JEFF BECK AND THE IMELDA MAY BAND at the Fillmore San Francisco
This past Saturday I had the extreme privilege to witness some of the finest guitar work and music. This is the second time I've seen Jeff Beck in the Bay Area and I've never been disappointed. Oh no, Mr. Beck raises the bar each time I see him. This time he was here to pay homage to the late great Les Paul. Along with Jeff was the Imelda May band and if you missed them on Jules Holland's show then you are missing out. Ahem, there is a Rockabilly resurgence and it's super cool and Imelda's band is super talented. I am a picky listener and I couldn't find a weak link in the bunch. Just amazing vocals from Ms. May and a tight band. Oh yeah, accompanied by one guitar god Jeff Beck.
The best part, everybody on-stage enjoyed themselves. These people obviously were having fun as they traded 8th, 16th, modulated and any neophyte could see that the band and Jeff were tight and hitting the notes. The show was fun fun fun for the crowd and band alike!
You owe it to yourself to listen to Imelda May band because she is really a force and surprising that the american public hasn't gobbled them up, but then again, America is a weird and fickle listening crowd and all you need to do is remember The Clash, who are now iconoclasts but initially ignored by the American music consumers. Fine, more for me.
For the guitar geeks out there, Jeff played a number of instruments; A Beautiful Reissue 1959 Tiger Stripe Gibson Les Paul, Blond Gibson ES-175, Black Gretsch Jet, White Fender Strat (his name sake), Old Fender Tele were the guitars of choice this evening. His amplifiers were Marshall's and Fender Twins. For a change he did employ some delays for a slap back echo effect but for the better part of the night it was Vintage Jeff Beck tone, void of effects, and he kicked some serious glutenous maxi mus.
