{"id":8097,"date":"2019-09-11T05:00:41","date_gmt":"2019-09-11T05:00:41","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/rpmonline.co.uk\/?p=8097"},"modified":"2019-09-05T12:55:09","modified_gmt":"2019-09-05T12:55:09","slug":"duff-mckagan-shooter-jennings-manchester-academy-3-1st-september-2019","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/rpmonline.co.uk\/?p=8097","title":{"rendered":"Duff McKagan\/Shooter Jennings \u2013 Manchester, Academy 3 \u2013 1st September 2019"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>If you feel, as I do, that \u2018Tenderness\u2019 is one of the best albums of the year, then this European tour (including just three UK dates) from Duff McKagan is an essential event. Why? Well, the band that Shooter Jennings has behind him, the cool cats who helped lay down the album, are a fuckin\u2019 machine! These guys are so tight live you couldn\u2019t wedge a sheet of paper between them.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Imagine The Band, The Stones at their peak, or even early 90\u2019s The Black Crowes. It\u2019s no coincidence that Duff hooked up with his long time friend Shooter and his band to sprinkle magic on a rootsy, laid back record full of emotion, and for want of a better word… tenderness.<\/p>\n

On this tour, the band will be doing 2 sets every night. I\u2019ve seen them do this before, at an album release show for Hellbound Glory at The Whisky-A-Go-Go a couple of years ago. First, they are opening with Shooter, then a full set with Duff. Who knows if they will do this again? This could be the only tour these guys do, and even though the tickets were a hefty \u00a340, I felt it was an experience that I could not miss.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Academy 3 apparently holds 950 punters, although it certainly looks smaller. It is dark, rectangular and has a great atmosphere. You could call this an intimate show for a man who has been playing stadiums with Guns n\u2019 Roses. But for Shooter Jennings and his band, this is probably about average.<\/p>\n

The band open with \u2018Bound Ta Git Down\u2019, a boogie-woogie, barroom blast. The ever cool Shooter, shades permanently glued to his head, tinkles some ivories as his band jam out behind him.<\/p>\n

The likes of \u2018Denim & Diamonds\u2019 and the epic \u2018All This Could\u2019ve Been Yours\u2019 build on piano and mournful fiddle courtesy of Aubrey Richmond. You almost forget that bad ass bassist Ted Russell Kamp and guitarist John Schreffler Jr are there until it\u2019s time for the guitar solo, then the pair take centre stage to shine. The rhythm section of Russell Kamp and powerhouse drummer Jamie Douglass are surely one of the best in the business and keep it all together. Pure, laid back 70\u2019s rock \u2018n\u2019 roll at its finest, these songs are far removed from the rootsy, country that Shooter may well be known for.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>The Guns n\u2019 Roses fan base lap it up. Maybe the band intentionally chose a more rock \u2018n\u2019 roll based set for this tour, but the likes of \u2018Steady At The Wheel\u2019 and the grungy, riff heavy \u2018Don\u2019t Feed The Animals\u2019 certainly bring the rock tonight. Aubrey and Shooter bring the sentiment and duet on a few of the more balladic numbers, but hell, this band are even better than I remember them being a couple of years back.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

It\u2019s packed by the time the band return to the stage with Duff at the helm. Dressed in black shirt and jeans, his tousled blonde hair framing his weathered face to perfection, Duff looks every inch the LA rock star. He plays a low slung acoustic for the majority of the set. As Shooter plays the opening piano chords to Gn\u2019R\u2019s \u2018You Aint The First\u2019 Duff asks us of we are ready to sing. The response is a resounding yes!<\/p>\n

Having never seen him with Loaded live, I must say being the frontman comes naturally to Duff. He cracks jokes and swigs from a flask between songs. Laid bare on these emotionally charged tunes, his gravelly tones are spot on.<\/p>\n

The ebb and flow of the set is perfect. A carefully chosen set mixes up mainly album cuts with \u2018Use Your Illusions\u2019 era Guns tunes and a few choice covers. The sound is fantastic; we can hear every word, every breath.<\/p>\n

The countrified, hickey \u2018Breaking Rocks\u2019 is suitably ramshackle, Shooter takes a verse and shares vocals harmonies on the chorus, lap steel guitar and fiddle give a proper authentic feel.<\/p>\n

As Shooter plays the piano refrain to \u2018Tenderness\u2019, Duff explains the idea behind the songs with passion and creates a feeling of camaraderie with his audience. It\u2019s a beautiful moment and the crowd are deadly silent as he sings the verses, just with piano accompaniment, his voice on the edge of breaking, the vulnerability shining through. \u00a0At that very moment, this gig has become the gig of the year for me. In this setting, with this band, these songs give so much. I must admit to being blown away. \u201cC\u2019mon Manchester!\u201d Duff shouts as we sing the chorus in unison, the euphoria builds to a crescendo. So, so good.\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

I mentioned the ebb and flow. The Stonesy rock \u2018n\u2019 roll vibes of \u2018Chip Away\u2019 follows , Hammond organs play out as Duff dedicates \u2018Feel\u2019 to Scott Wieland, Chris Cornell, Prince… the list of lost friends goes on. The band plays to perfection. Never overplaying they are there to back up Duff and his acoustic, to add colour and flair to the songs where needed. As before, you forget the bassist and guitarist are actually there, until they come stage front for a solo.<\/p>\n

\u201cSome friends of mine from Seattle wrote this song\u201d sparks up Duff before breaking into Mad Season\u2019s \u2018River Of Deceit\u2019. That opening little riff he trades with John is sublime, and the feel of the song fits the set perfectly. He gets some crowd participation going too. Duff straps on a telecaster and they take things right up with \u2018Dust n Bones\u2019. High energy rock \u2018n\u2019 roll, just what the doctor ordered, we sing every word and it sounds utterly fantastic. A killer solo and the crowd out-singing a cortisone-fuelled McKagan makes it a highlight.<\/p>\n

Elsewhere this evening, \u2018Last September\u2019 and \u2018Parkland\u2019 are truly moving and about as relevant as you can get. Chillingly, Duff changes the words in \u2018Parkland\u2019 to include the most recent shootings, one that happened just a few days ago. The Clash\u2019s \u2018Clampdown\u2019 is suitably ace, and the following \u2018Dead Horse\u2019 is downright amazing. Aubrey gets stage front to take the second verse, it\u2019s chaotic. I\u2019ve never heard it live before, I feel privileged.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s a rollercoaster of a set to be fair. The more fragile moments of \u2018Tenderness\u2019 are played out perfectly and when the band rock out, they are on fire. A final one-two and the band bows out. \u2018Don\u2019t Look Behind You\u2019 sounds beautiful, full of sentiment, just like the goddamn record! And the closing cover of Mark Lanegan\u2019s \u00a0\u2018Deepest Shade\u2019 sees our hero take off his guitar, jump into the pit and scale the barrier to get up close and personal with those at the front.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

I knew tonight was going to be good, but I never imagined it would be this good. What I expected to be a laid back, acoustic affair turned out to be a full on rock \u2018n\u2019 roll show by a band who play like they have been on the road for years.<\/p>\n

While \u2018Tenderness\u2019 is one of those \u2018late night, stoner\u2019 sort of albums rather than a \u2018blast at full volume in the car\u2019 sort of albums, it transfers very well in a live environment with a full band. Good songs are good songs, and coming from the heart and from the soul, Duff has an album full of them.<\/p>\n

The tour may have just begun but Duff McKagan and his band have the camaraderie of a well seasoned touring band already. \u00a340 well spent I say.<\/p>\n

Author: Ben Hughes<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

If you feel, as I do, that \u2018Tenderness\u2019 is one of the best albums of the year, then this European tour (including just three UK dates) from Duff McKagan is an essential event. Why? Well, the band that Shooter Jennings has behind him, the cool cats who helped lay down the album, are a fuckin\u2019 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":8101,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"image","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[44],"tags":[726,1676,585,3319,505],"class_list":["post-8097","post","type-post","status-publish","format-image","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-live-review","tag-ben-hughes","tag-duff-mckagan","tag-guns-n-roses","tag-manchester-academy","tag-shooter-jennings","post_format-post-format-image"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/rpmonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8097","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/rpmonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/rpmonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rpmonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rpmonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=8097"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/rpmonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8097\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8110,"href":"https:\/\/rpmonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8097\/revisions\/8110"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rpmonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/8101"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/rpmonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=8097"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rpmonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=8097"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rpmonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=8097"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}