Search - Jonny Lang :: Live at the Ryman

What a let down

Cheyenne's Dad | Scottsdale, Arizona | 12/07/2009

(1 out of 5 stars)

"I have the other 5 Jonny Lang cd's and they are high on my rotation list. I was fortunate to see him play a short set in Scottsdale, Arizona a couple of years ago. I am a BIG FAN of his. I bought the Herbie handcock CD just for "When Love Comes to Town" with Joss Stone. Fabulous performance by both of them [though I think I'd like to hear a Hammond B3 Greg Allman type solo in there]. Probably HER best. I'd like to hear more of that duo.



I was fortunate to be a teenager in the 1960's in Chicago so I got to see most of the pillars of the blues in small clubs like The Checkerboard Lounge. Then I got to see the American and British whites as they entered the scene. Clapton in Cream; Jeff Beck Group; Allman Brothers with Duane; Stevie Ray Vaughn with Jimmie Vaughn, Jonny Winter and Elmore James; Butterfield Blues Band, Winwood with Spencer Davis; Hendrix;John Mayall with Mick taylor; etc.



I say this because I think Jonny Lang is right there with these guys. I see him as a very evocative musician and vocalist. He has the ability to draw emotion out of the listener. To resist is futile. As Eric Clapton said; he has the licks AND the chops.



This download sucks. If you listen to it and to Lang on The Crossroads Guitar Festival, you would think this was done ten years before with a high school garage band. The only thing that even gives a glimpse of Lang's God given gifts and his crafted talent are parts of the vocal track. I've heard 60's bootlegs that sound better. What happened?



The drums are so flat and out of sync they are painful to listen to. The rest of the "band" seems to switch to playing a different song or forget what they are playing in the middle of it. Tracks stop abruptly.



I'm not sure if the lack of professionalism is in the performance, the backing musicians, the recording, or the post production. I was not at the show and I don't recognize any of the players as being from prior releases. I am going to pass it on to an aquaintence that has played with Jonny before and see what he thinks. I can only hope that the cd is better. I have never bothered to write a review of any music that I have purchased before but I this just broke my heart.



"

Meh, just ok

Serge Bobroff | San Diego | 11/21/2009

(3 out of 5 stars)

"i am a big fan of jonny lang. i've seen him countless times live and enjoy him much live. the 'cd' is just ok. the recording is less than optimum and it is not only because it is an mp3. the sound is boxy, the instrument levels are off, sometimes the voice is not loud enough, sometimes the instruments are not loud enoungh. i've seen (and listened!) live recordings that are much better. specially when you think it was recorded at the ryman! i've listened to 'illegal' bootlegs of jonny's performances, and this one resembles to that. not recommended unless you are a die hard fan that needs to own everything he puts out ... i'm right there but i can't recommend it for the general public."

Much better on CD!

J. Wall | Northwest Coast | 11/22/2009

(4 out of 5 stars)

"I have to say that I very disappointed in this tour. I saw this one live and think that he either needs his old band back or he needs to wake up and smell the Blues!!! I enjoyed the show and his vocals were good, but he has moved on to something entirely different like Kenny Wayne did with his last album. Either he has forgotten how to play Blues guitar or he thinks that people have come to hear his band and not him. I'm sorry but the first time I saw him he was about thirteen years old and BB King asked him to come out onstage at The Gorge Amphitheater and jam with him and everyone was amazed at this little white boy who could really play the blues. I like funk like his song "I Am" which by the way is almost unrecognizable during this show but I miss his awesome guitar playing and his blues. Hopefully it is just a growing experience and all roads will him lead back to the blues. As for the sound quality, I will wait for the CD release as I only use WMA Lossless format in my Zune due to the signal to noise limitations in MP3. Hopefully they will do some remastering before they release the CD.

Re-review:

Finally got the CD release and thank you so much for the nice mix!!!

The CD release is so much better than the MP3 download was when it came out. Of course it always helps when I can put it through the 7.1 Onkyo surround processor to make it better but the CD remix is very good, kudos to the studio guys! Nice to relive the concert at concert levels in surround!!!

I actually like this CD now and have nothing but good things to say about Jonny's CD development crew. The only criticism I have is due to the lack of blues at this show and the lack of "Livin' for The City" which was his encore at this show when he was in Washington state and was the best song in the show! I still want to see Jonny play more blues guitar solos at his shows!!!



Always a great Jonny Langseth Fan! Go Jonny!!!"