Eric Gales - 2017-05-24 - Voodoo Rooms (Ballroom), Edinburgh, Scotland


Source - CA 11 Cardoids - CA 9200 - M-Audio Microtrack 24/96 - Magix Audio Lab for track splits & vol adjustments on talking parts - TLH
recorded by andygs

Sound is pretty good, but from track 7 there is occasional microphone 'rustle' you can only hear it in the very quiet parts so it I hope it wont affect your enjoyment of the show too much. I had moved closer to the stage at that point and could feel the air blowing from a fan so that might have had something to do with it.

01 Intro - Make It There (Instrumental version) 07:44
02 Eric talks 02:13
03 Change In Me (The Rebirth) 06:06
04 Eric talks �the story behind the story� 05:56
05 Boogie Man 09:47
06 Freedom From My Demons 11:09
07 Introductions & Eric finally pronounces "Edinburgh" 02:20
08 Instrumental (Sea Of Bad Blood, Solos & Don't Fear The Reaper) 24:09
09 Smokestack Lightning Instrumental 04:14
10 Swamp intro chat 03:02
11 Swamp 08:33
12 Voodoo Chile Jam .......(He had to play this in the Voodoo Rooms!!) 11:21
13 Encore Break 01:22
14 Pickin' And Grinnin' 09:27

Total Time: 96 min

Eric Gales - Guitar & Vocals
Cody Wright - Bass
Nick "ballhead" Hayes - Drums
LaDonna Gales - Percussion

If you get a chance go see this band, it was a great night.
Enjoy!!

Review By Cameron Arndt,

�We�ve been waiting for you twenty years Eric!� comes the elated shout early in the show as the guitarist thanks everyone for coming along to his first ever UK show. The man onstage looks truly moved, and this is just one small special moment in an evening packed full of emotion, intensity and spellbinding musical skill.

By any way you�d care to measure Eric Gales has had an illustrious career so far, from his beginnings as a child prodigy in Memphis, Tennessee � he grew up in a musical family, first picking up the guitar aged 4 and learning from his older brothers Eugene and Manuel � he has now released ten solo records and performed on recordings by countless other artists. Interestingly he has also contributed vocals on records by a number of Memphis rap groups and some of that modern influence can be felt in his music tonight.

The Eric Gales Band brought something else to the city tonight, which I personally have rarely if ever witnessed in this country. Their performance has an authenticity, combined with a freewheeling, no holds barred attitude, that allows them to skip through genres and feels with ease. As noted they bring a fresh, modern vibe to the blues and that, along with the four piece�s top notch musicianship, gives the show the kind of atmosphere you really only find � if you�re lucky � in some of the blues clubs in Chicago, New York, and other towns and cities in the USA, including � one assumes � Memphis, Tennessee. The shows is infused with lashings of funk, a dash of hip-hop style and some truly inspiring playing and brings to mind performances I�ve seen of artists like Clarence Spady at Terra Blues in New York. As many brilliant bands as there are in this country, US acts still have an edge due to their long history with the music, and the land they�ve been brought up in. By the time they make it over here they�re often required to play in large theatres or arenas and I think something � a certain vibe, a sense of intimacy perhaps � is sometimes lost on a larger stage.

So it�s a real privilege to be here to watch Eric Gales and his band morph this small, sleek room into a stirring facsimile of Kingston Mines in Chicago, or Wild Bill�s in Memphis. The show opens with a voiceover and the sounds of a jet plane that announce Eric Gales� long awaited arrival on our shores. The mix of influences are immediately hinted at as drummer Nick Hayes strikes up a beat on both a tom and a drum pad, while Cody Wright contributes a molten, funky bassline.The aforementioned hip-hop style is displayed by all three members of the backing band � also including percussionist LaDonna Gales, who it turns out is the frontman�s lovely wife. All are clad in matching black t shirts emblazoned with the �Eric Gales� logo in the centre and the slogan at the bottom: �#BOOM.�

When Gales strides onstage to raucous applause he also sports the t shirt, along with an Eric Gales baseball cap and heavy gold chain with treble clef medallion. As he bursts into some lightning, passionate fretwork he has a huge grin on his face, and punctuates his solos throughout the night with exhilarated shouts of �Wooo!� which he entreats the audience to echo back before spinning away from the mic to fire out more lead licks.


He stops immediately after the first instrumental number to explain how delighted he is to be here, and to be starting his first UK tour in �Eden-Burg.� There�s a good-natured laugh from the crowd � well used to Americans mangling the name of their city. Gales realises his mistake, however, and a hilarious couple of minutes ensue as various fans help him correct his pronunciation � �Edin-Burg? Edin-Boro? Edinburgh!!� When he finally gets it he can�t help but say it with a very reasonable Scottish accent to the delight of all assembled. Justifiably pleased with himself � not many make the effort � he delights in repeating �Edin-burraagghhh!� at every opportunity in his newly acquired brogue for the rest of the night.

The band launch into the twisty riff of Change In Me from Gales� exceptional new album, Middle Of The Road. It�s a great mid-tempo blues, given extra sparkle by LaDonna Gales� percussion work � switching between drum pads, tambourine and maracas at various points in the show, and also triggering various samples including the �Change in me� backing vocal that is another modern rap-music style touch in the show.

Gales was taught guitar by his older brother who was left handed and, though Gales himself is right handed, he didn�t know any different with the result he still plays a right handed guitar upside down. This means that no-one else plays quite like he does and his solo in this track is breathtaking, employing speedy Joe Bonamassa-style runs, subtle reversals and great off-kilter string bends.

He then tops that immediately with his lead work in Boogie Man. Building on a swampy bedrock created by Wright and Hayes � who also throws in some teeth-rattling fills with abandon � the track was also featured on Middle Of The Road and included a guest slot from Gary Clark Jr. Gales� expressive, expansive singing recalls that other modern blues maestro on this one, and his vocals are strong and passionate throughout the night. He really takes it up a level with Boogie Man�s ending solo, however, after a small, tension ratcheting pause, his fingers fly around the fretboard and the baseball cap flies from his head � never to be seen again � as his whole body seems to be consumed by the music.

Gales takes time early in the show to explain why we�ll see such glorious abandon displayed on stage tonight, and tell us some of his �story behind the story.� He ushers the crowd into silence for a few brief moments as he relates how he spent twenty years wanting to �die while high,� then releases everyone into loud applause as he proudly announces he�s now been sober for ten and a half months. He�s now, he says, �seeing things through new eyes� and the evident happy and relaxed attitude he now seems to treat life with brings a very warm response from everyone assembled. Freedom From My Demons is a classic slow blues cut, though still imbued with fiery soloing, and Gales� almost spiritual vocal is made all the more affecting given what we�ve just been told, as is his solo which spirals up into the stratosphere as it progresses, with help from some cracking drums.

Gales introduces his rhythm section with typical dry humour before leaving Wright (�He looks like Jaco Pistorious, but it�s actually Cody Wright!� says Gales) and Hayes (Ball head, Gales calls him, affectionately we�re sure!) to perform a jaw-dropping instrumental showcase that sees Wright employing everything from a buzzing loop to two handed tapping in his sensational, lyrical and melodic bass solo, before Hayes takes over with a varied and intense drum solo that keeps everyone in rapt attention.

The guitarist then returns, proclaiming it his turn, and instead of another searing super fast guitar meltdown, performs an instrumental based on Hendrixian improvisations around Blue Oyster Cult�s Don�t Fear The Reaper, with LaDonna Gales and Nick Hayes clearly enjoying adding in some spirited cowbell. It�s quite something to witness.

Mrs Gales then gets her own chance to shine on Swamp � which her husband introduces by warning that it takes audeinces �at least 10-15 minutes� to calm down wherever the track is played. �You�re gonna get swamped!� he exclaims to the unbelievers � watch out for his next set of t shirts with the new slogan � before rattling in to the uptempo country-fried groove and jangling guitar of the closing track on the new album. The track becomes more and more intense, spiked by LaDonna Gales� animated percussion work, until it reaches new heights after a false ending, with LaDonna on her feet, battering away at a tambourine and Eric falling first to his knees then onto his back as he solos with wild abandon. �Y�all just got swamped!� is the inevitable closing shout. Noone�s complaining!

Elsewhere the band perform a high octane instrumental take on Howling Wolf�s Smokestack Lightning, before closing the main set with a tour de force that includes portions of Voodoo Chile, Kashmir and Back In Black, all performed with the great joy, humour and skill that has been evident among the performers all night.

Gales then amusingly coaches the crowd in the process and timing of requesting an encore � though he and everyone else must already have known there was no chance of them finishing without one more tune! So they return once more to the stage and close proceedings with another scorching instrumental, putting the capper on a night that few in attendance will forget in a hurry � not just for the great songs, or the exceptional skill with which they were delivered, but also for the warmth and humanity of an artist who � as he promised at the outset � really does leave it all out on the stage.




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