Frampton Comes Alive! At Wolf Trap

Photography By Alan Duckworth

Having Peter Frampton’s name on the ticket, you think would be enough. Throw in legendary blues rocker BB King not to mention a few surprises and you have what is sure to be a memorable evening. An evening laced with slick guitar licks and solos that will bend your imagination. When you have BB King and Frampton together you have more than just a “Guitar Circus” you have a musical extravaganza, or Homerpalooza, “Man, that guy’s guitar is talking;” Simpson’s reference alert!

BB King wouldn’t call it that way. He’s old school and proud of it! He’d say, “we played old man good.” You got to love it! I could listen to BB King talk for hours, especially when you have his band playing light jazz in the background. He even joked around about how he talks too much and “never rush an old man.” His band was great; they played in unison really well.

He had his famous guitar Lucille with him but for the most part he did the other thing he’s famous for, sing the blues. His voice protruded a rich deep texture. Not deep in terms of tone but meaning. We all sang along “You Are My Sunshine”, which isn’t very bluesy but was a heart warming experience which is bluesy in essence. BB King was in great spirits. The best highlight of the entire evening was hearing “The Thrill Is Gone” performed with BB King on vocals and Peter Frampton on guitar.

One of Frampton’s most popular albums was his live album “Frampton Comes Alive” that seems like a bit of a double edge sword. Sure you now have a great reputation for live concerts but expectations are that much higher. Could you imagine having to continually live up to a performance you did over 30 years ago?

You wouldn’t know it from seeing him perform. Frampton just smiles and plays amazing guitar as if it’s second nature. Like a circus performer, I guess hence the name of his act “Guitar Circus.” I’m not even exaggerating the slightest bit. I’ve seen some really amazing guitar players, they pull off incredible solos but their finger movements are very defined. With Peter Frampton, he plays guitar so effortlessly you barely notice he’s playing at all. As if he’s just holding the guitar and amazing sounds are just protruding from it, magically. When he plays chords you can see his hands move more than when he plays solos and that’s just because he’s keeping rhythm. It could have something to do with the effects pedals he uses and the style in which he plays but its still sounds great!

Speaking of effects, Frampton did of coarse play his infamous voice box. He didn’t over do it though. It was used in both “Show Me The Way” and “Do You Feel Like I Do.” He also used it in a Soundgarden cover “Black Hole Sun”, the guitar had this deep wawa sound as it hummed “Black hole sun won’t you come and wash away the rain.” It sounded great! The song “Baby I Love You Way” was really smooth, Peter Frampton can sing voice box or no voice box.

Another really great surprise was the band Frampton played with, “The Byrds.” Roger Mcguinn even came out and sang a few songs, like “Mr. Tambourine Man” and “Eight Miles High”; a nice addition! I wasn’t expecting that at all!

This was an amazing musical experience! There were so many great songs, genres and covers. It had it all! Peter Frampton knows how to put on a show, his positive aura just captures you. What a great concert! And to top it all off he played The Beatles “While My Guitar Gently Weeps” for an encore; what more else can I say!