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Events and Reports - Gilby Clarke - Live in Lübeck, Germany, April 22. 2006
Gilby Clarke was on a rare European tour even though his latest album "Swag" was released way back in 2002. So you could expect a greatest hits set from Gilby, whose impressive career spans through Candy, Kill for Thrills, Guns N' Roses and his own brilliant solo albums.
After the first song Under The Gun taken from "Swag" Gilby welcomed us and promised that this would be an evening with new, old and borrowed songs. The concert started off really good with some strong Gilby Clarke songs like Black and an amazing version of Motorcycle Cowboys from the excellent Kill for Thrills album.
The approx 150-200 people weren't that familiar with Gilby's solo stuff and therefore Gilby chose to play Dylan's Knocking on Heaven's Door, which Guns N' Roses also had a hit with. In that way Gilby could draw reference back to Guns N' Roses but not totally capitalize and still pledge allegiance to the traditional American rock.
The band performed as a 3 piece with bassist Muddy also taking over lead vocal duties on a couple of songs. Gilby and Muddy also collaborated on the Col. Parker album along with Teddy Zig Zag from Guns N' Roses and Slim Jim Phantom from Stray Cats. They played a song off that only Col. Parker album written and sung by Muddy called I Believe. It was a very welcomed surprise since I Believe actually sounds like a vintage hit from the 70's. Muddy's voice sounded great and he also did lead vocals for 30 Days in the Hole.
On Gilby's live album titled "Live 99' Tracii Guns performed as extra guitarist to give the songs more body. This 3 piece did great, but on the songs Muddy sang - Gilby had the reserve of strength to add some extra neat licks to the songs.
Gilby definitely is a "feel player" since he plays with his heart and soul. It's so obvious that he loves music, which explains the many cover songs. When I confronted Gilby that there was too many cover songs in the set, Gilby explained that it was hard because of course he loves his solo stuff but also enjoys playing Rolling Stones and so on.
Unfortunately Gilby Clarke is always billed as "Ex. Guns N' Roses" wherever he plays. Therefore I think that he feels the pressure to include a song or two from the band. Surprisingly Gilby chose to play Sweet Child o' Mine, which is a great song but doesn't fit Gilby Clarke's style. Drummer Chad Stewart helped out on the chorus with the high notes and even though they only played as a 3 piece Chad Stewart and Muddy did great with loads of backing vocals and tight musicianship.
After a bunch of cover songs Gilby finally got back to the "Pawnshop Guitars" album. He played what he characterized as a heavy metal song" Cure Me or Kill Me. The song was great live and the power riff got most heads nodding. Gilby introduced the next song as a story that started sad but ended good - he started Tijuana Jail, where Chad Stewart really hit the drums hard and solid.
The set ended with Beatles' With a Little Help from my Friends, Rolling Stones' Dead Flowers and Guns N' Roses' Used to Love Her. That illustrates the concert quite well. It was a great show but the setlist was a bit disappointing for a true fan like me who has all Gilby's solo albums and side projects. The setlist satisfied the masses who came to see "ex. Guitarist from Guns N' Roses" but for true fans that came for Gilby Clarke, we needed lot more solo songs in the set.
The venue "Riders Café" in Lübeck Germany was quite cool with a large sized stage. There is something unique by the look of a German crowd - it's hilarious to still discover Germans with "Bundesliga" hair style.
The sound was quite good. This was a guitar based concert. I definitely got a full dose of Gilby's playing since I was right in front of Gilby and could hear Gilby's feedback on his amplifier right in my face and got the full sound on the PA as well.
Gilby Clarke is a very sought after man and in between him playing with other bands he tries to get out once every year to air his solo material. However, Gilby Clarke recently joined the "Tv group" Supernova consisting of Tommy Lee and Jason Newsted. The concept of this supergroup is to search for a lead singer and air their search as a TV show, so this will be the last time in a while that you get a chance to experience Gilby doing some solo dates. Hopefully Gilby will be back with a set comprised of songs from "Pawnshop Guitars", "The hangover", "Rubber" and "Swag"
Setlist (in approx. order)
Intro riff
Under the Gun
Black
Motorcycle Cowboys
Knocking on Heavens Door
I Believe
It's only Rock N Roll
Sweet Child O' Mine
30 Days in the Hole
Cure Me or kill me
Tijuana Jail (with intro riff)
With a little help from my friends
Dead Flowers
Used to Love Her
| Click pictures for a bigger version
All pictures by Martin Borg | Written by Michael
Tuesday, May 16, 2006 |
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RevelationZ Comments
| Comment by Rider´s Cafe Kai-Uwe (Anonymous) - Wednesday, May 17, 2006 | Thanx for the nice Story, the Band with Gilby was great and No Way from Lübeck a good Support. All the best from Lübeck in the North of Germany www.riders-cafe.de
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