Re: [Harp-L] SPAH 1998

[IcemanLE@xxxxxxx]

In a message dated 9/7/2007 7:50:00 P.M. Eastern Daylight Time,  
jross38@xxxxxxxxxxx writes:


Now  I remember the talent!  One of my fondest memories of SPAH is   
standing by the door during Wilson's set.  Portnoy and Guyger had  to  
go up with him at the end of it and were out in the atrium having  a  
pre-show smoke, but they kept popping their heads in every  twenty  
seconds or so to listen to Wilson, with this slack-jawed  look, before  
shaking their heads and desperately lighting up again  to kill the  
nerves.  I just loved that scene, as two of the  best in the world at  
what they do (traditional electric blues) were  being amazed by  
another one.  Just a great  memory.


Those that want a vicarious taste of the synergy and energy should order  the 
SPAH 98 Blues Blow Off video, which I believe has been transferred to DVD.  
Notice the crowd for the Blues Show - complete full house the whole evening -  
young and old (you can tell by all the white hair). Also, a great number of  
people from outside the show attended - at least an extra one hundred or more  
(at $10 a pop). That Wednesday night, Rod Piazza was doing a  concert in 
Ferndale, Michigan. Curtis Salgado and I drove out and passed out  flyers to 
everyone waiting in line to get in the concert - a highlight was when  Curtis was 
behind me and I handed a flyer to a harmonica fan. He saw that Curtis  was 
appearing and said "Curtis is one of my favorite harmonica players. I'd sure  like 
to see him some day." So I pulled Curtis from behind me and introduced him.  
That fan just about fell over. We went around back of the theatre to put flyers 
 on car windshields, and Rod and Honey were back there airing out before 
their  set. When they saw Curtis, they said "What are you doing here?" and invited 
us  in to the show, where they had Curtis up on stage singing with them. What 
fun.  It's amazing that Curtis, with all his talent and ability, would agree 
to go out  and help me pass out flyers. He's one of the really nice guys on 
the circuit,  when you get to know him.
 
One of the most fun moments of the Thur. blues show was when Kim invited  
Jerry Portnoy up at the end of his set - Jerry is obviously a little nervous -  
his cell phone rang on stage and.....  well, you'll just have to watch the  
video to see what happens.
 
Kim was contracted to play one 50 minute set. He had so much fun that he  
played for about 1 1/2 hours. You can tell from this video how much electricity  
and enjoyment was in the air, from both sides of the stage. There was a PA 
sound  problem during one of Kim's slow blues songs - someone bumped into the 
spring  reverb unit creating that rumbling noise. Kim, with an amused look on his 
face  and not dropping a beat, added a line into the song referring to a 
thunderstorm.  Only when artists of this caliber are truly enjoying themselves do 
they roll  with these unprofessional punches with wit and humor.
 
Great back up band - formerly the rhythm section for Big Dave and the  
Ultrasonics - one of the best bands ever to not break through - Ben Wilson, the  
keyboard player, is now with John Popper. Jimmy Rasmussen, the bass player, is  
now a stalwart of the Toronto blues scene. Nick Moss was imported from Chicago  
to round out the talent. 
 
The Iceman



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