Feelin’ Alright, Dave Mason performs at Talking Stick Resort Showroom

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Dave Mason at Talking Stick Resort Showroom, Scottsdale, Arizona

Review and Photos by Fred Kuhlman
Promoter: Danny Zelisko Presents
Venue: Talking Stick Resort – Showroom
Date: Friday October 11th, 2019
Tour: Feelin’ Alright Tour 2019

Dave Mason at Talking Stick Resort Showroom, Scottsdale, Arizona

Dave Mason is one of the pioneers of rock & roll music.  He had already started 2 bands by age 15.  At age 19 he wrote his most memorable and classic rock anthem, “Feelin’ Alright” that he later recorded with Traffic.  To this day, “Feelin’ Alright” is still covered by many bar bands and its most famous version was by Joe Cocker, especially the Saturday Night Live version where John Baluchi was behind Joe and mimicked Joe as they sang.  Over his 50+ year career, Dave has performed with many of the Rock greats including Jimi Hendrix, Paul McCartney, Delaney & Bonnie, Eric Clapton and Fleetwood Mac.  In 2004 Dave was finally inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame was a member of Traffic.

This is about the 8th time I have seen Dave.  I saw him a number of times in the late 70s and early 80s and then again in the last 3 years.  I have only seen Dave during his solo career and not when he was with any of the bands, he was in.  Dave is not flashing.  He does not dance around on the stage or scream into the mic.  Dave does talk about his career and the many friends and people he was worked with over the years.  He also lets the other members of the band take over singing roles on a number of the songs.  Dave was joined by guitarist Johnne Sambataro, drummer Alvino Bennett and keyboardist Tony Patier.

Dave Mason Band at Talking Stick Resort Showroom, Scottsdale, Arizona

For “Rock and Roll Stew” Tony Patier, the keyboardist sang.  Johnne Sambataro was the singer for “Black Magic Woman” that Dave had initially performed with Fleetwood Mac when he was in that band in the mid-90s.  As a special treat for Danny and Leslie Zelisko, Dave sang “Every Woman”.  Dave had sung this song at Danny and Leslie’s wedding.  Dave also told us that Bob Dylan told him, “It was a beautiful song”, which is high praise from one of America’s greatest song writers.  They ended the set with Dave talking about his friend, Jimi Hendrix and showed us photos of them together and playing “All Along the Watchtower”.  After a short break, Dave and the guys came back on stage and played “Feelin’ Alright”.  The entire audience was up and dancing and singing along.  It was a great way to end the concert.

Tonight’s show at Talking Stick Resort was a typical Dave show.  Dave talked about his home town in England and his love of his Red Fender Stratocaster.  There was even a point in the show where Alvino had some problems with the drum kit and Dave jokes that it had messed up the flow of the show.  Numerous times throughout the show the band were smiling and laughing about something said or just an internal joke.  They also used a minimal stage setup with only house lighting.  The sound system at TSR showroom is one of the best in the valley and you could hear each singer clearly.  It is also a great small venue where the audience is right up to the stage and the distance to the back seats is less then 100 feet (in balcony bar).  I also appreciate the lighting because I can finally have well-lit performers for photographing.  This also is nice for the audience since they get a great view of the performers.

After the show Dave came out to sign items purchased by fans.  He also took photos with them.  If you get a chance to see one of the upcoming shows at the Showroom, I would highly recommend it.  The seating is nice, the sound system is outstanding, they light the stage so you can see the band and they have a great bar.

Photos © Fred Kuhlman 2019, All Rights Reserved


Dave Mason Setlist:                                                       (Album/Cover)
World in Changes                                                            (Alone Together)
Dear Mr. Fantasy                                                             (Traffic song)
Rock and Roll Stew                                                          (Traffic song)
The Low Spark of High Heeled Boys                          (Traffic song)
Black Magic Woman                                                       (Fleetwood Mac song)
We Just Disagree                                                              (Let It Flow)
Look at You Look at Me                                                 (Alone Together)
Every Woman                                                                    (It’s Like You Never Left)
Can’t Find My Way Home                                             (Blind Faith cover)
Shouldn’t Have Took More Than You Gave            (Alone Together)
Only You Know and I Know                                          (Alone Together)
All Along the Watchtower                                            (Bob Dylan cover)
Encore:
Feelin’ Alright                                                                    (Traffic song)

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