Eric
Johnson + Johnny A
July 16, 2005, House Of Blues
New Orleans, LA
story & photos by Ritchie Champagne
July 16, 2005, House Of Blues
New Orleans, LA
story & photos by Ritchie Champagne
Johnson is touring in support of Bloom, his first release of new studio music in nine years. His repertoire has always included a plethora of musical styles. Bloom is an equally eclectic affair, covering the rock, country, jazz, and acoustic genres, plus a few harder to classify tracks. While not as varied as Bloom, the songs chosen for this gig showed much diversity. From the rock of 12 To 12 Vibe to the country picking of Tribute To Jerry Reed to the straight blues of World Of Trouble to the clean tone gallop of Trademark, Johnson does not stick to one thing for too long.
Steve
Vai played the House Of Blues last March while suffering from a bout
of the flu. Other than curtailing the amount of vocal songs on the set
list, he still managed to put on a great show. Fast forward four months
to Eric Johnson’s New Orleans show and Johnson was
having throat problems of his own. Instead of adjusting the set list to
accommodate an instrumental show, he decided to go ahead and attempt a
few vocal numbers. High Landrons and covers of Bob Dylan’s
My Back Pages and The Beatles' Drive My Car, both
with stunning new arrangements, are performed without obvious problems.
Late in the set, though, Johnson stepped up to the mike and asked the audience if they wanted to hear the Ah Via Musicom track Desert Rose. After a roar to the affirmative, he qualified that there was a second part to the question. If they were to play Desert Rose, it would be as an instrumental. Or, he offered, Maresh could sing Helen Reddy's I Am Woman. Taylor added that the first time he played New Orleans was with Helen Reddy's band.
Late in the set, though, Johnson stepped up to the mike and asked the audience if they wanted to hear the Ah Via Musicom track Desert Rose. After a roar to the affirmative, he qualified that there was a second part to the question. If they were to play Desert Rose, it would be as an instrumental. Or, he offered, Maresh could sing Helen Reddy's I Am Woman. Taylor added that the first time he played New Orleans was with Helen Reddy's band.
