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EDDIE BO - LIVE REPORT !!

hugh_lucerohugh_lucero 485 Posts
edited November 2007 in Strut Central
In last weeks 'post something you're excited about' thread I included the Eddie Bo (supported by the Bamboo's ) gig I was going to that night. Was meaning to write something up about it & then a thread asking about it popped up on the Stealth boards so I got busy. Magroman & Manchild were there so maybe they can add on their 3 cents,Originally posted by h.luceroI heard him on PBS the day before on Manchild's show & his natural energy totally struck me through the old work headphones, so I was more amped for the show and he didn't disappoint. The Bamboo's were out on stage first and played a couple of warm up tracks before Eddie came out and started doing his moves and whooping the crowd up. I'm not that deep on his catalogue so the early track names escape me. Apparently not even the Bamboo's knew what he was going to play next. He'd either lead off on the keys or ask a question like if we were 'ready for the hip drop?'. During each track Eddie would variously dance, play keys and sing, or screetch even, some deep sweet soul as the band straight killed it behind him.There were some quite cute & talented dancers who popped up on stage as well, grinding it close with Eddie, who was loving it, and then a couple of singers came out as well. They ran through stuff like 'lover & friend' and towards the end they closed things out with 'hook and sling' and 'check your bucket' (think thats it). Highlight, aside from Eddie, was Danny's massive drum solo during 'hook and sling', some raw shit indeed !Haven't been able to find any photos from the Melbourne gig on the web, but did find two from Adelaide - not sure who the support was over there.Having seen James Brown a few years back, I left feeling that I'd seen another complete legend of the funk & soul world who's talent is outlandish. At the moment he first walked onto stage you could even sense the band were totally blown away by his presence. Eddie might have sensed it too - he went & shook hands with every band member he could before getting started. 10 outta 10 for sure.

  Comments

  • luckluck 4,077 Posts
    As someone who's seen Bocage live (in Chicago, with Pickwick, for the city's Blues Fest about two years back), I can honestly say that I felt a palpable admiration and retained a sense of Bocage's personal struggle inertwined within the span of several hours on a Friday afternoon. It was all tempered with a wistful sense of history; I knew that many of Eddie's associates, friends, and fans had departed from the earth or were barely living in the Katrina-ravaged city he used to know. The audience seemed too sparse and too incidental, not aware of his achievements or that this was the first time in decades (if ever!) that Bocage had come to the city. But here the man was, on stage - shaking his pelvis to "Check Your Bucket," right in front of me - and a warm respect naturally won out over all else.

    I suppose that I take these situations too personally. At the time, though, I felt a confluence of necessary emotions as I shook hands with one of my few musical heroes. If you feel like I do about the man, Strutters, then I'd highly recommend a visit to one of Bogage's live events while time avails you.
  • magromanmagroman 88 Posts
    Hell Yeah,
    Eddie was amazing. First off he was the freshest old dude I have seen on stage, hands down. ( No disrespect to the godfather....) He was still really great on the keys as well. Ben from the Bamboos was playing alongside him all night and you could just see he was a grinning idiot. (I playing with eddie bo, I'm playing with eddie bo).
    Same with Danny the drummer, at one point Eddie was kind of conducting the band and lead Danny into a drum break solo and his smile was LARGE
    He seems to really bring out the best in who he played with.
    His set list included quite a few old rock n roll joints......(?) but still, the night rocked!
    Some of the older soul cats around town hung out with him during the day and they came up with some crazy stories he told them of how he wrote some of his songs....
    more later....


    Does Eddie play around in the stats at all??
    I have a few of his recent cd's in the store...(?), but does he play the old gold around the states??
  • kennykenny 1,024 Posts
    that sound slike a killer of a night!

    thanks for sharing those pics.

    i would've loved to see him on stage live.
  • jinx74jinx74 2,287 Posts
    The audience seemed too sparse and too incidental, not aware of his achievements or that this was the first time in decades (if ever!) that Bocage had come to the city. .

    the first time i saw eddie bo perform was at a club in new orleans in 94 when i was there for the gavin. eothen was already at the club when i got there and we just chilled watching eddie do his thing. he wasnt playing all those old funk cuts then cause folks in the audience looked on like he was just another musician playing music while they drank their liquor waiting for the beads to fall from the balconies. we had slipped his sister (i think it was his sister) a paper with all the songs we wanted to hear "hook and sling" "check you bucket" etc. eddie got the note on stage laughed a bit, gave eothen and me a shout out and went into an extended version of hook and sling for us. it was one of the coolest music moments ive ever had. it was kind of like he was just playing those tunes for us. i remember a couple people came up to us asking who he was. eothen and i couldnt get over the fact that no one in this bar had any idea who eddie was or what his accomplishments were. anyway... we sat through two sets and hung out with eddie and his sister during his breaks. one of the straight up nicest musicians/people ive met.
  • akoako https://soundcloud.com/a-ko 3,418 Posts
    man. i would give anything to see him live...
  • funky16cornersfunky16corners 7,175 Posts
    man. i would give anything to see him live...


    X 1000....[/b]
  • HarveyCanalHarveyCanal "a distraction from my main thesis." 13,234 Posts
    Couple SXSW's ago, Mr. Bocage was on the Ponderosa Stomp bill at the Continental Club. Beyond cracking up in the back alley with Mr. Roy Head and being blown away by the guitar of Lil Buck Sinegal, Eddie Bo left me absolutely awestruck in his creole regality. Not only is Eddie Bo still an amazing musican/performer, but he's a rare still-living example of a proper cosmopolitan man.
  • pointmanpointman 1,042 Posts
    Couple SXSW's ago, Mr. Bocage was on the Ponderosa Stomp bill at the Continental Club. Beyond cracking up in the back alley with Mr. Roy Head and being blown away by the guitar of Lil Buck Sinegal, Eddie Bo left me absolutely awestruck in his creole regality. Not only is Eddie Bo still an amazing musican/performer, but he's a rare still-living example of a proper cosmopolitan man.

    I was there that night. Great show.
  • DJ_EnkiDJ_Enki 6,475 Posts
    man. i would give anything to see him live...

    Ditto. I think I would be straight up the whole time.
  • The_Hook_UpThe_Hook_Up 8,182 Posts
    ditto to everything people have said about him...I was fortunate to see him at the Stomp when it was in Memphis a couple years ago. I was knocked out when Ira(stomp organizer) said to me "Eddie loves the flyer(I had designed the flyer for the Stomp DJ night and used an old photo of Eddie on the flyer) he was wondering if he could get one!" Of Frickin' course Eddie can have a flyer! So I went backstage gave him a couple flyers and had him autograph one for myself...probably the greatest hand I ever had the pleasure to shake! He killed shit that night BTW. Extra points for watching drunk ass Marco and High-C get their 45s signed....
  • holmesholmes 3,532 Posts
    I get chills reading about shit like this, wish I could have been there!
  • the_average_manthe_average_man 675 Posts
    it warms my cockles reading this
  • pickwick33pickwick33 8,946 Posts

    His set list included quite a few old rock n roll joints......(?)

    What's with the question mark? Eddie was making records LONG before he started getting "funky" - tracks like "Oh Oh" (Chess) and "Tell It Like It Is" (Ric) are stone cold 1950's New Orleans rock & roll classics, from back when rock & roll and rhythm & blues were almost the same thing.
  • tripledoubletripledouble 7,636 Posts
    saw eddie about 6 years back at that new orleans bowling alley venue (froget what it was called). man, he was a smiling class act...and plaing the piano??he looked he had all his fingers spread wide and was just bangin away at all the keys at the same time , with perfectmusic coming out of th ething.
    i asked him if he could do lover and a friend and he said "oh i'll need the lady for that!"
    one of the only autograps i ever asked for in my life. eddie signed my road journal. he took my book and disapeared and popped up ten minutes later....what he wrote was really sweet but also kind of hilarious ..."to my dear friend..."
    anyway, made my day

    true legend
  • luckluck 4,077 Posts

    His set list included quite a few old rock n roll joints......(?)

    What's with the question mark? Eddie was making records LONG before he started getting "funky" - tracks like "Oh Oh" (Chess) and "Tell It Like It Is" (Ric) are stone cold 1950's New Orleans rock & roll classics, from back when rock & roll and rhythm & blues were almost the same thing.

    When is Martin Lawrie going to update the Eddie Bo discography? He told me a year ago that he had a bunch of singles (plus the LPs on Bo-Sound) to add, but that he'd do it when he got the time. As singular as the current listing is, I doubt that this will ever see a revision.
  • luckluck 4,077 Posts
    saw eddie about 6 years back at that new orleans bowling alley venue (froget what it was called). man, he was a smiling class act...and plaing the piano??he looked he had all his fingers spread wide and was just bangin away at all the keys at the same time , with perfectmusic coming out of th ething.
    i asked him if he could do lover and a friend and he said "oh i'll need the lady for that!"
    one of the only autograps i ever asked for in my life. eddie signed my road journal. he took my book and disapeared and popped up ten minutes later....what he wrote was really sweet but also kind of hilarious ..."to my dear friend..."
    anyway, made my day

    true legend

    He signed 4 of my singles (I only brought my favorites), but he did so with his own Sharpie, which was immediately inducted into the Guinness Book as the Bluntest Writing Apparatus Ever.
  • waxjunkywaxjunky 1,849 Posts
    that new orleans bowling alley venue (froget what it was called)

    Appropriately named Rock and Bowl.
  • holmesholmes 3,532 Posts

    His set list included quite a few old rock n roll joints......(?)

    What's with the question mark? Eddie was making records LONG before he started getting "funky" - tracks like "Oh Oh" (Chess) and "Tell It Like It Is" (Ric) are stone cold 1950's New Orleans rock & roll classics, from back when rock & roll and rhythm & blues were almost the same thing.
    Yeah, what pickwick said, Bocage cut his teeth in the NO R&R scene of the 50s, classic stuff that is as much a part of his history as the funky stuff IMO.
  • magromanmagroman 88 Posts

    His set list included quite a few old rock n roll joints......(?)

    What's with the question mark? Eddie was making records LONG before he started getting "funky" - tracks like "Oh Oh" (Chess) and "Tell It Like It Is" (Ric) are stone cold 1950's New Orleans rock & roll classics, from back when rock & roll and rhythm & blues were almost the same thing.



    Point taken....

    its just not my bag....it was just my HUMBLE opinion
  • pickwick33pickwick33 8,946 Posts

    His set list included quite a few old rock n roll joints......(?)

    What's with the question mark? Eddie was making records LONG before he started getting "funky" - tracks like "Oh Oh" (Chess) and "Tell It Like It Is" (Ric) are stone cold 1950's New Orleans rock & roll classics, from back when rock & roll and rhythm & blues were almost the same thing.



    Point taken....

    its just not my bag....it was just my HUMBLE opinion

    Nothing wrong with that, if it's not your thing...I was just wondering why you seemed so surprised by it (hence the question mark). That's like all these younger crate diggers who think "Honky Tonk Popcorn" was the only thing Bill Doggett ever did.
  • hugh_lucerohugh_lucero 485 Posts
    ... well its difficult to know everything in this world innit !
  • magromanmagroman 88 Posts

    His set list included quite a few old rock n roll joints......(?)

    What's with the question mark? Eddie was making records LONG before he started getting "funky" - tracks like "Oh Oh" (Chess) and "Tell It Like It Is" (Ric) are stone cold 1950's New Orleans rock & roll classics, from back when rock & roll and rhythm & blues were almost the same thing.



    Point taken....

    its just not my bag....it was just my HUMBLE opinion

    Nothing wrong with that, if it's not your thing...I was just wondering why you seemed so surprised by it (hence the question mark). That's like all these younger crate diggers who think "Honky Tonk Popcorn" was the only thing Bill Doggett ever did.


    I WISH I was a young crate digger!!!!

    I was just surprised that playing with the BAMBOOS and all I thought that he'd be doing a funk thing, considering the crowd was really young.

    It was obviously a misguided thought.

    But if the cat has been playing since the late fifties then of course he will have played some rock n roll...

    Believe me I am loose with my question mark use!!
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