DaveinLondon
05-13-2010, 01:59 AM
Finally got to see John McLaughlin on Tuesday night. He's currently touring Europe with his '4th Dimension' group in support of his new album 'To the One'. Current line-up is Mark Mondesir on drums, Etienne M'Bappe on electric bass and Gary Husband on keyboards and second drumkit.
John certainly gives value for money: a 2 hour set with no interval plus an encore. Pretty much a full-on fusion blast. I didn't get the CD last night as I have a backlog of discs to listen to but it'll be worth picking up (I think www.abstractlogix.com (http://www.abstractlogix.com/) is the main source in the US).
The tunes played spanned the last 30-odd years. I think the oldest tune was 'The Unknown Dissident' from the 'Electric Dreams' album.
For a man of, what, 68?, John certainly doesn't show any signs of slowing down. The last couple of years have seen regular output and this particular lineup really seems to have reinvigorated his playing. John always has great rhythm sections and he was really getting off on Mark and Etienne's grooves. The band were locked up ridiciulously tight on tunes like 'Que Alegria'. There were some terrific drum duels between Mark and Gary throughout.
My friend, who's a music journalist, had got us backstage passes, which was fun. Didn't get to say hi to John as he was, as you might expect, surrounded by family and friends.
For the gearheads: John was playing a Godin Strat-style guitar, similar to the Freeway SA model he has used for the last couple of years but with a new, fuller body shape. 2 humbuckers rather than the HSH setup. No amp on stage. On the floor was a Mesa Boogie VTwin preamp pedal, a yellow box MXR Chorus, an MXR Carbon Copy, a Korg Pitchblack tuner and the wireless unit he was using (couldn't see the make).
John certainly gives value for money: a 2 hour set with no interval plus an encore. Pretty much a full-on fusion blast. I didn't get the CD last night as I have a backlog of discs to listen to but it'll be worth picking up (I think www.abstractlogix.com (http://www.abstractlogix.com/) is the main source in the US).
The tunes played spanned the last 30-odd years. I think the oldest tune was 'The Unknown Dissident' from the 'Electric Dreams' album.
For a man of, what, 68?, John certainly doesn't show any signs of slowing down. The last couple of years have seen regular output and this particular lineup really seems to have reinvigorated his playing. John always has great rhythm sections and he was really getting off on Mark and Etienne's grooves. The band were locked up ridiciulously tight on tunes like 'Que Alegria'. There were some terrific drum duels between Mark and Gary throughout.
My friend, who's a music journalist, had got us backstage passes, which was fun. Didn't get to say hi to John as he was, as you might expect, surrounded by family and friends.
For the gearheads: John was playing a Godin Strat-style guitar, similar to the Freeway SA model he has used for the last couple of years but with a new, fuller body shape. 2 humbuckers rather than the HSH setup. No amp on stage. On the floor was a Mesa Boogie VTwin preamp pedal, a yellow box MXR Chorus, an MXR Carbon Copy, a Korg Pitchblack tuner and the wireless unit he was using (couldn't see the make).