Frampton’s Guitar Circus brought a Big Top of high-profile musicians — Peter Frampton, Steve Cropper, Robert Cray — to the outdoor amphitheater Monday for a tasteful show cut short by an approaching storm.
Frampton Comes Alive: Peter Frampton at Meijer Gardens on Monday night. (Photos/Anna Sink)
Rock guitarist Peter Frampton once boasted the best-selling live album ever, with “Frampton Comes Alive!” selling more than six million copies in the United States alone.
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Robert Cray is a five-time Grammy winner and a member of the Blues Hall of Fame.
One publication ranks Steve Cropper – a Stax Records legend who’s played with Booker T. & the M.G.’s, Otis Redding and plenty more – as the second-best guitarist in history.
With these imposing stars aligned for Frampton’s Guitar Circus tour stop at Frederik Meijer Gardens & Sculpture Park on Monday, it’s little surprise that some electric guitar-driven acrobatics unfolded “under the Big Top” with 1,657 mostly baby boomer fans on hand.
Robert Cray opened the show.
But while sparks certainly flew at different junctures – especially with special guest Cropper joining Frampton on electrifying renditions of “Green Onions” and “In the Midnight Hour,” with the dueling guitar leads on Frampton’s “Money,” and with the show-ending, mucho extended version of “Do You Feel Like We Do” – most of the guitar work on Monday was relatively subdued, albeit tasteful.
GORGEOUS NIGHT … UNTIL A STORM ROLLED IN
And some of the expected six-string theatrics unfortunately were cut short due to a storm that rolled through near the end of an otherwise pleasant June night. It forced Frampton to apologetically explain there would be no encore due to the fast-approaching rain and lightning. (Frampton already had altered the set by dropping a couple of songs earlier, apparently recognizing the need to abbreviate things.)
So while Frampton’s 97-minute “greatest hits” display and Cray’s 46-minute opening set didn’t match the stirring level of their previous performances at Meijer Gardens (crackling PA speakers nearly ruined Cray’s best and final song, “Smoking Gun”), this guitar circus still put three memorable rock and blues powerhouses in the spotlight.
These are guitarists who feel it, with “it” being the soulful voicing, emotional power and spine-tingling tones that set them apart from the pack – even on a weather-shortened night.
Steve Cropper joined Frampton for two songs.
THE VIBE
Frampton’s genial on-stage personality is perfectly suited for an older Meijer Gardens crowd that grew up with his radio hits. They embraced his ballads and rockers, and appreciated his self-effacing humor, such as a reference to being around Sunday to watch friend Sheryl Crow’s concert yet not joining her band on stage. “How about that bit where I came on?” he quipped, suggesting folks somehow missed it. “You must have been out getting a beer.”
THE NIGHT’S BIG MOMENTS
Frampton’s thunderous version of “Money” was followed by Cropper’s ebullient guest spot, with “Mr. Stax” bringing his string-bending, fire-breathing growl to “Green Onions” and Wilson Pickett’s “In the Midnight Hour” (co-written by Cropper).
THE BANTER
“We have run away to the Guitar Circus. It’s tough, but someone’s got to do it.” – Frampton
“I didn’t know Frederik Meijer, but what a helluva pavilion. He must have cared a little bit about music.” – Cropper
“I never knew I would write a song that would be used to sell adult diapers.” – Cropper, while introducing “In the Midnight Hour.”
FRAMPTON’S GUITAR CIRCUS: THE LOCAL SPINS PHOTO GALLERY BY ANNA SINK (6/17/13)
Email John Sinkevics at jsinkevics@gmail.com.
Copyright 2013, Spins on Music
OH! He was introducing “Midnight Hour” with the Depends rap. I thought he was referring to the previously played “Green Onions” which is used to schill Viagra. That said, I hadn’t seen Frampton since the “‘Comes Alive” era but last night’s brilliant show was far better than I remember.