Saw Pat Travers last night - long post

[scottcald]

"HI DAVE, I'M OUT HERE IN FRONT OF A BAND.  SOMEONE'S GIVEN ME A GUITAR BUT I DON'T KNOW HOW TO PLAY.  MAYBE I'LL JUST BUFF IT." 

[HSB0531]

I started listening to Heat in the streets when it came out and then saw him years later at the Palladium in NYC and at the Colosseum in Uniondale LINY.

Both were killer shows. I've got slide pics somewhere. (got to get a scanner and upload those). 

[Hardrockracer]

There's no reason to make fun of my comments. I just think a band (be it a real band or solo artist and backing band) should look like a unit on stage. So when I have PT standing there in jeans and shirt and the "mr. Basketball" next to him. That does not appeal to me. btw, except maybe from his early days as a 3-piece I pretty much prefer the Travers, Thrall, Cowling, Aldridge formation or the one including Jerry Riggs.

[Cboss]

8 hours ago, scottcald said:

"HI DAVE, I'M OUT HERE IN FRONT OF A BAND.  SOMEONE'S GIVEN ME A GUITAR BUT I DON'T KNOW HOW TO PLAY.  MAYBE I'LL JUST BUFF IT." 

Just distract everyone by throwing picks, it's worked before 🤔

[Steve Haynie]

19 hours ago, Hardrockracer said:

I don't care how good that Pastorius guy is. I am not paying for a band where members go on stage dressed like jocks. That's why I would not go see Boston. That doofus Scholz with his basketball attire annoyes me. Don't get me wrong. I love Boston and I like Travers but if I want to see sports clothing I am going to a basketball court. If you want my money go dress up like a musician.

So, can we assume you were never a fan of Raven? 

[tommy p]

6 hours ago, Hardrockracer said:

There's no reason to make fun of my comments. I just think a band (be it a real band or solo artist and backing band) should look like a unit on stage. So when I have PT standing there in jeans and shirt and the "mr. Basketball" next to him. That does not appeal to me. btw, except maybe from his early days as a 3-piece I pretty much prefer the Travers, Thrall, Cowling, Aldridge formation or the one including Jerry Riggs.

For the record I'm not familiar with what he normally wears, but Pastorius didn't wear any sports team apparel at this show; just jeans and a black wife-beater.  Pat looked like does in a thousand pictures I've seen of him: jeans and a vaguely Hawaiian-looking shirt with what I call a "vanity fan" blowing his hair back the entire show.

I can tell you this lineup absolutely KILLS musically, but I too would have loved to see one of the lineups with Pat Thrall or Jerry Riggs.

[singlehum]

52 minutes ago, Steve Haynie said:

So, can we assume you were never a fan of Raven? 

Then there was these guys...

 

 

[Cboss]

[donner]

^^NOW it's getting (strictly optically & musically) obnoxious!^^

[cmatthes]

23 hours ago, tommy p said:

Is that Larry "Bud" Melman?

Beat me to it!

[topekatj]

On 6/14/2023 at 4:22 PM, singlehum said:

 

 

Hello Pork Pie Hat

 

 

[hamerhead]

On 6/15/2023 at 1:31 AM, Hardrockracer said:

....or the one including Jerry Riggs.

That guy has been in EVERY band I've ever been in.

[kizanski]

11 hours ago, topekatj said:

 

 

Hello Pork Pie Hat

No, just pork.

[Jakeboy]

I was into PT well, back in his great years lol.

I don’t get the slam on the clothes…Travers isn’t  dressed like any athlete I know and I only see the one pic of him.

I’m not getting the criticism from what I see in the thread….

[Hardrockracer]

On 6/15/2023 at 2:43 PM, Steve Haynie said:

So, can we assume you were never a fan of Raven? 

I never really followed Raven. But I do remember their Hockey Drummer.

[Hardrockracer]

On 6/15/2023 at 2:48 PM, tommy p said:

For the record I'm not familiar with what he normally wears, but Pastorius didn't wear any sports team apparel at this show; just jeans and a black wife-beater.  Pat looked like does in a thousand pictures I've seen of him: jeans and a vaguely Hawaiian-looking shirt with what I call a "vanity fan" blowing his hair back the entire show.

I can tell you this lineup absolutely KILLS musically, but I too would have loved to see one of the lineups with Pat Thrall or Jerry Riggs.

Great that he wore something appropriate. It'S just every promo pic I saw from that formation was him looking like a jock.

[Hardrockracer]

17 hours ago, Jakeboy said:

I was into PT well, back in his great years lol.

I don’t get the slam on the clothes…Travers isn’t  dressed like any athlete I know and I only see the one pic of him.

I’m not getting the criticism from what I see in the thread….

This isn't about PT but his bassplayer.

[Cary]

On 6/14/2023 at 1:01 PM, jwhitcomb3 said:

I have never given a flying fuck what a musician is wearing. On the other hand, as much as I enjoyed seeing Pat Travers opening for Rainbow MANY years ago, nowadays I couldn't bring myself to see an artist who still sings his signature song about punching out his woman.

I think I saw the same tour, Krokus, Pat Travers, and Rainbow.  Great show.  I always liked PT’s stuff.

[cmatthes]

I loved this album ( and the Live album) as a kid…

 

[tommy p]

20 hours ago, cmatthes said:

I loved this album ( and the Live album) as a kid…

 

I still love the line "Irish Setter, settin' all the time...".

[RobB]

On 6/14/2023 at 10:01 AM, jwhitcomb3 said:

On the other hand, as much as I enjoyed seeing Pat Travers opening for Rainbow MANY years ago, nowadays I couldn't bring myself to see an artist who still sings his signature song about punching out his woman.

Maybe she wouldn’t shut up. Did you consider that?

[cmatthes]

11 hours ago, tommy p said:

I still love the line "Irish Setter, settin' all the time...".

One of many reasons where I refer to Pat's lyrics as being "Frehley-esque". 

[The Shark]

On 6/14/2023 at 3:09 PM, crunchee said:

Ask Brent.   

Crunchee for the win!

[The Shark]

Okay, so a little history.  Pat lived in Orlando and was married to the largest Ford dealer in the area's daughter.  That's the old man's house on the album Hot Shot.  Lake Ivanhoe, if you're from around here.

So, anyway Pat used to use my best friend Chris Lukasik to work on his guitars.  I had a shop in Orlando and Chris and a guy named Randy were the guitar and electronics techs respectively.  Pat showed up on a Saturday morning and he had these two Dean Markley amps.  He told Randy that they paid him a lot of money to play them, but he couldn't get them to sound good.  Nobody could, but I digress.  

Randy told Pat to just set them up as dummies and play a fifty watt Marshall behind the back line.  Randy happened to own Pat's small box 1970 50wt used on Putting It Straight and Makin' Magic.  Pat traded it to Randy for some work.

Pat begged him for the amp, but Randy wouldn't sell it back to him.  I saw Pat that night at the Junkyard (a neat little venue some Central Floridian's might remember) and he was so drunk he couldn't remember being at my shop that morning.  He was god awful that night.  Jerry Riggs played almost all of the leads in the set.

Soon thereafter, he was divorced and out of Orlando.   Years later on a Halloween night, I could hear Pat playing at a place called Dales Ale's in my town.  I remembered thinking that he'd hit rock bottom because my band turned down gigs there!

So, I jumped in the car and took my PT model Melody Maker to the place.  Pat played it on the last few songs and loved it.  He tried to buy it, but I wouldn't sell it.  He remembered that I acquired the amp from Randy and asked about it.  I had sold the amp to  Brent Magnano of Dynamic Sound years before.  Pat chuckled and said, "you didn't sleep with my ex-wife too?"

He's always been a nice fellow.  Not arrogant or dismissive.  He just had a problem with the substances.

I know he's been clean for years and it sounds like the rock star I knew is still able to "go".  God bless him.  So many greats are gone and I'd put him in that class.  Not great guitar-player, but great artist.  I'm looking forward to going to see him soon after ten years since the Dale's gig.

Here's the guitar...

[JOE_CPWE]

Seen PT live a number of times, met him a couple times, and even got to open up for him in...'89... or '90?

The first night I got to meet him in '87, he was drunk and being, sort-of, an ass.  I met him again a couple nights later (I'd arranged these through his tour manager) and I swear he didn't remember me from the previous night.  We met in his tour RV and he signed my Makin Magic record, which he thought was cool because it was a German import version.

Anyway...in recent live footage I've seen in interviews he seems like he really has his shit together.  He's sober and also talks about anxiety issues he used to have that he's overcome.  Good stuff.  I keep an eye on his tour schedule, would like to see him live again.