Jul
16
Stephen Stills - Live in Santa Barbara
July 16, 2007 |
Last night I was fortunate enough to find myself in front of Stephen Stills and his band at the Marjory Luke Theater in Santa Barbara. Stephen is rock royalty. His carreer is so filled with “whose and wheres” that he is among a few folks who are int he Rock and Rock Hall of Fame twice.  As the case with many aging rockers I was expecting to be underwhelmed by Stills but boy was I surprised.  Stephen still has it.
The show started out with a rather rough version of Helplessly Hoping as Stephen’s voice warmed up and his band added the fill.  But this rough start was instantly removed as the band left and Still’s was left with only his Martin d-45. Stephen was always the talent in the groups. Not that Graham Nash or David Crosby were hacks but Stills was and as evidenced last night an amazing guitar player and a wonderful, melodic songwriter. His guitar playing is what put the audience onto their feet.
Rolling through his catalog of hits Still’s was captivating and clever. He is a funny man and is quite light hearted. The acoustic songs got better and better as his voice warmed up. Clearly still very capable of hitting those high notes and those trademarked shouts many of the songs sounded as good as they did 30 years ago when they were embedded in the consciousness of a generation.  The show took off when during the last part of Suite: Judy Blue Eyes the band joined him back onstage to “fill” in the doo doo doo’s.
The rest of the show was a showcase of why Jimi Hendrix and others admired his playing. Being a guitar player myself I was thoroughly blow away by Still’s skills. He simply rips.  Ending the night with a stellar Somethings Happening Here Still’s and crew blew away the audience and left this fan in smiles.  Great show Stephen - welcome back!
(2 votes, average: 5 out of 5)
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