What a pleasant treat last night, earlier in the day whilst traipsing thru the Facebooks, an event that I had created popped up to remind me of the Andy Timmons Band at the Guitar Sanctuary was Sunday evening. I thought that would be fun, and its on a Sunday night, an evening I am usually free or at my straight gig. But alas as I am, recovering from surgery, at trip to McKinney was not in the offing. Shortly there after a post from @Brian Meader, further reminded me that, why yes, the Sanctuary offers a live stream for a mere 10 bucks. SCORE! I’m in! While in no way does a live stream replace one’s being there in person, it was certainly enjoyable for this recovering patient. Before we get into the actual concert, let’s talk a wee bit about the live stream it self. Well done! Well done! Bravo Mr Meader and company! During this time of covid I have experienced many streaming events on the ole internet, some good, some fair, some unwatchable. This stream from the Sanctuary was near flawless, I experienced 1 blip at 9:05pm when it buffered for maybe a half a second, other than that, perfect. Video quality was HD, sound was crisp, clear, very live, with a hint of reverb. Multiple camera angles kept it interesting with out being distracting, ie switching views too often. The video man did an excellent job. Stream started dead on at 7pm. Some ads ran in between bands, I would have preferred to have watched them reset the stage, but that’s just me. Alright, on to the music!
Your opener for the evenings festivities was the duo of Nick Knirk, nylon string guitar and Michael Horne, violin. They played a 40 minute set which included Christmas carols, some standards, and a few refreshing originals. Mr Knirk’s intricate fingerstyle guitar work was accented beautifully with Mr Horne’s violin. I even enjoyed their version of the Married with Children theme, “Love and Marriage” which I normally find to be quite the beating. You can find more of their work on their “Acoustically Speaking” releases. Good stuff guys ! Most Enjoyable!
Now on to the headliner, the Andy Timmons Band. You gotta like it when one of the first things Andy says is. “Did ya’ll get the ear plugs we were handing out?”. To set the stage for the ATB, a trio of bass, drums, guitar. Mr Timmons’ setup was impressive to say the least, I counted 4 Mesa Boogie heads, 2 4×12 cabs, 4 2×12 cabs and a pedalboard that would make Frank Zappa envious. His guitars were his Ibanez signature and a Fender Telecaster. With that, ATB comes blasting out of the gate with an incendiary version of “Killing Floor” grabbing the audience by the balls and not letting go for the next 2 hours. Followed by an excellent version of Hendrix’s “Freedom”. I am not going to list out the entire set list but here are a few standouts. An absolutely crushing version of the Beatles “Strawberry Fields Forever”. “Deliver Us” and “Winterland” ATB originals. Andy gave us some culture with Frederic Chopin’s “Prelude in CM”. Andy grabbed his telecaster for “Headed for the Ditch”, a rollicking, rockabilly flavored burner that would have had the average guitarist’s fingers worn down to nubs. A self-described deep-cut of “Duende” and the finale of “Cry for You”. The audience showed it’s appreciation by demanding a couple more songs. ATB served up “Super 70’s” followed by the closer that I didn’t catch the name of. Wow! Right at 2 hours, what an excellent way to spend the evening. Great show, excellent chops and of course great tone and I didn’t have to drive home.
Like I said, the live stream does not replace being there in person by any stretch of the imagination, but if you are stuck at home or somewhere else for that matter, $10 is not a bad way to spend the evening. Just check on the Sanctuary’s website to see if the live stream is being offered.
https://www.theguitarsanctuary.com/
https://www.facebook.com/GuitarSanctuary
https://www.facebook.com/groups/591924381326172 . This is my facebook group