Got invited by a friend to the Great British Rhythm and Blues Festival on Friday to see Jack Bruce and the Norman Beaker band. Oddly enough Norman lives in the same town as me and someone was just recommending to me a few days earlier that I go check him out.
Now Jack Bruce is one of my bass heroes I love his style his tone etc etc, so I got to the gig and got to the front right under Jack's nose.
I was just blown away, having coming away from the gig and checking out other live performances I'd say his voice is better than it's ever been, his playing was stunning but a bit sparse, very lead bass esq with the organist filling out a lot of the band sound.
His gear was what you'd expect, 2 Hartke XL 4x10 and 1x15 stacks with a HA3500 on one and a HA5500 on the other, sm57 on one of the 10's and then I'm told 2 di boxes. He used his fretless Jack Bruce signature Warwick all night, I don't know if anyone has ever commented but it's got side red led's in it. I could see his backup bass resting on a gigbag and it was a Gibson EB3 (I assume) it certainly wasn't his old 60's one it may have even been a Warwick signature but it looked absolutely brand spanking new.
He played the whole gig with his right hand and the neck pickup and only moved closer to the neck when playing, I was so close I could hear his amp (I was technically stood behind the PA
) it definitely was very mid heavy but it had a good chunk of grind to it as well that I wouldn't have thought was possible with the Hartke's, anyway Jack sounded like Jack, amazingly articulate.
Once the gig had finished I hung around trying to get an autograph and came to the conclusion that Jack wouldn't be coming out to the general public so I went outside and found the stage door, just as I did his tour manager was pulling the people carrier around so I offered to held him get the gear in the car. As I'd suspected Jack was only using the HA5500 stack and the HA3500 and other 4x10 and 1x15 were a backup, it was there he told me about the 2 DI signals, I can only assume one pre and post the Harkte.
So once this stuff was in the car, the tour manager said he was just going to get Jack. Jack comes out and gets into the car, I sheepishly asked "Excuse me Jack, sorry to bother you but I couldn't get an autograph and a handshake could I?" to which he responded "Well you're not really (bothering me), I can't shake your hand as I've got terrible cramps but I'll try and sign something for you" so I got my Jack Bruce autobiography signed, I had my vinyl copy of Songs For A Tailor in the car but I didn't want to take it into the gig or try and run and get it before he left.
Now one thing I will say is, Jack was very gracious throughout his gig and was grateful to be at the gig and this was a festival so it would have been hard for him to hang around, I mean the man is near 70 and you can really see it when you meet him, he looks in great health on stage but afterwards it's clear he's giving it his all.
Anyway enjoy the pics (sorry they were all taken on an Iphone)
Setlist:
First Time I Heard The Blues
Mellow Down
You Burnt The Tables On Me (He didn't play this)
Neighbour Neighbour
Politician
Born Under A Bad Sign
We're Going Wrong
White Room
Sunshine Of Your Love
Encore:
Spoonful or Sitting On Top (He played Sitting On Top)
