It already happened four weeks ago but the impression I got from it is still active in my mind and heart…so here they are, some words to the Revival Tour 2013 in Ringkirche in Wiesbaden.

The members this year were founder and head of it all Mr. Chuck Ragan,  Jay Malinowski (Bedouin Soundclash), Rocky Votolato, Emily Barker and Cory Branan.

For me there were 3 more or less totally unknown in this year’s tour. Jay Malinowski, Emily Barker and Cory Branan.

It turned out that the tour itself started completely different then last year. When we were allowed to enter the church the members of the DeadCoast (strings ensemble) were already standing in  front and were playing and singing which seemed to be totally improvised. Like an Irish song, a Russion after it…it was  a great mix of nearly everything you can play on „Violine, Bratsche und Cello“. They played more or less until the members of this years tour entered the stage. All together (like last year) to play one song of each of them. After that Cory Branan was the one that had to stay behind on stage and start with his solo set.

Cory Branan was touring with his record „Mutt“ which could be bought during the tour. Mutt contains a varity of songs all so different from each other that it is absolutely impossible to ever get the feeling of boredom while listening to it. He has an oustanding voice which can sing deep or high and if you have ever heard him you’ll be always able to pick him from a group of singers. I had listened to „Mutt“ before the tour already, so I knew how different the songs were going to be, but I can cleary say I wasn’t prepared what was going to happen.Cory Branan live is something completely different. I had the feeling he was totally improvising all of the melodies on his guitar throughout the whole evening. I can’t really say if he is able to play a song twice the same time when he plays like that but obviously he’s  a genious when it comes to play guitar. I have never seen someone play with such an amount of breaks and different pickings in every song of his set and it seemed to me that while he was doing a song with Chuck that even Chuck stared on his fingers and couldn’t hide the smile. It left me more or less with my jar dropped open and I can say that when I listen to Mutt nowadays I’m always trying to recall the version he played in that tiny church that night …. no chance I could….but I really would like to hear them after each other. More information on Cory’s album Mutt can be found on his homepage here.

Second on stage was Emily Barker. She’s normally on stage as „Emily Barker and the Red Clay Halo“. For those that never listened to one of her songs, she does backing vocals for Chuck in more than one song but the most recent and probably famous example is „Valentine“. Her voice can pretty much do everything from folk to singer songwriter and so she absolutely fits to the stuff Chuck Ragan does when he’s playing solo. Her set was quite folky and soft and as Chuck and Rocky she’s able to play guitar and harmonica at the same time. Additionally it turned out that having her on the tour this time gave the songs she joined a very different touch just because it was a female voice. Unfortunately I missed getting her record during the tour and ended up realizing that it’s not available on German Itunes so far. But more information about her can be found on her homepage where you can buy the music as well here.

Next one on stage was Jay Malinowski and the Dead Coast strings. Jay turned up with a little book and told us in German that they would play the set totally acoustic and that we should shut up 🙂 Then him and the three awesome musicians with viola, violin and cello sat down a little left and started a set that contained a lot of songs that were inbetween Blues, Singer Songwriter or even Jazz. He played the piano quite often and the songs were made for listening with eyes closed to those wonderful and often heartbreaking music. I can not recall having experienced anything similar or near that before. Jay’s voice can be strong and clear, but often has a kind of tone that gives the impression that it’s going to crack in the next seconds and I’m really looking forward to the first full album they are recording just now. Whoever wants in impression can listen to his solo record Bright Lights & Bruises which gives a pretty perfect impression how changeable his voice is. News about him and the upcoming release with the Deadcoast can be found here

On Jay followed Rocky Votolato with his typically singer songwriter music. Like Chuck I’d say he’s known in Germany for his music already. I have no idea why he’s not yet as popular as Chuck (or at least it seems to me that way) but his music absolutely deserves to lay back and just listen. He’ll play three shows in Germany at the end of December and all information about the upcoming dates, his latest release and his music in general can be found here.

Chuck Ragan was last on stage and as always accompanied by Joe Ginsberg and Jon Gaunt who where on and off stage for the whole evening joining all others as well. Chuck is always worth a trip to a concert. I guess I don’t need to say anything to his music as he’s well known, but I can say that I seldom found an artist that open, warmhearted and fan friendly even on stage. During his whole set he seems to enjoy the show. It seems he’s never tired or exhausted and in the middle of the set they moved directly between the church rows and you could see him smile all over his face. I can’t say how much it gives a normal fan the feeling of „wow…he enjoys this as much as we do“ even though we all know…it’s pretty hard work! I don’t think anybody who has seen him live can feel something else than thankfulness and love for that man, his guitar and his comrades Joe and Jon.

Again the Revival Tour has turned out to be a memorable and wonderful night that will be stuck in my head, heart and soul for a long time, giving me the feeling of happiness and hope like nothing else in the world. Please guys don’t stop doing this!