Frampton Came Alive!

Back in 1976 at the height of his popularity I saw a young blonde maned Peter Frampton entertain a sold out crowd of youngsters like myself. Last night I saw a bald gray maned Peter Frampton entertain a sold out crowd of olds like me. What was the difference? Not much. Peter Frampton is one of the best guitarists of all time, in my opinion. To see him perform again after 40 years was a pleasure. The enthusiasm of 1976 when it truly looked like he couldnt believe what was happening is still there. But now, the enthusiasm comes with experience and failures, Self deprecating humor and interesting name droppings do not seem at all anything but a guy sitting around telling stories. He should write a book.

But the music. Oh man, even though we missed two songs due to nightmare traffic control that had no idea how to squeeze perhaps 2000 cars into a huge park, the music was just phenomenal. The instrumental cover of Soundgarden's Black Hole Sun, a song I dont even care for, had me begging for more. The guitar duel during a jam of I'll Give You Money, just mind blowing. The hits, Show Me The Way and Baby I Love Your Way, just as fresh as when I saw him in '76. The Humble Pie song, Four Day Creep, introduced with a simple, "how about some Humble Pie", unreal, despite the guy hollering for 30 Days In The Hole. And the closer. The song I never ever tire of, the live version of Do You Feel Like I Do. God I love that song. Frampton teased the crowd by getting so far into it and not talking thru the tube he actually shrugged and said "What?" and then launched into the talking tube part that fascinated us back in the 70s. And then he left. For now.

Steve Miller is the ultimate pro. He knows who he is, he knows what you want to hear, and he plays it. His string of hits from the 70's and 80's is as impressive a run as anyone has had. He plays them all. Opening with The Stake, truly a song you go oh yeah Ive heard that, Miller just plays and plays his blues oriented sound until you are pretty much exhausted and cannot believe how many hits that guy had.

The sudden switch from his lousiest hit, Abracadabra, to his best song, Livin in the USA, made my head spin a bit. He then brought back Frampton to jam on a couple of old blues tunes that made my night. Two legends going back to the beginning and trading licks and paying tribute to the blues artists that started all of this.

Then it was back to the hits, Hit after hit after hit. It was fun.

By the way, Miller has been around so long he also tells a lot of stories. And his stories are long. And ya know what, they hold your interest. Maybe he too should write a book.