mat@bunkerb.UUCP (Mat Frontera) (10/24/83)
I caught the Moody Blues on the first night of their tour, here in Conn. I'm not about to put them down, but I felt their performance was rather lethargic. They seemed most interested in just getting it over with. Maybe they were having a bad night; I can't say. One thing's for sure: they'd have done themselves better if they had chosen a different warm-up band. Headliners have to be very weary that the opening act doesn't steal the show. This is exactly what happened. Stevie Ray Vaughn and Double Trouble, a trio from Austin Texas, were absolutely stupendous. They performed an explosive 40 minute set. Vaughn is a guitarist, and his style draws equally from Jimi Hendrix, Fenton Robinson (an oft-copied Chicago blues artist), and the immortal Kenny Burrell. Although he's not overly inventive, he does play with uncommon intensity and emotion. The band was tight and well-received. The Moodies simply couldn't keep pace with the fresh sound of Vaughn's band. It's just an opinion, so no flames please (unless, of course, they're sent to /dev/brown_hole). bunkerb!mat