Blues Alley, 1073 Wisconsin Ave. NW Washington, DC 20007
Billy Cobham is my favorite drummer, especially the work he did under his own name and with George Duke, but I had never seen him perform in person before now. I considered going to all four nights, but in the end opted to go to both shows tonight.
Billy Cobham's Spectrum Band
The line up was: Billy Cobham (drummer), Dean Brown (guitar), Victor Bailey (bass), Tom Coster (keyboards).
Early show ~ 8:10 PM
1) Mirage - it had a light crank / Billy soloed - it cranked
Billy announced the title of the song before and said the next song was another new song to appear on their next album. He introduced the rest of the band.
2) Obliquely Speaking - it cranked / Bill solo
3) Spectrum? - it alternated between crank and laid back, Victor soloed, Tom clapped, Billy soloed, Dean walked over to Tom
4) Billy drum solo - it cranked / ? - it had a light crank / Dean guitar solo / long Billy solo - a cadence and more
5) Panama - it varied from light crank to laid back to full crank
Billy announced one more before we close:
6) Red Baron - it varied from light crank to full crank.
It ended at around 9:20 PM.
I got Billy to autography my copy of the Billy Cobham Anthology. I also bought a copy of his album Fruit from the Loom.
Tom warmed up. Billy tuned his drums.
Billy changed his shirt (from a light green t-shirt to a white collared shirt) and his bandana (from tan to purple).
Late show - 10:21 PM
1) Billy warmed up - it had a light crank
2) ? (familiar, Stratus maybe?) - it went from crank to light crank
3) Spectrum - it cranked / Billy drum solo
4) Two for One - it went from a light crank to a full crank / Billy drum solo
5) Billy drum solo - it cranked / ? - it had a light crank
6) Billy drum solo - it was incredible, it cranked, first he played just with his feet, then with mallets, at first one each hand, then two each hand, then back to one each hand, then drum sticks, then by hand
7) ? (familiar) - it had a light crank, Billy soloed, Tom soloed, it rose to a full crank
Billy said they would perform one more song, he asked for requests. One guy said, "Hip Pockets", but Billy said they hadn't practiced that. Then the guy said, "Lady of Spain" and Tom said, "I think you're in the wrong kind of club."
Billy said they would do something featuring Victor Bailey.
8) Quadrant 4 - it cranked, Victor soloed
It ended at 11:22 PM. I loved it. I am sure that Stratus and Crosswind were among the songs performed tonight.
I drove from Blues Alley to Mirrors.
