Music / americana
Review: Garry Tallent, The Tunnels
On this rainy Saturday evening music lovers wearing Bruce Springsteen T-shirts are heading to the Tunnels, where the Boss’ long time bassist Garry Tallent is performing. Although famous for being the founder of the E Street Band and the only original member, tonight is all about him and his first solo run.
His solo album Break Time answers any questions about what Tallent is up to when he is not touring the world with Springsteen. Started twenty years ago, it was just about waiting for the right time to release this rockabilly/country-packed gem inspired from the music of the 1950s. Some Springsteen fans may be here tonight expecting Tallent to cover some of his hits but the “Tennessee Terror” has other plans – this show is about going back to the roots of rock music.
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The night starts with Kevin Montgomery, a Nashville singer-songwriter who sets the tone for the evening with some beautiful country music. Then Tallent’s seven-piece band, featuring Kristi Rose and Fats Kaplin, enters the stage for an appetising instrumental introduction. Tallent keeps his face hidden behind his Wayfarers, perhaps to hide his anxiety provoked by playing in such an intimate venue far from the usual stadiums full of thousands of people.
The set starts with Bayou Love, a Cajun-sounding tune which shows the palette of colours his mainly acoustic band has to offer: the accordion and the violin respond to each other with frivolity, flirting on a bouncy cheerful double-bass. It continues with Ants in Her Pants and influenced by the song, the audience start to have itchy feet. On Promise to my Heart, singer Kristi Rose takes the lead and mesmerises the audience with her angelic voice. The show is made for the most part of Tallent’s original songs yet some covers are included as well such as sunny Burgess’ If I could I would, The Band’s Move to Japan and some Shadows and The Ventures’ instrumental interludes. Tallent and his band even punctuate the evening with a considerate homage to Adam West, who recently passed away, by playing a brief version of the Batman theme song.
The evening with Garry Tallent from the E Street Band is a success and the wide-ranging set is gone in an instant. For a musician who never thought himself as a frontman, Tallent does a wonderful job performing the music he truly enjoys and the fully-packed venue is the proof that he can be respected as an independent artist just as much as the legendary bassist of the E Street Band.
Read more: Americana, Blues & Country Picks: June 2017
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