Steve Forbert And The Soundbenders
Dingwalls
London, UK
17th January 2008

Recorded by Soledriver
First off...it's missing a couple of songs and the truth is, I don't remember what happened.
I get the impression that I've suffered "Tape Level Nerves" and checked them. Knocked the pause?
Noticed it a few minutes later and started the machine up again? Then after a minute or so there's a sound-glitch.
Sounds about right...certainly there's a level difference when it starts again.
There's about 30 seconds of Going Down To Laurel on the tape but it's so insignificant that I've cut it out of the discs.
That said, it's an important document...the only time I ever saw Steve with a band. Probably the last?
Sound is pretty good and I've adjusted the volume levels where necessary.

Lineage Sonic Studios DSM mics > Sony D8 DAT machine...
Tascam DA-20 Mk 2 DAT machine > HHb burnit CDr recorder...no EQ
CDr > EAC > Traders Little Helper > Flac8 sector aligned

Below is a review I found when researching the show and I hope it's OK to use it.

Steve Forbert and The Soundbenders - Dingwalls, London 17th
January 2008
Review by Jonathan Aird
Having seen Steve solo a couple of times in the last few years I was interested to see what he'd be like with a full band. Hopefully it
would help overcome what has been clearly an annoyance to him in the past - audience members being distracting. Arguably he
should just put up with this and play through it, but certainly the last time I saw him he was not happy with one persistent offender!
The second interesting thought was that it's thirty years since his first album "Alive on Arrival" was released, something of a milestone
which surely will have an influence on the playlist, although he does have another new album out as well. What would have happened
without the years of recording hiatus following his fourth album is of course an impossible question to answer, but he's clearly been
making up for lost time over the last few years. The "new Dylan" tag was, of course, a curse, and he isn't Dylan, but he is a songwriter
of some clout.
Dingwalls is an odd venue, small, and predominantly seated - tables and rather uncomfortable chairs that leave your clothes smelling
of sick. It's probably only with the smoking ban that you get to notice these things - and at least this way it's only the clothes that end
up smelling bad ! I got up by the small stage - I'd rather be standing, but that clearly wouldn't go down well with those seated behind
me. Looking around I got the odd feeling that, bar staff apart, I'm about the youngest person in the room. That's not an overly good
feeling.

Steve and the Soundbenders came out after a very short interval. The soundbenders are Steve Allen (electric lead guitar), Bobby
Lloyd Hicks (drums), and Lorne Rall (electric bass). Steve kicked right into Thinkin' (off Alive on Arrival) and everything was as I'd
hoped it might be. The band lifted Steve and he seemed in good spirits and unfazed by anything (except perhaps when the spot lights
were put into his eyes !).
There followed a great set (full list at the end) with a mixture of mainly the first album, Alive on Arrival, the new album, Strange names
& new sensations, and tracks from The American in me (early 1990's). Mixed in was Ray Davies' Starstruck which seems to be a
staple of his set and a few oddments from along the way. The middle of the set was the "fossil fuels" section - Baghdad Dream, The
American in Me with it's driving theme and the crowd pleasing ecological concerned Oil Song, which was a single that was put out
around the time of Jack Rabbit Slim ("but, it's on The Best Of...do we have The Best Of tonight ? Sorry, we don't have The Best Of
tonight"). Steve did Grand Central Station and Middle Age with just him and acoustic guitar/harmonica, representing the oldest and
the newest songs - the young kid busking for change and the somewhat older man reflecting on life passed being more than life left to
come, a theme which also came up on Thirty More Years (and I'm out of here) which is also on the new album. Straight forward
reflections that life is not infinite, time passes and you get older. Steve seems comfortable with this.
The Jimmy Rodgers song - Miss the missippi and you - was met politely. It's understandable that Steve would be interested in a
famous singer from his hometown, and since his album of covers earned a Grammy nomination I guess he's got good reason to be
proud of his work on it. I guess that Jimmy Rodgers is just not that big a thing over here, and the audience seemed relieved when the
"couple of Jimmy Rodgers songs" turned out to be just one.
Sure was better back then was introduced with a discussion of where Jimmi Hendrix had lived in London, and also garnered us some
fine guitar work from Steve Allen. In response to calls for Romeo's Tune Steve called back "that one comes at the end", so it was
bitter sweet to hear those opening chords, but what a fantastic song it is with the full band, underlining the folk-rock magnificence of
Steve's first two albums. At the end the audience was on it's feet calling for more, but from previous experience I was a little doubtful
of our chances, but no - out came the band again. A two song encore, then off, and the crowd were up and stomping for more. When
Bobby Lloyd Hicks & Lorne Rall reappeared on stage I must admit I just thought they were collecting their gear. I noticed that several
people had already left. We clapped on, and beyond any expectation there it was - a second encore of Get Well Soon off Little Stevie
Orbit (his third album currently lost to CD release along with the eponymous fourth album). Not a song I'd ever expected to hear live,
but driven along by the band it was as good as the day it was recorded. The boy has done it again !

Set List
Thinkin'
Real Live Love
Born Too Late
Going down to Laurel
Starstruck
I just work here
Miss the missippi and you
Baghdad dream
American in me
Oil song
Grand Central Station
Middle Age
What kinda guy ?
Seaside brown-eyed girl
Baby don't
Sure was better back then
Loch Lomond / Midsummer Night's Toast
Dream
Romeo's Tune
Encore 1:
Thirty more years
Cannot win if you do not play
Encore 2:
Get well soon

Disc 1:

01 - Thinkin'
02 - Real Live Love
03 - Born Too Late
04 - I Just Work Here (Partial...fades in)
05 - Miss The Mississippi
06 - Baghdad Dream
07 - The American In Me
08 - Oil Song
09 - Grand Central Station (March 18, 1977)
10 - Middle Age

Disc 2:

01 - What Kinda Guy
02 - Seaside Brown-Eyed Girl
03 - Baby Don't
04 - Sure Was Better Back Then
05 - Loch Lomond/ Steve Forbert's Midsummer Night's Toast
06 - About A Dream
07 - Goodnight...Romeo's Tune
08 - Thirty More Years
09 - You Cannot Win If You Do Not Play
10 - Get Well Soon

Band line-up:
Steve Forbert...Vocals/ Guitar/ Harmonica
Steve Allen...Lead Guitar
Bobby Lloyd Hicks...Drums
Lorne Rall...Bass

Feel free to do whatever you like with this recording as long as you don't charge money for it!
MP3, Who Cares? Just remember to support the artists, and live music!!