their stuff from a few listens to one of my Blackfoot “Best of”s which heavily favored albums like “Siogo” and “Medicine Man”, but she was bopping along into it and, though she’ll probably deny it, I’m pretty sure I saw her banging her head a few times! (For those who don’t know, she’s a BIG fan of line dancing Country Music!).

Once again, I was disappointed in my fellow Molly Hatchet fans as they just kept leaving the venue. I don’t get it. Blackfoot lit that stage on FIRE! I LOVE Molly Hatchet, but Blackfoot one upped them this time. Energy levels that rival only a few bands that I’ve ever seen (keep in mind that original members Greg Walker and Charlie Hargrett are well into their 50’s!), cleaner guitar tones than Molly Hatchet (not sure why either as they used Molly Hatchet’s equipment), extended lead breaks, outstanding vocals (both lead by Jay and backing by Greg), absolutely killer drumming (Pam thought Christoph smoked Shawn Beamer………I don’t know about that, but he WAS awesome!) and songs that you just couldn’t help but move yourself to added up to one of the best shows I’ve ever seen! Yet, there was probably only a third of the audience left by the time “Highway Song” kicked in at the end of the show. I don’t know and I shouldn’t care, all I do know is that it was a helluva good time.


Set List:
Good morning
Wishing Well
I Got A Line On You
Baby Blue
Railroad Man
Every Man Should Know
Fox Chase
Left Turn On A Red Light
Bass Solo
On The Run
Rollin’ And Tumblin’
Fly Away
Train, Train
I Stand Alone (Semi a capella first verse)
Highway Song

Encore (believe it or not, the few people left made enough noise for them to return to the stage for one more song)
Dry County


www.BlackfootRocks.com