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Paco in Edinburgh
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Ron.M
Posts: 7051
Joined: Jul. 7 2003
From: Scotland
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 Paco in Edinburgh
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Hi Folks,
Well, I just got back from Edinburgh.
It was really great to see Paco finally doing his stuff after all these years of waiting!
He got a great turn-out and the Usher Hall must have pretty much sold-out.
Unfortunately,from where I was sitting (near the front) the sound system was very bassy and boomy, (like the same sound you get on an old amp when you turn the bass control full up and the treble control practically all the way down), so a lot of the detail was very muddy.
Rob (El Oud) was sitting further back and said that the sound was OK for him.
He said some other folk he knew who were sitting at the front said the same, so I guess it was because we were just hearing the sound from the side of the PA stacks at either side of the stage.
Not that it mattered much, for the stuff was way too abstract for me!
Paco played without a capo, either in open tunings or with a weird resolving chord somewhere up the middle of the neck, so there was never a danger of a traditional sounding chord creeping in anywhere, God forbid.
Although it was fun to watch, I personally found the music pretty tedious and bland.
Even the addition of Hamonica, Electric Bass and Cajón/Congas didn't lift it that much for me.
The rhythms and chords seemed to keep well away from anything that could be mistaken for Traditional Flamenco, although the two cantaoras sang well and did their best to fit in to the general style.
Definitely came across as Jazz/World/Contemporary/Alternative stuff to me.
I had been looking forward to hearing Niño Josele, but for practically the whole concert he just stroked a few chords with his thumb, except for about a minute where he did a little picado "duel" with Paco.
I couldn't quite get the point of using a player of Josele's calibre for such a minor role?
Everyone remained seated on stage and there was no speaking to, or rapport with the audience.
To be honest it seemed like everybody was shattered after a late night the previous night and were just going through the motions.
Still, the show seemed to go down well with the audience, although I'm not 100% sure if they were cheering for the performance or "the legend" myself.
The only time things picked up was on their last number, where the percussionist and bass player were allowed to solo for a bit and Paco ripped off some incredibly long, and ultra-fast picados.
Very funky, but for that kind of stuff, frankly I'd rather hear Ginger Baker, Jack Bruce and Clapton myself.
I think they do it better.
Oh..and the Harmonica player also got to solo a bit.
Of course there was the obligatory 3 minute standing ovation after which the performers returned with one of the cantaoras carrying Paco's little daughter and sat her on her knee and the little girl did a bit of palmas and cante during an improvised Tangos/Rumba run up to the final "Entre Dos Aguas".
She then ran up at the end and hugged her Pa's leg as they took the final applause.
Quite moving actually and I'm not being sarcastic here. I really did have a bit of a tear in my eye.
Well,it cost me about $200 in all, 250 miles travel and two half days off work.
Was it worth it?
Of course it was!
I owed it to myself and to "The Man".
cheers
Ron
Oh...and Paco doesn't use the "Paco leg position" for playing anymore...he uses a footstool.
I guess the old arthritis hits us all eventually.
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REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE |
Date Oct. 6 2005 14:01:23
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Ron.M
Posts: 7051
Joined: Jul. 7 2003
From: Scotland
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RE: Paco in Edinburgh (in reply to Mark2)
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You know Mark,
I don't think it's got to do with sound reinforcement or anything like that.
Now I've had time to let it seep in, here are my views...
Paco is a Prima Donna.
Not his fault, but from his very early 20's has lived all his life being told that he is the best Flamenco guitarist who has ever lived.
He has lived that for almost the last forty years.
That has now become his personal identity, the person whom he has to deal with each time he wakes up and looks himself in the mirror in the morning, like Sabicas before him, who would simply not let go of the torch.
In fact I have an album of an older Sabicas, just called "Sabicas!!", where he is photographed on the LP cover in a white suit and his $10,000 diamond ring and an unusally bitter expression on his face, just when Paco was just starting to draw extensive public attention.
I haven't played it for a long time, but I found the recording quite embarrasing for the man as he tries to take on this "young buck" by trying to play faster and slicker, which of course he is unable to.
In fact, he only gets out of his depth and neither sounds like himself or Paco... just like an old man getting up to dance at his son's 21st Birthday Party, thinking "I'll show those whippersnappers how to dance!".
He loses his dignity IMO.
The truth, IMO is that , if Paco had one encore at the Usher Hall, then Gerardo would have had three.
Problem is that Gerardo doesn't have the same credentials as a primary innovator.
But he's younger, he's slicker, he's more precise, his music is more organized, his audience presense is much better, he's got a great sense of humour and has a better judgement of musicians he takes on the road with him.
Paco's group was a shambles IMO.
I felt the singers would have preferred to stand and relate to the audience, but were probably overruled by Paco, since it could possibly appear that they were the featured artist...so they agreed to just content themselves on the money they'd make from the tour.
After all...who's the Daddy around here?
When I sat in Dundee to see Gerardo, there were five chairs all the same colour and type laid out.
One for the Cajón player, the Singer, Gerardo, his wife, the Dancer, and the Bassist.
The man is an honest musician, respects his fellow artists and audience...and delivers!
In Edinburgh, all the chairs were the same red colour...except for Paco's, which was a special white one and a different style.
I don't want to go on too much on this theme, 'cos it's depressing... but I'd really respect Paco if he had to announce his retirement and take his riches he has accumulated and spend more time scuba diving and bringing up his wee girl and accept that everybody loves him for what he's done and the genius he brought to the Flamenco guitar, and to do a final tour playing his "Golden Oldies" that everybody loves him for and stop trying to keep up with the younger and very talented guitarists who are quickly superceding him in technique and performance, rather than waiting until the pendulum swings the other way and is overtaken by a newer and more dynamic player, but still won't let go of that crown.
Paco...everybody loves and respects you....you have nothing more to prove!!
cheers
Ron
PS...
On a lighter note..
The BBC here had been doing a lot of stuff about Bob Dylan for about two weeks before the Paco concert, inlcuding the Martin Scorcese four hour documentary.
For a moment, in the Usher Hall, the devilment in me made me think, after one of his more boring jazzy pieces...
"What if I had to stand up right now and shout 'Judas'!..."  ..
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Date Oct. 6 2005 20:42:39
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Florian
Posts: 9282
Joined: Jul. 14 2003
From: Adelaide/Australia
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RE: Paco in Edinburgh (in reply to Ron.M)
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I feel exactly like that everytime Paco Pena comes to town, only Paco Pena is not Paco, Paco Pena will bring this young talented guitarists and talented dancers and singhers and then force you to sitt trough 30 minutes of the longhest boring solo piece going nowhere that i heard on his 70's cd, and when i dont enjoy it , I think to my self should i feel gulty ? i mean who the **** am I ?? this is Paco Pena for ****s sake,l everybody knows him , hes an important figure in flamenco guitar.
But then I think that is thanks to pple like Paco Pena many young flamencos get they's chance, so i think everything is the way it should be, everyone has his pourpose.
Personally I belive Paco still has alot of good music left in him, and this is coming from not the biggest Paco fan in the world. I think knowing more about flamenco then the average guy in the crowd was your curse !! it sounds like they were able to just enjoy it. Then again the crowd here went off theyr heads when Paco Pena finished a simple taranta. And its always the 60 year old yappys that go to all this shows and pretend that they are well cultured :-) "Let's make a night of it, after we can go to the Hilton for a sangria". What's on next week ? "The Kung Fu Monks, Oh Wonderfull "......
very interesting thread.
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Date Oct. 7 2005 2:49:27
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Mark2
Posts: 1876
Joined: Jul. 12 2004
From: San Francisco
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RE: Paco in Edinburgh (in reply to Ron.M)
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Kind of a bummer Ron, but I understand your point. I saw a concert with Clapton, Page, and Beck several years ago. Beck was by far the best player, but when Page played Stairway, the house went crazy. It was about history and legacy. And that is what Paco has over Gerardo and all the rest of the current crop. And that is no small thing. Maybe Paco should play more stuff from his early albums, but I can't say I feel the way you do. When I saw him, every local guitarist was there, and with the exception of one older Moron type, they were floored. Comparisons were made with the VA concert six months or so before, and it was no comparison to some. Of course I'd love to hear him play some older stuff from Fuente, and I'm not crazy about the "jazz" stuff, but it seems many of the top guys such as VA and Gerardo have followed him into that style. If Paco is a Judas, what does that make them?
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Date Oct. 7 2005 17:27:27
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Ron.M
Posts: 7051
Joined: Jul. 7 2003
From: Scotland
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RE: Paco in Edinburgh (in reply to Mark2)
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quote:
Maybe Paco should play more stuff from his early albums,
Mark,
I think that is it...that's what folk want to hear!
Paco, of course, is a simply outstanding guitarist, but IMO he's not great at the "jazzy" stuff.
He just melts into a kind of a technico-jam, with no real structure to it, finishing off with some Paco picado to justify it.
He is not really good at that stuff IMO...
Personally, I'm not into "jazzy" stuff either, but VA and Gerardo beat him hands down on composition and delivery in that kind of medium.
You've got to remember to that Paco has been a teenage hero of VA, Gerardo and Tomatito, so obviously they have great respect and admiration for the man.
So that's why Paco feels OK and welcome in their company.
Personally, I don't think folk all over the world have put "Fantasia Flamenca", "Almoraima" etc into their dustbins when "Cositas Buenas" came out, thinking that it's just old, archival stuff now that Paco has moved on to greater things....
If anything it's probably been the biggest flop in his career....
(except for the next one)
I would go further to say that Paco is not leading...but following what his younger desciples are up to.
Therein lies the danger IMO.
That's why I drew the Sabicas parallel.
There is no way that any musician/performer is going to embrace every change in the medium throughout his/her entire lifetime and remain at the top.
The thing that got me during the concert, was that after all this time, when I could be watching Paco play some of his all-time Classics right before my eyes....
Here he was, playing all of this waffle, with harmonicas and stuff, that frankly he's not very good at...
And I'll probably never, ever get a chance to see him again.
cheers
Ron
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Date Oct. 7 2005 20:03:00
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Ron.M
Posts: 7051
Joined: Jul. 7 2003
From: Scotland
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RE: Paco in Edinburgh (in reply to Florian)
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quote:
i think the most important part the sentiment, is still very much there.
Sadly Flo...Not in Edinburgh it wasn't....just technique, and a general feeling of "any old crap I play is good enough for these guys...'cos I'm Paco de Lucia".
There was no published program for the concert, listing the artists involved etc....His band simply tumbled on stage in their street clothes...looked really tired and bored, did their thing and got off...
No mention of Niño Josele, a guitarist in his own right who just strummed some chords in the backgound, or the two Cantaoras who both have made a couple of Albums each, but just acted as girl "backing vocals", except for a few mumbled words from Paco at the end...
I can actually see why they were bored, having nothing else to do but be Paco's backing.
That's the only time he ever addressed the audience.. (which incidentally was filled with lots of Spanish people shouting and cheering throughout).
The Concert was simply called "Paco de Lucia", no mention of anyone else
On the other hand...
Gerardo Nuñez, played for a couple of hundred guitar enthusiasts a small event in Dundee. He checked the sound for about a half an hour until it was right, came on bright eyed and bushy tailed as were the rest of his band and just simply wowed everybody out.
Not just him, but the whole band....
He spoke to the audience in Spanish and then the Bassist interpreted into English.
Some jazzy stuff, some flamenco stuff..
Even the jazzy stuff had great rhythm and composition and got me going.
All the Classical buffs as well as the Flamenco buffs were wowed out!
That guy is truly an artist.
Meanwhile the great Paco de Lucia played to a full house in Scotland's capital, at ten times the fee of the Gerardo concert...and played the concert I described...
I was actually more of a Paco fan before I went to the concert!
Jim...if you're listening...you didn't miss anything
Ron
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Date Oct. 7 2005 21:58:11
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Ron.M
Posts: 7051
Joined: Jul. 7 2003
From: Scotland
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RE: Paco in Edinburgh (in reply to flyeogh)
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Nigel,
I suppose to be fair to Paco, I should have known what to expect after "Luzia" and "Cositas Buenas", so in that way I'm a bit like those early "folkies" who went to a Dylan/Band concert and then said it was rubbish.
Thing is most "mature" artists tend to play a mix of their older stuff along with their recent stuff, even though they are sick of playing some of the songs...that's just part of showbiz....unless you're an arrogant genius like Dylan or Paco.
I actually read somewhere on the net that he was playing some stuff from his older albums on this tour, so I was a bit let down.
As for the band appearing tired and lacking the energy of the Gerardo concert, it could very well be for a good reason that I don't know about, like hassle with flights or hotels etc. Maybe they drove up from London (about 12 hours or more) and slept on the way?
Who knows?
Anyway, that was only my impressions of the concert from my point of view and taste.
As I said, it was a full house and he certainly got plenty applause, although from overhearing bits of conversations at the interval, things like "John McLaughlin" and "Friday Night in San Francisco" etc could be heard, so I guess it was mainly a Guitar/Jazz/Contemporary type audience.
I simply don't believe there are that many Flamenco fans in Scotland!
Anyway, at the end of the day artistic success is measured in sell-out concerts, ticket prices and record sales.
If Dylan never had the foresight to go electric, then he'd probably be playing little 150 seat folk clubs around the USA right now and producing CD's on his home computer.
cheers
Ron
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Date Oct. 8 2005 9:42:43
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Jim Opfer
Posts: 1876
Joined: Jul. 19 2003
From: Glasgow, Scotland.
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RE: Paco in Edinburgh (in reply to Ron.M)
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quote:
Jim...if you're listening...you didn't miss anything
Jeez! Ron, just tuned in.
Glad I missed it, although the alternative for me was being forced along to a evening in a karaoke/curry bar in Glasgow. That was real dross, but my wife's father had organised it coz he wanted to sing some Sinatra and thought it might be his last chance at 78' for a big family get together.
Strange thing was, as I sat there getting a headach with the noise from the huge sound system and all those folk singing out of tune, I noticed my brother in law at the opposite end of the table, look at me with a big smile and motion to play some 'air' guitar, his way of rubbing it in. But I wasn't too fussed to tell the truth. I kind of knew it would be the jazzy sextet Paco that I don't like.
I'm with you Ron. The guy is a genius and he's definately got the right to play what he wants, but for me, I bought my tickets just because it felt like something I had to do. I'm no great fan of his music and never listen to 'Costas...'
Nunez was special.
Jim.
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Date Oct. 8 2005 19:05:45
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