Aside from the crazy old, hippy woman sitting next to me, dancing, clapping and wooting like a nut, I gotta say, this show was really worth seeing.
The Yardbirds were fucking awesome... even though the drummer was the only original member, the band was killer. The lead guitarist was fantastic, playing a TV Yellow LP Jr with a single P90 into two, Vox AC30's and I think I saw a Helix on the floor. The guy totally SMOKED - he played the Clapton and Page parts better than Clapton and Page! The rhythm guitarist sang all the songs with a LP Clown Burst into an AC30. The bass player was beyond stellar and the drummer, Rock and Roll Hall of Famer, Jim McCarty made it through the whole set without breaking a sweat... pretty good for a 74 year old geezer!
Highlight of their show was Smokestack Lightin'... the best rendition I ever heard... absolutely amazing, with a long jam in the middle, really killer.
For a crowd of old hippies, everyone went bezerk and cheered enough to get the Yardbirds to do an encore. The other bands were under time constraints so, no encores from them.
I misread the lineup and thought that, the guitarist and keyboard player from Vanilla Fudge were playing in the Yardbirds but, they played just before the Yardbirds, as The Mark Stein Project. Can't believe the keyboard player, Mark Stein, lugged a Hammond organ and a Leslie cabinet to the show but, I'm glad he did; I really don't think a synth and a Leslie sim pedal would have sounded as good. Stein also played in Deep Purple (on tour) and played in ELP (for a reunion tour) so, of course, they played some Deep Purple and some ELP which, thank Crom, really rocked things up... it was really appreciated especially since, the first two two bands were light, pop. It was funny to see their drummer sporting a mohawk at a hippie show, but man, he beat the living shit out of his drums!
It was cool to see Canned Heat and the Blues Magoos but, each band only has two or three recognizable songs.. the rest were a bit torturous to sit through... especially since they sounded like they haven't done much practicing and had lost their edge. Canned Heat had three original members including the singer/harmonica player - best part was the harmonica.
If you get a chance to see the Yardbirds, they do put on a very good show. Highly recommended.
