A review of the Hollywood Palladium concert
AT THE PALLADIUM
Fast-Fret Fireworks From Johnny Winter
The "rock audience's passion for the electric guitar as the star of the show has pretty much dwindled, but all the excitement and magic that surrounded Becks, Clapton, Hendrix et al in those glory days was conlured by Johnny Winter at this Monday night Palladium concert.The fierceness and power of his playing and the inescapable charisma of 'his presence (a quality that even some unconvincing movements couldn't efface) were the twin compbnents of the incredibly fast-moving, uncomplicated display of rock 'n' roll fireworks, a show in which visual and musical flash coexisted beautifully with intense and skilled musicianship.
Johnny Winter seemed to be sucking the music from the guitar with his fingers, generally at a pace so torrid that you were almost seeing smoke and inevitably imagining something like an athlete running a 9-second 100-yard dash on a tightrope.While Johnny Winter's singing is negligible, that guitar of his flawlessly communicates the basic energy of rock 'n' roll and unflinch- ingly creates an invigoratlng, piledriving emotional thrust. That's at least as important and valuable as 'being an innovator.The blues is always at the heart of his music, but he has sense enough not to dwell on hackneyed patterns, instead t e a ri n g through closely allied spinoffs ("Rock and Roll Hootchie Coo") and distant relatives ("Jumpin' Jack Flas ").
At every point in the set the surge was upward, his band was superb, the sparkle of the costumlng added to the s p e c t a c l e rather than diverting one's attention, and Winter's regal, pale appearance eventually became close to noble. Johnny Winter is definitely alive and extremely well, a condition for which-we-should be very grateful;Second-billed Foghat is a rising British blues band, a genre that has some built-in limitations. But it's already one of the best players of the game, and its set was never less than at least interesting.
-RICHARD CROMELIN
Source & Full Article: 73-05-30 Hollywood Palladium concert.pdf
