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REVIEW OF STEVE MILLER BAND IN WEST PALM BEACH

Posted about 4 years ago
Sat 24 May – Steve Miller Band, Joe CockerThere is a very interesting phenomenon that goes on in the crazy world of live music circa 2008. Young acts love vintage sounds, equipment, and vibe and they saturate ebay to find crazy old instruments to make their music timeless. Meanwhile.. older heritage acts constantly try to modernize their back catolog to keep current and in turn ruin the general vibe of their shows. Steve Miller band at the Cruzan is a perfect example. However, Steve Miller was not totally to blame.. his band was aweful and downright disrespectful.From the first bar of their opener, "Rockin Me", something was not right. The drummer changed the groove and the bassist played the song an octave down on a 5 string bass. In turn the song lacked punch and this was made even more aweful when the first tom fill revealed that the toms were triggered. Miller's voice and guitar sounded right on and this was pleasant.As the concert went along things took a turn for the worst. Miller is about to put out a blues album and the sets pacing was ruined with a 4 song blues set within a set where all the songs were sung by the unimpressive former "Checkmates" singer Sonny Charles. I did not pay to see a bad band play "Stormy Monday". People started leaving.The death blow of the show was when my favorite Miller tune "Fly Like and Eagle" was played. The trademark organ was replaced by a bad keyboard organ sound and the groove was weak. After the second chorus keyboardist Joseph Wooten left his station to center stage and broke into a RAP!!!!!Note to all aging artists.. Rap does not belong in classic rock!!!!Also.. he didnt play swingtown, or jungle love....So what's the main ideaStick to old gear and make yourself sound as good as you used to .. and make your new stuff have all the elements that made you awesome.So listen up Steve Millerget in the studio and produce yourself with a power trio plus keysno digital synths, no 5 string basses, no rapping, lose the harmonica player, have the drummer play an old ludwig kit.. and get back to your old soundgripe is over.....-fsteve miller band, steve miller, classic rock, 70's , joseph wooten, checkmates, black pearl,
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Comments (4)

  1. indiepixie
    indiepixie says hah this is hilarious. i am totally w. you on that phenomenon but at least some do it with style :)
    Permalink posted 05/26/2008
  2. Seattle444
    Seattle444 says Last night I was able to catch Steve Miller in Atlanta GA. I usualy catch him everytime he comes around since the late 80's, as long as he does tour. This was the first time on the east coast, I usualy see him in Los Angeles. I was one of those kids once at the concert mouthing all the words and frequently had people tell me I'm a little too young for this music. Not so much anymore, since I'm 35 now. The sounds was fine for the most part, but on occasion Steve was getting downed out a bit and the guitar tech came out to adjust some things. But I'm not going to go into the sound aspect. Ironicaly for this concert just 3 shows farther than the one you saw, he opening with Jungle Love and finished with an encore of Swingtown and The Joker. He always ends his show with the Joker. He also did the 4 song set with Sonny, and I noticed tons of people getting up and using that time to use the restroom or buy more beer and that kind of thing. I really enjoyed their rendition of Pretty Thing though. I would say that was the highlight of Sonny's set. I thought Steve was great, Norton's harmonica playing was steller, and Sonny's voice really worked well with the song. But you're right, this was at least 20-30 minutes of lost Steve Miller time. After having over two dozen of his shows under my belt, I do enjoy hearing his other works than just the greatest hits. I can only think of 2 shows in the last 20 years that wasn't focused on his most popular songs. One was the Wild River tour. The other was something like the Joker Blues Tour, if I remember right was around '96. I really enjoyed this one since he pulled out greats like "Come into my kitchen" and other blues songs he has that I love. I wish he would do more of these at his shows, but I can understand that most people just want to hear the sing-a-long songs which is evident by which songs people sit back down in their chairs for. The Fly Like An Eagle rap bit is something I always hated. I remember first hearing him do this in around '91. And he did it every show since then, except at a show in '04 I saw at Pochenga in CA. I was hoping he had finaly put that behind him, but I couldn't be so lucky. The crowd still went nuts for it, which was beyond me, so I think it's here to stay. To me it just seems way to forced and commercialized and just a stupid gimmick. One of the best parts of the shows I always look forward to is the dueling harmonica's, between Steve and Norton. Steve is actually a great harmonica player. They cut that out of this show this year. Very dissapointing. But seriously, the harmonica has become a staple of Steve Miller as well as blues in general. You can't cut that out. Like I said, the show always ends with The Joker. There was no leading 4 count bass drum this time. It just sort of started. I really never have liked his live rendition of The Joker though. It's much too messy. In fact, a lot of his perfomances from the greatest hits stuff is just too, busy. I'd love to see him come out and maybe to an acoustic Joker, or trim back some of those extra guitars he uses. Sometimes less is more. His songs have really lost the feel lately, but his playing is spot on. I think there's just too much going on.
    Permalink posted 05/27/2008
  3. rhoudaille
    rhoudaille says Cool to read about the Atlanta show and the difference in opinions. Haha, either way, I think Steve Miller jumped the shark when he went mainstream, but hey, isn't that usually the case? For those who go to every show, it is good to hear he is changing things up a bit. It's so boring when the band plays the same thing, same set, year after year. Jethro Tull seems to be one of those bands that keep things alive, the new version of Aqualung they are doing this tour is wild! But much needed. Anyway, i'm sure many would complain about that too! haha
    Permalink posted 06/03/2008
  4. Ubergina
    Ubergina says

    in the immortal words of Bart Simpson "I didn't think it was possible for something to suck and blow at the same time"  haha

    On the up side of the show:

    Joe Cocker ROCKED!!!!

    Permalink posted 06/13/2008

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