Derek Trucks Band
Live @ Stazione Birra, Roma, 17.10.07

Last night was a great night for me.

1. Firstly, I was right up against the stage in the central position, and if I stretched out an arm, I could touch Derek's foot;
2. I had his two Marshall amps at full blast three meters away, so much so that I'm still not convinced I'll completely recover my hearing;
3. I grabbed the original setlist of the concert with the poster thanks to a security staff;
4. I scored autographs on the ticket from the entire band;
5. I had a drink (he had beer, unfortunately, I'm a teetotaler!) with Derek and the group while some friends kindly snapped some great souvenir photos;
6. for thirty euros, and I say thirty euros, I bought Live at Georgia Theatre (2 CDs), Songlines (the latest studio album for those who don't know) with the namesake live DVD;
7. last but not least, I witnessed the extraordinary concert of a guy who, at 28, can easily be considered a living legend;

After this introduction, I can safely say that I attended an exceptional show lasting over 2 hours in the beautiful setting of Stazione Birra, which allows you to be half a meter from your idols during the concert and, with a bit of patience, meet them directly. This was the very first concert of the Derek Trucks Band on Italian soil, although Derek had already crossed the boot as the second guitar in the world tour of Eric Clapton in 2006/2007 (Eric has a lot of guts and a scant sense of shame to present himself with, on second guitar, a guy who is decidedly better than him as an instrumentalist and, in perspective, as a composer).

The group played 13 pieces ranging from classics of the blues (Leaving Trunk, Key to the Highway), jazz (a wonderful My Favorite Things and hints of Afro Blue, both of Coltrane's memory), Indian music (Maki Madni) and original tracks mainly from the latest studio album (I Wish I Knew, Sahib Teri). Derek was exceptional with the slide, but the whole band was superlative (a sextet with guitar, vocals, keyboards, percussion, bass, and drums), with performances of great intensity all far superior to their respective versions contained in the studio albums, with remarkable solo parts and especially never self-indulgent.

In general, it was truly a great concert that provided a demonstration of solidity from a group that is now approaching a decade of experience and provided considerable personal satisfaction to myself as well illustrated in the introductory part of this review.

This is the setlist of the concert taken from the original Setlist used by the musicians:

1) Get Out of My Life Woman

2) I Wish I Knew

3) Sahib Teri/Leaving Trunk

4) 44

5) I Want to Know How It Feels

6) Blind, Crippled & Crazy

7) My Favourite Things

8) All I Do

9) Key to the highway

10) Mahjoun/Greensleeve

11) Feel So Bad

12) Soul Serenade

13) Up Above My Head

Lastly, I want to tell you that all this goodness cost me the modest sum of 15 ?!!!