Rock & Roll Icon Dave Mason Rocks Talking Stick Resort

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Dave Mason Backdrop

Review and photos by Fred Kuhlman
Promoter: Danny Zelisko Presents
Venue: Talking Stick Resort Showroom
Date: Saturday February 17th, 2018

Dave Mason

Dave Mason is truly a Rock And Roll icon.  His career spans nearly 50 years and include such great bands as Jimi Hendrix, Traffic, Delaney and Bonnie and Friends and Fleetwood Mac.  He has also performed with George Harrison, Paul McCartney, Stevie Wonder, Michael Jackson, Graham Nash, Stephen Stills, and Eric Clapton.  In 1969, Dave decided to go solo and probably produced his greatest album, Alone Together, which is considered a rock classic.

Dave Mason Band

Dave was joined by fellow musicians, Alvino Bennett (drums), Tony Patler (keyboards, vocals), and Johnne Sambataro (guitar, vocals).  An additional member has been added for this tour to help with vocals, Gretchen Rhodes.  Dave and the band are performing at the Talking Stick Resort Showroom which is a perfect venue for Dave.  It is a small intimate venue with outstanding sound and lighting.  Dave gets to talk directly to the audience and tell stories about his career and the songs he was performing.

They started the show with 3 songs from Dave’s first solo album Alone Together.  They started with “World in Changes”, then “Shouldn’t Have Took More Than You Gave” and finally “Look at You Look at Me”.  Next up was a classic Traffic song, “Rock and Roll Stew”.  At this point in the show, Gretchen joined the group and helped sing “We Just Disagree”.  For “Can’t Find My Way Home”, Dave sat down and Johnne and Gretchen took over lead vocals.  When Dave introduced the song “Gypsy In Me” written by his friend Bonny Raitt, he indicated that he would love to play together with her.  The crowd started to yell out that Danny Zelisko, the promoter, should attempt to put together the gig.  To have these two great performers together on stage would be a fantastic show and I would definitely love to see it.

Gretchen Rhodes and Danny Zelisko

They ended the main set with a Bob Dylan song, “All Along The Watchtower”.  Dave originally played 12-string acoustic guitar with Jimi Hendrix when Jimi did his cover of the song and rocketed it to an all-time Rock and Roll classic.  After a short break, Dave and company returned to do a 2 song encore.  The first song of the encore, “Feelin’ Alright?”, Dave wrote when he was with Traffic, but his friend Joe Cocker made it a smash hit.  The song has been covered by over 50 bands include a special Joe Cocker and John Belushi version done on Saturday Night Live.  As somewhat of a surprise, Danny Zelisko (promoter and personal friend of Dave) joined in and sang with Johnne.  The last song of the show was an old Rock and Roll classic, “Shake, Rattle And Roll”.  This time, Danny moved over and sang and danced with Gretchen.  The entire crowd was also up and dancing and singing along with the last 2 songs.

What an excellent show.  Dave and the gang did a fabulous job.  Gretchen’s voice reminded me of Bonnie Bramlett of Delaney and Bonnie.  Dave still plays a mean guitar and his voice is still strong.  After the show, Dave and the band came out to see the crowd and signed items for the fans including his new CD, Pink Lipstick.  As Dave said, “This is now we make money so we can still perform”.  This was my 4th time to see Dave and I enjoyed each show.  I was a huge Traffic fan and loved Dave’s solo album Alone Together and played it so much I had to purchase it multiple time.


Photos © Fred Kuhlman 2018


Dave Mason Setlist:                                   (Album/Cover)
World in Changes                                          (Alone Together)
Shouldn’t Have Took More Than You Gave     (Alone Together)
Look at You Look at Me                                (Alone Together)
Rock & Roll Stew                                          (Traffic)
We Just Disagree                                          (Let It Flow)
Standing In My Light                                     (Ian Hunter)
Can’t Find My Way Home                              (Blind Faith)
Gypsy In Me                                                 (Bonnie Raitt)
Apache                                                         (The Shadows)
The Low Spark of High Heeled Boys               (Traffic/After Dave left)
Only You Know and I Know                            (Alone Together)
Dear Mr. Fantasy                                           (Traffic)
Watchtower                                                  (Bob Dylan/Jimi Hendrix)
Encore:
Feelin’ Alright ?                                              (Traffic)
Shake, Rattle And Roll                                   (Charles E. Calhoun)

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