Saw Tommy Emmanuel and Stephen Bennett

[wadsworth]

Man! What a show. THis show was the last night of a 4 day festival in Newport News, Va called Tommy Fest East. I have been a huge Tommy fan ever since I heard him 2-3 years ago and have been dying to go see him live. So I finally figured he wasn't coming any closer to me than Virginia (I live in South Carolina) so my dad and I drove up on Sunday for my 18th birthday (6-7 hour drive). Once we got there I realized that another guy (Stephen Bennett) is going to be playing also. I had never heard of him before but he was great. Very well rounded and tasteful player. All of his songs were so beautiful and melodic and his harp guitar and national steel guitar playing was awesome. So, after his hour long set at intermission I rushed out to the merchandise table and picked up his CD "Guitar Town". I've been listening to it today and it's very good. He had many to choose from so i just chose (from what i could tell) his earliest one. So then Tommy comes on at about 8:30 and doesn't let up one bit until after 11:15. Amazing. I mean, i have seen every video i could find of him on the internet and watched them countless times and i have 3 of his albums, but absolutely nothing compares to seeing this guy live. We were 9 rows back in a barn type theatre that held less than 300 people; it was a great atmosphere for the show. And his playing was the best I've heard yet. Absolutely phenomenal musician (as I'm sure most of you know by now).

 

I'll just try and list some of the songs that he played, if any of you are interested: blue moon, windy and warm, classical gas, beatles medley, endless road, tall fiddler, amazing grace (one of my favorites), those who wait, old town (i think?), the mystery (new song), guitar boogie, initiation (i had never seen this before: my god, he was getting some sounds I think pink floyd would have had trouble getting), mombasa (he went into a 20 minute african drumming bit that was just jaw-dropping), there were so many more but I just can't remember. He finishes the night off with Stephen Bennett coming back out and playing some of his (Stephen) stuff and some standards like "I'm beginning to see the light".

 

Once the concert is over, I'm outside browsing all of the discography that's for sale and out walks Tommy! He sits down and starts greeting his fans. So I got to meet him and tried to convince him to come down and play some shows in the Carolinas, lol! I was holding a DVD and "Only" music book that i had bought earlier in the evening and wasn't even thinking about getting them signed when he took them out of my hand and signed "Tommy CGP" on them. He has such a great personality that makes you genuinely feel good once you leave his show.

 

For those of you who might be near one of his shows, don't hesitate going. It's such a great experience and you may walk away with so much more than you expected.

[SurrealMcCoy]

Great review!

I know exactly what you experienced! I too had the great pleasure of seeing TE for the first time last Feb. It definitely was a "life altering" experience!