When presented with free ducats to a concert, you better believe it-  I’m gonna go.  And when it’s a classic artist the likes of Steve Miller, that just makes those tix extra special.  Last Thursday at Riverbend Music Center in Cincinnati, Ohio, I accompanied my son and a couple of his co-workers to see the aforementioned Space Cowboy with opener (and fellow classic artist) Peter Frampton in hopes that both would deliver a fine set of hits galore.  That they did, and then some.

I’ll be honest, I’m not a huge Peter Frampton fan.  I never picked up any Frampton records in my formative years and still haven’t grabbed anything since, not even the  ubiquitous Frampton Comes Alive or anything from his Humble Pie days (other than downloading the classic cut “I Don’t Need No Doctor”).  But do I know and respect Frampton’s material?  Absolutely!  Anyone growing up listening to the radio in the mid to late 70s/early 80s undoubtedly heard staples from that aforementioned solo live platter, so I somewhat knew what to expect coming in.  All that said, I didn’t realize how much I would enjoy those cuts AND the rest of his set.  Kicking off the night with “Something’s Happening”, Frampton and band rolled through a tight and somewhat jammy nine song set that featured some fantastic guitar playing from the man and fellow guitarist Adam Lester plus killer accompaniment from the remainder of his band- keyboardist Rob Arthur, bassist David LaBruyere, and drummer Dan Wojciechowski.  Songs like the familiar “Show Me The Way” and “Baby I Love Your Way” drew major applause and nods to his instrumental album in Soundgarden cover “Black Hole Sun” (a nice tribute to Chris Cornell) and his Humble Pie days with a smoking version of “Four Day Creep” were excellent, but finale “Do You Feel Like We Do?” was the showstopper of the night, especially as Frampton broke out the talkbox and did a bit of guitar deuling with Lester.  Before the song, Frampton told a wonderful story about how his signature black Gibson Les Paul guitar had been thought lost for 30 years only to be found and given back to him courtesy of a collector-  that guitar had been on his solo hits and is THE guitar on the live album, so it was only right to bring it back on tour and close the evening on that same instrument.  He may be a few years older and may not have the hair, but that guitar and his talents are still alive and were on full display this evening.

Confession time…  I caught Steve Miller in concert almost 30 years ago and I was surprised that I did not enjoy that show as much as I thought I would.  I’d been a fan since the late 70s and even received Book Of Dreams on 8 track(!) as a Christmas present when I was eleven years old to go along with the new stereo system my parents had purchased for me and my brother that year (he got Paul Stanley’s solo album…  a good deal for both of us!).  Not long after that we got a copy of Fly Like An Eagle via the Columbia House Record Club (I miss those days) and played the lead single and other hits on that album to death, so Steve Miller was definitely ingrained in the brain.  The early 80s hits were good too:  “Abracadabra” was uniquely funky; “Heart Like A Wheel” (an underrated gem) was great, and mid eighties album Living In The 20th Century had a number of great cuts as well.  So you’d think having the opportunity to catch the man in concert in the late 80s would have been exciting but it wasn’t to be.  Would this time be any different?  Read on…

Opening with a speedy rendition of deep cut “The Stake”, Miller and band were on point all night as they mixed up an excellent batch of hits and album cuts from the man’s history with nothing later than 1986’s fine “I Want To Make The World Turn Around”.  Highlights from the night included a rockin’ version of “Living In The USA”, the lazy psychedelic vibe of “Wild Mountain Honey” (complete with story about how he purchased the Coral sitar guitar he played on the song), a spirited run through “Take The Money And Run”, plus wrapping up the evening with four big dogs in “Fly Like An Eagle”, “Rock ‘n Me”, “Jungle Love”, and “Jet Airliner”.  The rest of the set was just as good, including bringing out Frampton on guitar and vocals for the Freddie King song “Same Old Blues” and for a bit of guitar dueling on Elmore James’ “Stranger Blues” and later tossing in the Howlin’ Wolf inspired “Going To Mexico” from his pre-hits days.  As with Frampton, Miller was accompanied by a fine backing band made up of bassist Kenny Lee Lewis, keyboardist Joseph Wooten, rhythm guitarist Jacob Peterson, and drummer Gordy Knudtson who were mostly there to support although Wooten added some fine keyboard interplay and he, Lewis, and Peterson ably handled all background vocals to add heft to each song.

So what was different this time compared to the late 80s show?  Props goes to Miller’s guitar playing and a great mix of non-hits plus the bringing Frampton out to play.  While Miller’s stage presence is pretty much non-existent-  the man stays rooted to one spot and rarely leaves that location save for the occasional spotlight on other members – his guitar work was a nice, subtle highlight; a bit of a contrast to the more fiery Frampton and more serving to the song.  He did not overplay but was more interested in bluesier tones yet offering up a bit more of a rhythmic flair in songs like “Rock N Me” and “Jet Airliner” and saving more of his lead work for his spotlight with Frampton when his playing had a bit more life to it.  Those only there to see the hits may have taken a potty break or went to grab a beer during those unfamiliar tunes, but I dug seeing the deep cuts and the blues standards as the man could take a few liberties vocally and guitarwise and not stick to those radio friendly melodies (unlike the vocal miss in “Abracadabra”-  too much melody tweaking for my tastes and the only sore spot of the night).

Overall, two thumbs up for this fine, fine show featuring these two classic rock masters.  The hits just kept on a-comin’, the rain held off outside of a few sprinkles, and I got to hang with my son for a few hours.  Good times…