This is a really great audience video from the Colorado Rock and Roll Hall of Fame show this past Tuesday, with Warren leading the band through the great Billy Cobham / Tommy Bolin classic "Red Baron."
What I like is that Warren plays a lot of slide, and I have not seen Warren play slide much recently, so it knocks me out. When he plays non-slide lead, I do find sometimes that he goes to certain stock licks a little too much for me, even though most of the time he is also laying out great melodic stuff. But on this video, his slide feels very fresh and lively.
The guitarist Lucas Miguel Parker is the first soloist for 4 or 5 minutes, though the camera is not always on him. He is a very cool player. I could see him getting big.
Then Warren jumps in on slide solo, and it is just lovely, lovely slide. You know, it is probably my own bias - Warren was an established GREAT slide player just to GET the Allmans gig. Obviously he's a beast. But I got so fascinated with Derek's playing that maybe I sometimes overlooked or underrated Warren in the latter years as a player. Wonderful slide solo.
Then Joe Bonnamossa takes a lead, playing Tommy Bolin's old Les Paul that Joe just purchased. He makes it sing. No joke. I was not a big Bonnamossa fan before this, though I always recognized that he had great chops. He is great on this!! Tone. He makes the Les Paul yelp.
The video is maybe 12 minutes, and be patient if the cameraman is not always on target.
Really enjoyed that! I'm a big Warren fan. First time I saw Warren play was in 1988 on the Pattern Disruptive tour. During their first break Warren led Johnny Neal up to the bar right next to me. I had the album but had not heard of either one. Warren shuck my hand and I complimented his playing and he thanked me. Just a nice guy. He had some friends there in Winston Salem, NC from nearby Ashville, North Carolina. Warren said he met both Dickey and Gregg a few years earlier in Nashville. I was deeply impressed with his extraordinary slide solo on Blue Sky. Yes Warren is one of the best slide players out there today. Matt Apts on drums raised a lot of eyebrows. I heard a few people talk about what a strong drummer he was.
Joe Bonamassa does have the chops and plays with emotion and can play lightening fast and do it clean. But like you there is just some reason I can't really become a big fan. When I first saw the ABB in early 1970 I was hooked big time immediately and same with Stevie Ray Vaughn .
