Robben Ford

The Coach House
House Of Blues, Anaheim

So I've now seen Robben Ford twice. Both shows were pretty much the same, although the HOB show was better due more to the venue itself rather than the performance. At the Coach House I caught the show up in one of the upstairs rooms, and felt rather disassociated with the crowd and what was going on down below. That and the opening acts blew some major chunks. But that's the Coach House for you. I'm figuring he ended up playing the Coach House since he didn't really pack them in at the HOB. That's a crying shame actually. Robben has one hell of a lot of talent ... an incredible amount. Oddly enough, the Coach House was fairly well packed, possibly due to the fact that he played there on a Friday night. There weren't anywhere near that many people in attendance at the HOB show. Good for me, bad for Robben. Anyway, short of the crowd, both shows had the same basic playlist and backing band. Robben focused on a lot of songs from Blue Moon and some of his old favorites. Both performances showed off his mastery of the guitar and surprisingly enough his singing. He's always seemed more of a guitarist of the Steve Vai, etc., etc., genre, than a singer type. He actually has a pretty good voice and it really fits with the music he writes and performs. Because of all that, I actually like him more than the Malmsteens and Vai's of the world. He's also more jazzy and bluesy (he's not totally one or the other), and seems to me to have more musical talent rather than lighting-fast riffs and technical virtuosity. In any event, if you like Robben's music, you'll love him live. If you're not familiar with him, and aren't particularly into guitarists, he's probably not the first choice you want to make, unless you really like jazz and blues. For the rest of us though, he's as good on stage as he is coming through the stereo, AND you get to see him play. A must for any guitarist who can appreciate one of the masters. Oh yeah, don't sit upstairs either, see him as close as you can!

Robben's website can be reached here.