Albert Lee Live in Cardiff.

[Spudmurphy]

Tonight Little Spud is off to see Big Al and Hogans Heroes - just about a 10 mins walk from where I live.
Gonna take my LEAL to the soundcheck around 5:30 and see if I can get AL to sign the back of the headstock for me.

Watch this space - by tomorrow evening I hope to have some pics posted.
Spud

 

[DJ.]

Sounds like a fun time, Spud. Enjoy!

 

[wolf5150]

Spud, where's he playing ?

 

[lenny]

Cant wait for Pics!!!!.....my wife nicknamed him the "GENTLE Shredder" ...she said meeting him was so nice and he seemed so gentle....so hence the name

 

[Spudmurphy]

Spud, where's he playing ?

Hi Wolf - he's playing in the Globe - just opposite the CLaude on Albany Rd.

 

[dstockden]

mild side step but has anyone seen on Al's site that there is a biography of him coming out mid May?!


ABOUT

 

[banjoplayer]

Hey Spud, have fun, can´t wait for your pics and/or videos!

 

[Smellybum]

Go get 'em spud! - remember and warn him about us lot for June!

 

[Spudmurphy]

mild side step but has anyone seen on Al's site that there is a biography of him coming out mid May?!


ABOUT

I bought it tonight - it's been out a little while, like the link says - "Country Boy A biography of Albert Lee" written by Derek Watts forward by Eric Clapton.



I got in for the sound check and Albert signed my LEAL (rear of the headstock) and had a little chat with him.I just got back home and will write up a report tomorrow (it's midnight in G.B.)

But I just had to show ya these first !!!

Report to follow - watch this space!!

 

[Spudmurphy]

Oh yeah and I have a signed poster (see post #5) that I'll give away in Spuds Christmas e-Party#3 2009.

 

[threeminutesboy]

Thanks for all those updaes Spud as for the christmas giveaway what about that nice rosewood MM90 instead of the poster

 

[mb99zz]

Great pictures, Spud! He (AL) seems like a great guy.

 

[Smellybum]

Go Spud!

I'd love to meet AL, hope I can sneak a quick pic in June, seen him live twice, he does a great show.

 

[Spudmurphy]

Dunno what it is - but when I upload pictures to Photobucket - it goes thro the upload process, then ... ... nothing! They aren't there!
Anyways(I did) just uploaded a clip from last night of Gareth Pearson who first supported Albert 2 years ago (as a 17 year old) in Newcastle, and was stoked to be supporting him last night. I'll try posting more pics tomorrow - photobucket permitting!!
[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MeityZMv7t8]YouTube - Gareth Pearson plays Billie Jean The Globe Cardiff May 09[/ame]

Edit
Oh yeah -
1. it is just him playing
2. i discovered when you zoom in/out with the Samsung camera it cuts the audio (happens twice in the clip sorry)

 

[Spudmurphy]

Sorry for the delay but p bucket is still playing up!
Anyway onto the report of the gig.
The venue was a 10 minute walk from my house and I arrived at 5:30 in plenty of time for the sound check.
My mate manages the venue so that's how I got in to the soundcheck.
When I arrived the roadies (but I guess you call them "Techs" nowadays) had set up all the gear and were finalising the microphone placements.
Albert's BFR guitar lurked inside this well beaten case.

I was able to go onto the stage and shoot Albert Amp settings

Susan Hargreaves the Tour manager was there and I gave her a dvd containing all the photos I had taken 2 weeks ago in Swindon.- she asks fans to send in photos to the website so she was pleased to receive the 400+ photos I had taken !! - well with my camera set on multi exposure it reels off a shot a second and I get nowhere near using up the 9 gigs of memory!!

At 6 the band arrived.The first person I saw was his keyboard player Ellio and he recognised me because of conversations we had had about a famous Cardiff based guitarist called Micky Gee. Ellio had been saddened to hear about Micky's passing and I gave him a dvd of a TV show (not available commercially) which had a lot of footage of Micky and other Welsh Musos like Dave Edmunds, Andy Fairweather-low, Pino Paladino.
He was stoked to receive it and thanked me many times that night. I had also burned a dvd for Albert who also knew Micky. He too was appreciative and carried about changing the strings on his guitar. He doesn't have a roadie (sorry Tech!).
After he had finished that task he walked over to me and gave me a set of strings - I was taken back with this! So for all you guys out there wanting to know his string guages they are definitely...
RPS10 RPS13 RPS16 Custom gauge(CG)26 (CG)36 (CG)46

As Albert carried on checking the systems I was in deep conversation with a lady who was telling me about her involvement in music and PA rigs.
I mentioned that Albert had said that he would sign my LEAL for me and would she be kind enough to take a photo of us. -it turned out that it was Albert's Daughter who had travelled about 60 miles to see her Dad

Later on Gary Pearson the support turned up and we had a chat about AER amps and the last gig he supported at the Globe - Paul Barrerer and Fred Tackett from little feat.
Gary is just an incredible player as you can hear from the vid clip above - a great lad to talk to too.
Me and Gary

Ok I'll carry on trying to upload photos to p bucket from the gig and will post some more later hopefully with the next part of my gig report.
Spud

 

[Spudmurphy]

Ok so here's a few photos of Albert's Gig.

Al Tearing it up

Ya can't have too many pictures of Big AL!!

This guy (Gerry Hogan) always steals Al's guitar!!

In the audience was one of the backing singers on AL's album - awesome !!

Big Al "Thanked" her!! ( Hey no tongues Albert !!)

Later the band did a signing session and I have a signed poster from the Globe signed by all the band that I'll include in the swag bag for this years Xmas e party.

My son had also given me (Birthday) money towards the Albert lee biography I bought that night signed "Best Wishes Spud - Albert Lee".

Going back to when Albert and the band took the stage - the Cardiff Globe crowd were REALLY subdued as Al made the opening announcement - and Albert glanced over to Ellio as if to say "8loody 4ell - what kind of crowd have we got tonight???" - tell ya what though the band were on form that night and had them "eating out of their hands" by the finish. I always look forward to Country Boy when at the end when there are exchanges between AL and Gerry Hogan on Pedal steel, Gerry always slips a couple of "Musical themes" into his 4 bar exchange - as they were playing in Wales we heard the Strains of "Land Of my Fathers" and "we'll keep a welcome in the hillside" - you gotta keep your ears open and you'll hear all kinds of "Musical Merriment" like The flintstones Theme, and so many other musical nuggets - it's all the band can do to keep playing as they usually end up in laughing fits as Gerry hammers out another Musical Jem.

A great night!!

Just to go back a step - I also talked to AL's bass player Brian Hodgson and asked when he was gonna play a big AL bass - he really didn't know too much about it and I went through the specs with him - he sounded interested in the 3 pick up config - BP it would look great to see Big AL with a bass player playing a "Big AL" !!

 

[Sticky1973]

Awesome updates, Spud.

Great pics and good times

 

[banjoplayer]

Thankyou Spud, great pics and great stories!

 

[DrGonzo5150]

Awesome Spud!

Out of curiousity...
Do you know if he was playing a standard Al or one with a tone block?
No BFR logo.. But I can't tell if it's a maple top or just a really nice slab of wood?

 

[Smellybum]

GO SPUD!

Great shots, my BFR is out and playing Ready Willing and able tonight!