Review and images by Craig Hunter Ross
Peter Frampton
How do you describe a tour when a rock and roll legend hits the road crisscrossing the country playing gigs with friends, celebrated guitarists and Hall of Fame musicians based on the region of the nation he is in and free for all performances and jam sessions?
Sounds like a circus, right? It was…when Peter Frampton brought his Guitar Circus to town!
In what many hope will become an annual summer tour tradition, Peter Frampton’s Guitar Circus brought fans across the land, not only the incredible joy filled performances that Frampton is known for, but he would meet up with some of the biggest names to ever pick up a guitar in different cities and regions; some advertised, some a surprise.
The Northeast and Mid-Atlantic were treated to the likes of Robert Cray and Steve Lukather. The Midwest would see blues hero Kenny Wayne Shepherd join in on the fun, while southern cities enjoyed slide guitar favorite Sonny Landreth and the legendary B.B King,
King can still burn up the stage, pleasing fans in every town, proving that even at the age of 87, the thrill may not be gone.
The Filene Center at Wolf Trap in Vienna, Virginia, enjoyed a bit of a surprise to many when Roger McGuinn of The Byrds joined Frampton on stage for rousing versions of several Byrds classics like “Mr. Tambourine Man” and “Eight Miles High”.
McGuinn even joked that one of the songs they would be playing may sound to the younger fans in the crowd to be a Tom Petty cover, but that it really wasn’t, as he and Frampton tore into a blistering version of “So You Want to be a Rock and Roll Star”.
While it may be a three-ring circus of axe wielding legends, it’s the ringmaster Frampton who takes control and ensures the audience gets not only solid performances from the guest musicians, but receives an evening full of all their Frampton favorites. Frampton plays with sheer joy that only he can bring to the stage.
B.B. King at the Filene Center, Wolf Trap Foundation for the Performing Arts.
Here’s hoping this touring concept sticks around for awhile and that circus comes to a town near you next summer. It is indeed a musical thrill for ladies and gentlemen and boys and girls of all ages!
GALLERY
