Hero worship...

Playlist
Cloudland Canyon – Lie in Light
Holy F*ck - LP
Allan Holdsworth – None Too Soon
Allan Holdsworth – Against the Clock
Chad Wackerman – Legs Eleven
Chad Wackerman – Forty Reasons

Tonight to Glasgow to see Allan Holdsworth – the third concert by this virtuoso guitarist I’ve attended...

To give you an idea of the music, Anne came along with me years ago to the Renfrew Ferry to see this very man and, as soon as the band started to play their music-with-no-discernable-melody, Anne opined that perhaps they’d all just met for the very first time just a few minutes ago in the car park...

Having been unable to convince Dr Prog to come along either, I was on my own and entered the venue around 8pm, having driven around Glasgow trying to find a cash machine in case there were any trinkets on sale...

I took my place amongst the mostly serious young, and not so young, men in the audience (female attendees numbered probably fewer than 10 out of a couple of hundred), most of whom appeared to be guitarists, drummers or musicians of some sort or another...

Standing right at the front, centre stage, I was entertained in the pre performance hanging around time by a quartet of guys to my left, all of whom seemed to be players in various wedding bands – they were regaling each other with funny stories of first-dance music choices and strange requests or rules to which they’d been obliged to adhere...

As the trio took to the stage, I was amazed at just how nervous Mr H appeared to be, both his hands were visibly shaking – it didn’t affect his playing though...

He joked with the crowd and came across as a very shy self-effacing man, considering every person in the audience probably regarded him as a guitar genius and gave the trio an ovation at the end of each piece...



Throughout the two, hour-long, sets which ensued, I was around 4ft away from Mr Holdsworth and the same from his superb drummer, Chad Wackerman, whose CD, “Scream”, I’d coincidentally acquired around four weeks ago in a pawn shop in Prince George, British Columbia...

The music was out of this world and the virtuosity on display from all three players was astounding...

And, unlike many concerts I’ve attended, the audience tonight was fully attentive and respectful to the players and, like me, quite obviously blown away by the performance...

I left my prime position at the end of the second set and nipped upstairs to buy the only one of the four CDs on sale which I didn’t already have, Wackerman’s latest, “Legs Eleven”, and watched the short encore from up there...

I hung around like a fanboy and, as promised at the CD stall, the trio emerged to meet and greet, signing the just purchased CDs clutched by the faithful...

I explained to Mr H that I hadn’t bought his CDs as I had them already but could he sign the Wackerman disc...

“No problem, it’s a cool album” he replied...

Off out into the night, a happy man - the journey home was soundtracked by my latest purchase...

A good night indeed...

Highlight of the Day : Allan Holdsworth...