Tommy Emmanuel (and Mike Dawes) show report

[perttime]

Just having seen and heard video clips of both players: It must have been great.

[Deliberate1]

Just pulled the trigger on tickets to see TE in Portland, Maine, in June, with Trevor Gordon Hall. I confess, it is the first time that I have encountered the process of buying tickets on the internet, and it was an eye-opener.

I assume that all the on-line sites that pitch tickets to you are resellers. I checked a couple of them for prices and nearly walked way from the event. Different sites sold essentially the same seats (orchestra, balcony, etc) for different prices. When I clicked to leave one site, a message popped up offering me what amounted to a 15% discount if I only bought now.

Eventually, I went to the venue website and bought two orchestra tickets, nine rows back, for $59 each and $10 for ticketmaster. It was the cheapest by at least 40%. In fact, one site was offering tickets in the same row as mine, a couple down, for $408. Amazing. I assume that, at some point as the date draws closer, and the metrics begin to work against them, the prices go down, assuming it is not a sold out show. Life, sometimes, is just unnecessarily complex.
David

[TJNies]

What guitar is TE playing on-stage these days?

I'm a but jealous of your report; I had tickets a couple years back, but Tommy had to reschedule due to an illness / injury. Then the rescheduled date was pushed out due to COVID. I hope to see his concert sometime soon!

[jdrnd]

Originally Posted by phydaux

I have tickets to see Tommy this Saturday night in Derry New Hampshire, a small venue called the Tupelo Music Hall. I can't wait.

Me too. See you there

[Lkristians]

Originally Posted by phydaux

I have tickets to see Tommy this Saturday night in Derry New Hampshire, a small venue called the Tupelo Music Hall. I can't wait.

Tupelo is a great venue. Enjoy!

[sinistral]

Just got home from the show in Ridgefield, CT. Such incredible musicians, both Tommy Emmanuel and Mike Dawes. Each is virtuosic in their own way, and they complement each other so well when they play together.

[boombox]

Originally Posted by TJNies

What guitar is TE playing on-stage these days?

I'm a but jealous of your report; I had tickets a couple years back, but Tommy had to reschedule due to an illness / injury. Then the rescheduled date was pushed out due to COVID. I hope to see his concert sometime soon!

He has a new cedar-topped version of his usual Maton. Sounded great when I saw him last month: better than his regular guitar, in fact.

[geewhiz]

I was at the Albany show. I’ve been a fan of Tommy for a few years now and I’ve been working on some of his tunes so I was excited to see him. I had never seen him live.

Music is not a contest. There is no "best" guitarist, and over the years I’ve seen some legendary and virtuosic players (Metheny, Holdsworth, Frisell, etc.) and I’ve been blown away. Having said that, I think Tommy Emmanuel is the best guitar player in the world .

I’m only half joking when I say that. Music appreciation is a subjective experience for each of us but I have never witnessed anything like his performance. His command of the instrument, his phrasing, touch, dynamics and overall performance are something really special. I was familiar with nearly every song he played, having heard them on his releases and seen them on YouTube. What really floored me was the degree to which he improvised elements of the arrangements. That in itself isn’t unusual for accomplished players but Tommy played right on the edge, seemingly stepping right up to the line where you’d think the wheels would come off…and of course they never did.

I’m not really finding the right words to express the experience, and using curse words are against forum rules but…just wow.

I will absolutely see him again the next chance I get. I would absolutely love to attend one of his guitar retreats, but a former attendee I spoke with told me that Tommy was swarmed by fan boys much of the time. For four grand I’d want at least some opportunity to speak with him and get some coaching.

On a related note, after some experimentation I have discovered that good old gasoline is a more effective accelerant than lighter fluid for burning a pile of acoustic guitars.

[islandguitar]

I'll add to this thread as I'm just coming off seeing them last evening here in R.I. a small venue of about 500, sold out! As Tommy said, "those are our two favorite words!!" LOL!

This is the 4th time I've seen TE in concert and about 4 years ago, was able to see he and Mike Dawes together at a time when Mike first started touring with TE. I have to say, Mike has upped his game in amazing ways since that time. He was really tremendous last night. Animated, funny, irreverent and full of life as he got the crowd going to start the evening. His playing is stupendous and as others have indicated, he uses percussion in ways that work with what he's doing and it's very palatable and not overly done. His final song in the set: A Michael Hedges style, Dawes arrangement of Dylan's "All Along the Watch Tower", which was fantastic. This time around, Mike and Tommy seemed to click with one another in a much deeper way from all the experience of traveling and performing together, and he joined Mike for a song at the end of the first half and then they also finished strong together at the end of the show.

Tommy, was of course amazing once again. Right off the bat, and my wife agreed....he LOOKS great. I mean, younger by 5-10 years from when we last saw him. Loved that! Of course, Angelina, Half Way Home, Those Who Wait, Beatles medley were aboard last night. Blue Moon and the one man band, of TE doing 3 parts all at once also made a delightful appearance! So many others of all genres, blues, bluegrass, "Windy and Warm", Deep River Blues....wonderful!
At every concert, TE makes sure to do some kind of acknowledgement to his hero and mentor Chet Atkins. Last night's performance was no exception, but what made this different was the depth of stories Tommy shared about how he came to know Chet and he really laid it all out from his early teens and contacting the legend, his first ever meeting with Chet, right through to visiting Chet a week before he passed away. He talked about this for maybe 10-15 minutes...not a sound from the audience (who was really rocking last night.....go Rhode Island!). I had never heard the depth of this relationship and the background stories in previous concerts..... it was a wonderful! !
As so many here on AGF have expressed, to see this artist/musician, showman and gentleman in person is really a bucket list experience not to be missed. He's still going strong....stronger than ever it seems, and that's a wonderful thing to report. May he long continue!
So, there's a few reflections on a really nice evening. Hope you get the chance to see this legend at some point in the year....years ahead!
Enjoy your day!
Fred

[The Watchman]

One of the great things about TE is the way he showcases other outstanding musicians at his performances. Not afraid to share the spotlight.


I don't know about the rest of you, but I would never have heard of TE if I hadn't caught one of his shows on PBS during a pledge drive. No telling how many other super talented people there are out there.

[geewhiz]

Originally Posted by islandguitar

Blue Moon and the one man band, of TE doing 3 parts all at once also made a delightful appearance!

"Think of the money I'm saving up here!"

[islandguitar]

Originally Posted by geewhiz

"Think of the money I'm saving up here!"

LOL! Yeah, that's a great quote.....too funny the way he looks around for his "band"......that segment never gets old!!!

[jdrnd]

Originally Posted by islandguitar

This is the 4th time I've seen TE in concert and about 4 years ago, was able to see he and Mike Dawes together at a time when Mike first started touring with TE. I have to say, Mike has upped his game in amazing ways since that time. He was really tremendous last night. Animated, funny, irreverent and full of life as he got the crowd going to start the evening. His playing is stupendous and as others have indicated, he uses percussion in ways that work with what he's doing and it's very palatable and not overly done. His final song in the set: A Michael Hedges style, Dawes arrangement of Dylan's "All Along the Watch Tower", which was fantastic. This time around, Mike and Tommy seemed to click with one another in a much deeper way from all the experience of traveling and performing together, and he joined Mike for a song at the end of the first half and then they also finished strong together at the end of the show.

Tommy, was of course amazing once again. Right off the bat, and my wife agreed....he LOOKS great. I mean, younger by 5-10 years from when we last saw him. Loved that! Of course, Angelina, Half Way Home, Those Who Wait, Beatles medley were aboard last night. Blue Moon and the one man band, of TE doing 3 parts all at once also made a delightful appearance! So many others of all genres, blues, bluegrass, "Windy and Warm", Deep River Blues....wonderful!

Great concert last night at Tupelos.

As you said Dawes and Emmanuel ended strong. They played a Nirvana song.
I hope I will be able to see Emmanuel perform again before he retires. Dawes is only 32 so there are more chances.

[phydaux]

I also enjoyed the show at Tupelo last night.

And interesting comment, and I need someone else to let me know if I'm way off.

Both guys play chord melody. But I noticed I had a hard time following the melody on some of mikes songs, while the melody of Tommy's songs was always clear and easy to follow.

Now Tommy does the style of chord melody very similar to Chet Atkins & Merle Travis, where the fingers play the melody on the top three strings and the thumb plays the bass line on the bottom strings.

But that's not the only form of chord melody guitar playing.

Maybelle Carter played a style of chord melody where the melody was played on the bottom strings, and the accompanying chords were "scratched" with the nail of her index finger across the top strings.

Was Mike Dawes doing a Carter Style form of chords melody where he played the melody on the bass strings? And is that why I couldn't always follow the melody of the song, because it was "stuck in the mud" of the bass strings?