I felt like I made a pilgrimage from my home near Kansas City to my musical Mecca when I traveled to Texas for three RTF shows. My drummer cousin turned me on to RTF's Romantic Warrior circa 1977 when I was about 13 years old, and I have been musically enlightened and inspired since. He told me that after seeing RTF play in Pittsburgh, PA, he was convinced they put on the best, tightest live show he had ever seen. Unfortunately, the Corea-Clarke-White-DiMeola line-up broke up shortly thereafter, so I never got to see them play together. The RTF and Stanley Clarke albums I accumulated over the next three years began my 28-year-and-counting love affair with the bass guitar. Before Austin, I had the good fortune of seeing Clarke, DiMeola and Corea play live on many occasions, but never together, and never the great Lenny White.
With the advent of YouTube, I had the delight of seeing RTF's Old Grey Whistle Test appearance which covers all the cuts off the Romantic Warrior album. Until recently, I could only imagine what an incredible experience that must've been to see live, with all the glory of a state-of-the-art house sound system sending waves of joy onto the crowd. Someone needs to restore this treasure and release a DVD. When some fans started encouraging the members to reunite and tour again, I thought I would travel hundreds of miles to witness that at any reasonable opportunity. Thank God it happened!
I went to both Austin shows and the Dallas show on the way home, and had the time of my life! I've never considered myself the groupie type, but that certainly changed with this tour. It was worth every penny, every mile, and then some. To watch Lenny without listening leads one to believe he is underplaying and leaving plenty of space for his bandmates. To listen to Lenny without watching conjures mental images of a drummer working diligently and feverishly to lay down his invigorating, syncopated rhythms, which perfectly complement the others sharing the stage. On the balance, he makes a very difficult drum role look incredibly easy. What a pleasure to see him play. Individually, these guys are four of the greatest musicians I've every seen or heard. To see them work their musical magic on the same stage together is beyond explanation. Intoxicating and euphoric are suitable words. A very rare treat for any music lover. Amazing that after 25 years removed from their last tour, by the second show of the tour, they were the best and tightest live act I have ever seen, playing music with a degree of difficulty that most folks wouldn't touch in front of a live
audience with a 10-foot pole. I especially loved hearing Duel of the Jester and Tyrant in the first Austin show! Incredible. They also played Sorceress at all three shows. In the first Austin show, they held pretty close to the version on the studio recording. In the 2nd Austin and Dallas shows, during the second movement, Stanley laid down a funky bass line that resembled Byron Miller's line on George Duke's Reach For It, which was a very cool, fresh twist that really worked in Sorceress. Very cool! I even got to shake Al's hand after the second show in Austin! Unfortunately, my wife was unable to go with me, so we're picking them up in Chicago and Indy again next week. I can't wait. And when the live shows are over, I'll eagerly anticipate the DVD release! Will be a perfect memento of my brief time as a groupie.
These guys are not to be missed!
Thank you Chick Corea, Stanley Clarke, Al DiMeola and Lenny White. You made remarkable music together in Texas, and I'll never forget it!
