DENNIS IN NASHVILLE

[mr.v]

A quick review...

Great show but I really miss Dennis playing the keyboards. I know he needs to fill the front man position but it just didn't feel right.

Anyway minor gripe aside it was a fun night, I was pleased to hear Pieces of 8 live for the first time as well as Desert Moon and to me the big suprise of the night was Black Wall from the Back to the world album done with the childrens chiors, I had chills as this has always been my favorite of Dennis's solo material.

Mike Eldred sang back up on every song and performed 2 songs from Hunchback - Ave Maria and a second piece that I can't remember the name of but it was a trio with Mike, Dennis and a female singer.

From stage Dennis commented that there were a bunch of problems surrounding the nights performance...
His normal sound guy was stuck in Paris so the sound man was mixing never having heard the show before.
His lighting guy was in the hospital in Chicago so they had a fill in there.
And his normal female backup singer was batteling larengitas (SP) so they had to bring in a fill in for the Trio, I wish I could remember her name because she was marvelous!

and to top it off, the most unstaged moment of the night came when after leaving the stage for a moment Dennis triped over the guitar players cord and unplugged him just as he started the solo to Desert Moon, after a scramble to re-plug him he finished the song in fine style.

A few side comments...
The guitar player is very good and handled the parts just fine but DAMN I miss seeing Tommy and JY up there, It just didn't feel right!

I was very impressed by his Drummer and Bass player both brought a lot to the songs and seemed to really be enjoying themselves.

Dennis's Keyboard player just had too big a set of shoes to feel. He played the parts flawlessly but he wasn't Dennis and even if you play all the note perfectly you can't copy style. Dennis needs to hang up dancing and get back behing the keys, I don't think the show would have suffered in the least if he had handled the keyboard parts himself. (I say the same thing about Gowan in the band now, he is probably as good as if not technically a better player than Dennis but he can't match the style of Dennis's playing on the original tracks)

But with all that said it was a great show and Dennis sounded in fine form and seemed to really be having a great time.

Would I go again, don't take this wrong but probably not, at least not to another symphony show. I would go see Dennis again and again if it were just him and the band, I like what the symphony brought to the music but it dampens the raw rock-n-roll feel of the music. So come on Dennis come back to Nashville but this time leave the horns at home.

That's it from Nashville for now I hope to read some more reviews from so of the others of you that were there.

[jrnyman28]

Thank you for the review!

[SuiteMadameBlue]

Thanks for posting the review Mr. V Hopefully we'll hear from Ash and Sterling too

Mr. V says:

Great show but I really miss Dennis playing the keyboards. I know he needs to fill the front man position but it just didn't feel right.

He played on some of the songs, right?

Anyway minor gripe aside it was a fun night, I was pleased to hear Pieces of 8 live for the first time as well as Desert Moon and to me the big suprise of the night was Black Wall from the Back to the world album done with the childrens chiors, I had chills as this has always been my favorite of Dennis's solo material.

"Pieces of Eight" to me, so fricken unbelievable with the orchestra, I LOVE that song live!!! I love "Desert Moon" and I'm glad you were able to hear/see "Black Wall", gives me chills too!!

Mike Eldred sang back up on every song and performed 2 songs from Hunchback - Ave Maria and a second piece that I can't remember the name of but it was a trio with Mike, Dennis and a female singer.

I thought they were suppose to do more from Hunchback. Bummer

From stage Dennis commented that there were a bunch of problems surrounding the nights performance...
His normal sound guy was stuck in Paris so the sound man was mixing never having heard the show before.

Ouch, that usually isn't good. Paris? LOL

His lighting guy was in the hospital in Chicago so they had a fill in there.
And his normal female backup singer was batteling larengitas (SP) so they had to bring in a fill in for the Trio, I wish I could remember her name because she was marvelous!

Matt, his son is his usual lighting guy. I wonder what happened? Kate Milan is his new female back up singer. That's great the fill-in was marvelous, good news

and to top it off, the most unstaged moment of the night came when after leaving the stage for a moment Dennis triped over the guitar players cord and unplugged him just as he started the solo to Desert Moon, after a scramble to re-plug him he finished the song in fine style.

It's always something at his shows - LOL He always finishes a song in fine style, no matter what could go wrong.

A few side comments...
The guitar player is very good and handled the parts just fine but DAMN I miss seeing Tommy and JY up there, It just didn't feel right!

I miss the extra guitar on "Queen of Spades". It feels right for me now, to see Dennis and his band, but then again, I've seen his solo shows 13 times now.

I was very impressed by his Drummer and Bass player both brought a lot to the songs and seemed to really be enjoying themselves.

Kyle the drummer!!! Oh yeah!!!

But with all that said it was a great show and Dennis sounded in fine form and seemed to really be having a great time.

I'm glad you had a great time

Would I go again, don't take this wrong but probably not, at least not to another symphony show. I would go see Dennis again and again if it were just him and the band, I like what the symphony brought to the music but it dampens the raw rock-n-roll feel of the music. So come on Dennis come back to Nashville but this time leave the horns at home.

Ooooh, I love his Lost Treasures shows!! I'm looking forward to going again, hopefully soon

Thanks again for posting

[mr.v]

Great show but I really miss Dennis playing the keyboards. I know he needs to fill the front man position but it just didn't feel right.

He played on some of the songs, right?


A little but never any of those cool Dennis fills, he seemed at time to just be playing the same things the other keyboard player was. When he didn't even play the opening lines of BABE I just thought "Wazz up with dat!"

[bugsymalone]

Dennis triped over the guitar players cord and unplugged him just as he started the solo to Desert Moon,

Ahh...Mr. Smooth!!

Dennis's Keyboard player just had too big a set of shoes to feel. He played the parts flawlessly but he wasn't Dennis and even if you play all the note perfectly you can't copy style. Dennis needs to hang up dancing and get back behing the keys, I don't think the show would have suffered in the least if he had handled the keyboard parts himself.

I agree with you here, Mr. V, but I understand why he does not. This whole show is on his shoulders, vocally, and adding the burden of the keyboard parts is just probably a bit much.

That said, he plays keys a lot with his band-only shows so I hope you can catch one of those.

Thanks for your review. Much appreciated!!!

Bugsy

[Ash]

due to a work related emergency I had to skip the concert. I'm devastated. Likely won't be around much anymore.

I'm also looking for a new job.

[jrnyman28]

Sorry to hear that Ash, I hope everything works out in the end. Good luck.

[Zan]

due to a work related emergency I had to skip the concert. I'm devastated. Likely won't be around much anymore.

I'm also looking for a new job.

Good luck with the job search, Ash! Sorry to hear about the injury...That does suck. But you can still come and hang out once in a while. At the very least come to the Glen board and say hello

[Abitaman]

Due to the lack of no money, and someone hitting my car, I was unable to go. And this is the closest he has ever been to me-ERIC

[bugsymalone]

Good luck, Ash. We will miss your posts here! Check in with us when you can and let us know how everything is going.

Bugsy

[Abitaman]

due to a work related emergency I had to skip the concert. I'm devastated. Likely won't be around much anymore.

I'm also looking for a new job.

Been there Ash, still am. Will be praying for you.........ERIC

[sadie65]

It's the thread of mishaps and unfortunate events.

Ash and Eric...wishing you both the very best. Hopefully these troubled times for both of you are on the tail end.

Keep us posted when you can.

[SuiteMadameBlue]

Mr. v says:

And his normal female backup singer was batteling larengitas (SP) so they had to bring in a fill in for the Trio, I wish I could remember her name because she was marvelous!

Her name is Michelle Prentice (a friend found the information).

Ash and Eric, I'm sorry things didn't work out for either of you. Things will hopefully get better.