Yes, excellent musicians! The guitarist reminds me of Steve Vai.

George my man, check this one out....

I've been listening to a lot of Gary Moore this week. In fact, he's basically all I've been listening to for the past 3 days. What a fantastic player.

His rock playing>Blues Playing so easily.....

I agree, but that's not to say he's a slouch in the blues department.

Oh most certainly not. He gets way too much hate in that department for some reason I cannot understand.

When 'Still got the Blues' came out, I loved it. So I bought the next few albums and they were just more of the same, but not as good.

Gary was a phenomenal player, possibly the most underrated of them all, but to me will always be a rock player. I just felt that the blues thing was going through the motions after a while. I saw him twice as a 'blues artist', and neither time was inspiring. In fact, the 2nd time (Sheffield City Hall), people were walking out in droves in the 2nd half, ironically, because it was obvious that Gary was 'rocking out' too much for their taste.

He was always a guy who could slow it down and stil pick a blazing solo (Empty rooms etc), but when I look back at the shows and recordings of Victims era Gary Moore, thats what i want to remember !

I agree with Seeker.
Moore can definitely play blues, but his tone and choice of notes are rock all the way.
Kinda like the same situation with Bonamassa.

At any rate though, Moore was phenomenal. Wanted posted some tune of his a while back that absolutely FLOORED me, can't remember what it was though.

...oh my 67 yr old guitarist at work .. brilliant on the live stage ... Take care

gminer

I have seen Ritchie at York opera house twice before, but was away when this was recorded last year. Then they release a live DVD from that venue - bit annoyed at that, could have been one of those 'I was there' moments.

Anyway, stunning performance by Ritchie - If he keeps on practising, he will be pretty good by the time he's 70 or so !!

.. very true .... also, there are very few of his contemporaries that have maintained their chops ... maybe the plan should be for you and I to meet at a Blackmore`s Night concert in the UK sometime in the near future and have a beer or two after the event ... my wife and I saw them in Ridgefield CT a few years ago and would like to maybe make that part of a trip to the UK, not to far down the road, if there happens to be a BN tour at the time of our travels .. .. Take care

That would be amazing - Dont know what the ladies would do whilst we talk music, but I guess theres alway shopping !!!

Get Rick to join us and we could setup a DDD veterans and seniors club and play dominoes and discusss the latest developments in Zimmer frame technology etc.

Oh Well - all this typing has made me tired, better go for a nap !!

... Take care

Probably his live 'Empty Rooms' solo - bloody briliant !

Dont agree about Bonamassa/Moore comparison though.

JB is a blues artist first and a rock artist second. Moore was the other way round. Look at Bonamassa clips at 12/13 years old, its blues all the way. He supported BB KIng as a young teenager. etc. etc. The blues is where his heart is and his new wonderful album Driving Towards The Daylight is predominantly a blues album. I dont know if you have listened to his stunning album with Beth Hart from last year, but again heavy on the blues.

This solo is explosive, but you never forget its a blues solo




I have spoken to him on his forum a few times and he's clever enough to know that strumming a beat-up acoustic and singing about the cotton fields can only go so far and he is an ambitious guy. Using Kevin Shirley as a producer has meant Shirley leading him down some more 'commercial' avenues. So much so that the new album entered the UK main chart at number 2 and also the Billboard main chart in the top 20. Thats apart fom no 1 in the blues charts in almost every country.

Joe is a completely independant artist. He and his partner own and finance everything, they do the hiring, firing, organising, recording and tours etc personally. This means commercially, he has to be successful because there is no-one backing him financially. There is a 'Classic Rock' magazine interview somewhere that goes through the structures etc and it makes a fascinating read.

Well I was mainly thinking of Blues Deluxe, where he goes off into some almost shred-like techniques. The tone is rock all the way. In fact I've rarely heard him use a real blues tone.