Saw David Lindley again last night. The guy is freakin' amazing. If you have never seen him, heard him, or heard of him I would suggest doin' it. Oh, by the way he is not a bassist, he is a lap guitar and pretty much anything else with string's player. He played an Ude last night and it blew me away. His website. This is the Ude he played:
Isn't that an oud? Certainly a member of the lute family, but not as much like a cittern as the newer lutes.
Yes, I've seen him (with Jackson Browne) and he is amazing. In an interview in Guitar Player many years back he said that guitars should never be taken apart if at all possible, feeling that the sound would be affected in a negative way. I felt the eccentric/wacko vibe from that statement.
I saw David Lindley about 9 years ago out of the blue, my boss was going to see him (he had moved from CA a few years ago and had seen him out there) and I was blown away from the start of the show. I was amazed at the amount of sound that could come from 2 people (him and Hani Naser, great percussionist!!!). I bought all both of the albums he was selling that night (Live in Tokyo and Playing Even Better) and soon after picked up the El-Rayo X albums (El-Rayo X, Very Greasy, and Live) and about 2 years ago caught him again with Wally Ingram (you have to love a drummer who uses a motorcycle hemet as a cymbal, and even sits on a box that is part of his drum set) and picked up the Twango Bango albums (also got turned on to Kaki King who was opening up for the Dave and Wally Show a bit before her first album came out. She's nowhere near as weird as Dave, but she's a great musicinan also). I can easily say that Lindley instantly became one of my favorite artists. If you're reading this, go to his web site and sign up, check the tour dates and when he's near you GO SEE HIM!!!! You will never make fun of your friends for wearing weird colors EVER again!!!
I saw David Lindley & El Rayo X open for the Grateful Dead at the Laguna Seca Speedway back in '88. I don't remember much other than I liked the opening band.
The best concert I ever saw was David Lindley and Ry Cooder at the Orphium in Vancouver in the early 90's. Just the two of them together with no back up musicians. They each had about a dozen instruments behind them that they reached for throughout the night. The musicianship was incredible. Saw him twice before in Vancouver and Ottawa respecitvely, in the early 90's. If anyone was ever going to be successful at bringing back polyester, it's Mr.Dave.
Not the best pic, and surprisingly most of the pics on his web site have rather band outfits, but this one is nice (and I'm sure MUCH brighter in person!!) And I don't remember anything in the shows that I saw that would explain this:
