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Willy Porter and Martin Barre
Oct. 14th, 2004 08:00 pmI'd been a fan of Willy for a while, and Martin is the guitarist for Jethro Tull, one of my favorites, so for the local favorite to do a combined show with the bigtime favorite was very cool. Willy had toured with Tull at some point, and become friends with the band. Ian Anderson played on Willy's album from two years prior, and now Willy and Martin were doing a min-tour in the upper midwest.
It was at the Northern Lights Theater, which is mostly or all tables. We got our tickets kinda late, and ended up sitting way down front. Someone must have released the tickets. We were at a table of six that was up against the stage, and sitting with someone that had some connection to Willy.
In addition to Willy and Martin, the band was the rest of Tull, minus Anderson - Andy Gidding, Jonathan Noyce and Doane Perry. Before the show, I needed to use the restroom, and got directions from someone at the door. I went through the wrong door, and ended up backstage and nodding "hi" to Gidding.
The first part of the show was Willy's. He did his songs with the band backing him up. I forget if Martin was onstage the whole time, or just near the end. He did a tune making heavy use of the echoplex. I think that was the one listing all the deities, Buddha, Shiva, etc. He's a fantastic guitarist, always pushing his limits. There was a woman in the audience who kept yelling for "Paper Airplane". Willy started out ignoring her, then heckling her back ("Shut up, ma, you're drunk."), and finally security had to talk to her. Someone asked him how his kids were. Martin laughed about the hometown crowd. Willy answered, and then asked the guy why he asked. The guy replied that he had seen him at Summerfest, the day his wife was to give birth.
I also don't remember how much Willy was a part of Martin's show. I enjoyed Martin's music at least as much as Willy's. He was touring in support of Stage Left, which I like a lot. This was the opening night of the tour. Eleven dates - WI, MN, OH, PA, MD, VA, NJ, NY.
It was at the Northern Lights Theater, which is mostly or all tables. We got our tickets kinda late, and ended up sitting way down front. Someone must have released the tickets. We were at a table of six that was up against the stage, and sitting with someone that had some connection to Willy.
In addition to Willy and Martin, the band was the rest of Tull, minus Anderson - Andy Gidding, Jonathan Noyce and Doane Perry. Before the show, I needed to use the restroom, and got directions from someone at the door. I went through the wrong door, and ended up backstage and nodding "hi" to Gidding.
The first part of the show was Willy's. He did his songs with the band backing him up. I forget if Martin was onstage the whole time, or just near the end. He did a tune making heavy use of the echoplex. I think that was the one listing all the deities, Buddha, Shiva, etc. He's a fantastic guitarist, always pushing his limits. There was a woman in the audience who kept yelling for "Paper Airplane". Willy started out ignoring her, then heckling her back ("Shut up, ma, you're drunk."), and finally security had to talk to her. Someone asked him how his kids were. Martin laughed about the hometown crowd. Willy answered, and then asked the guy why he asked. The guy replied that he had seen him at Summerfest, the day his wife was to give birth.
I also don't remember how much Willy was a part of Martin's show. I enjoyed Martin's music at least as much as Willy's. He was touring in support of Stage Left, which I like a lot. This was the opening night of the tour. Eleven dates - WI, MN, OH, PA, MD, VA, NJ, NY.
