By Rick Slagter, Rock At Night Groningen, The Netherlands
Venue: Iduna, Drachten-November 2, 2018
After the first songs of the show Eric Gales takes a moment to tell the audience he had a very rough life. Drug abuse, addiction, violence, prison are the kind of things he has been through. When you see the tears in my eyes, when you hear me shout while I’m playing, I’m working through the grief, he says, but I’m more than two years sober now.The man not only plays the blues–he lived them, which explains the music’s depth and soul.
Not only is Gales a superb guitarist but his band has a great rhythm section. The bass player, drummer and percussionist (nice detail: she’s Gales’ wife) are an incredible backbone. They’re an organic whole with Gales’ formidable guitar playing–and the band follows his every move.
Eric Gales is often linked with Jimmy Hendrix–but he’s more than that. Gales has developed his own guitar style which incorporates many elements of jazz, blues, gospel, funk and rock. The setlist for the evening included many songs from the most recent album Middle of the Road.
Gales will be touring Europe until the end of November, when he returns to the U.S. and continues. RAN was in the crowd at Iduna Drachten, The Netherlands, and shot a series of photos of the guitar hero and his band. Check out the Photo Gallery below:
PHOTO GALLERY
Video
Photographer (concerts, documentary), musician (rock, blues), writer (fiction), straight edger (sober in any sense), dwells underground (alt scene).
Living in the North of The Netherlands, the independent creative area of the country (hotspots are Groningen and Leeuwarden).
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