 Willy Porter |
 Willy Porter and Martin Barre |
Review and Photos by Matt Schwenke
Teaming up with Milwaukee-based musician Willy Porter, Jethro Tull guitarist Martin Barre added a clean rock guitar, and sometimes a folk mandolin, sound to the alternative sound of Willy Porter. While most of the evening featured both guitarists on stage at the same time, the two also traded off leading the music on their own. The rest of the band, a bassist, drummer and keyboardist, did a good job of playing behind the two very different musicians. The result was two very different sounds that were surprisingly cohesive.
Though the crowd present at the small and intimate Northern Lights Theatre was decidedly made up of Porter fans, Martin Barre received a good amount of applause for his songs without Porter on stage. Even though one fan did request that the duo play "Aqualung," the crowd called out for Porter's songs all evening. A rather comedic moment came in between songs when a fan repeatedly called out for the song "Paper Airplane." Porter, in true entertainer style, responded by saying, "Come on now Mom, you're drunk," before moving on to the next song (which was not "Paper Airplane"). The songs that Willy did play were done with the amazing guitar playing and impressive range in singing that Willy has always displayed. The combination of both of these talents could be found in the song "Tribe," which begins with Porter doing a Keller Williams-like looping of both voice and guitar. Perhaps the best mix of Porter's sound with the clean, Steve Vai-like technical rock sound of Martin Barre was "Poison," a song that is due to appear on Barre's yet to be released solo album.
Willy Porter
Martin Barre
Willy PorterHere's Your Chance to.... Respond!
Your feedback will be featured on
Rant or Rave within 24 hours.
