Ray and Robby in Basel

Post by **Mystery Train** » Thu Jul 21, 2011 1:06 pm

Yesterday Ray and Robby played in my hometown Basel in Switzerland. Already saw them in Paris on July 3rd, so this my second concert of the tour.

My "Doors-Day" began in the afternoon, when I went to the venue with my girlfriend to check it out. They played at the Grand Casino, which actually is rather a small place - I guess the venue itself suits 500 persons? So, intimate concert! Anyway, I had never been to the place. There are 3 floors and the concert-room was on the top-floor, the rest is Casino and there many people gambling in the afternoon...

Now the interesting part: We went up to the topfloor and heard some music being played. There was no security so we just went on and entered the concert-room (it really was just a small room and not a hall). The roadies were doing the soundcheck. We just stood there in the back of the room and watched the whole thing. Some people passed by but didn't really mind. Had a chat with the soundman (important detail..). They played RHB and some other songs, it was really nice to watch. Then all of a sudden there came this security guy and obliged us to leave. But hell, we were there for an hour (though no Ray and Robby).

Went outside and strolled around a bit when we spotted the soundman. Again we had a small chat and introduced ourselves (also important detail). He said Robby might show up, Ray not - but soundcheck was a private thing for them. So, went back home for some dinner and beers.

Then it was concert time and we managed to get to the frontrow, just in front of Robby's place. Before that I handed my "Live in N.Y." and "A Collection" booklets to Michael (the soundman) and asked if he could get them signed for me. He said he'd try... So the concert begins and Robby is just like 1 meter away from us. Played all of his solos in front of my nose... Got some picks... Setlist... It was a good time! Nice Setlist they played. Ray seemed a bit pissed though in the beginning, later I guess he had more fun. Highlight was a drum-jam during LMF, Ray dancing and stuff!! Best thing is I captured many of that on film, I'm uploading right now to YouTube. Even better: I got my booklets signed!

Here's the setlist:
[img][img]http://img841.imageshack.us/img841/6362/setlistbaselsmall.png[/img]

And here are some videos:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OsdAXFnEXic

Ticket and Picks:
[img][img]http://img23.imageshack.us/img23/2456/ticketandpickssmall.jpg[/img]

Post by **The Freedom Man** » Thu Jul 21, 2011 2:17 pm

Cool story!
I was 2 meters awa from Robby but missed out on the plectrums and setlist!

Post by **The Royal Sperm** » Thu Jul 21, 2011 3:03 pm

Lucky You!

did you get both signs? or the soudnman signed your booklets? hehehe

nice video though

Post by **Porsche** » Thu Jul 21, 2011 4:10 pm

That's some great footage!

Post by **jim4371** » Thu Jul 21, 2011 9:30 pm

Nice angle.. unfortunately Robby seems like he's having some issues. He looks pretty frail and he's having issues with bends and playing anything shorter than eighth notes for more than a second or two. Hope he sticks around for awhile.

Post by **dj_vera** » Fri Jul 22, 2011 2:47 am

Damn

Post by **Mystery Train** » Fri Jul 22, 2011 11:15 am

The Royal Sperm wrote:Lucky You!

did you get both signs? or the soudnman signed your booklets? hehehe

nice video though

Hehe, no the soundman didn't sign them. Just Ray and Robby signed which is pretty cool! Was afraid a bit the rest of the band might sign them, too. But luckely they didn't!

Post by **Mystery Train** » Fri Jul 22, 2011 11:17 am

jim4371 wrote:Nice angle.. unfortunately Robby seems like he's having some issues. He looks pretty frail and he's having issues with bends and playing anything shorter than eighth notes for more than a second or two. Hope he sticks around for awhile.

Yeah, since he doesn't dye his hair anymore he even looks a bit frailer than before... And on some songs he really did have some problems... Some time ago I read he had some kind of cancer. Hope he recovered. They still have a lot of concerts on their list for this year.

Post by **Mystery Train** » Fri Jul 22, 2011 11:21 am

Porsche wrote:That's some great footage!

Thanks! Here are some more videos I uploaded:

Break On Through Solo:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OsdAXFnEXic

Love Me Two Times:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cq-p5PyB4xg

Really funny and cool Dance-Session during LMF:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xp1COrOBigo

Some nice Bottleneck of Robby during Moonlight Drive:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nAEJ1gqS5zQ

And in honour of the upcoming release: L.A. Woman Intro
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2HOgROYArI8

Ray's LMF solo plus crazy girl jumping on Stage. Funny!!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kbb4p5nEmfM

Post by **jim4371** » Fri Jul 22, 2011 3:34 pm

These are really sad to watch.. Robby is way off his game. The cancer thing was 5-6 years ago, hopefully it's gone. Could be just that age is catching up with him, hopefully he just needs to slow it down a bit and he'll be fine.

Post by **The Freedom Man** » Fri Jul 22, 2011 4:28 pm

Same thing when I saw them last week.Robbywasn't really singing but just tryiing to speak the words with the songs.Also there his guitar playing was way off.
They are touring a long time, I can imagine it takes a lot of energy at that age.

Post by **Mystery Train** » Sat Jul 23, 2011 10:43 am

At one point Robby made a "jump", man, I thought he's gonna crash and hit his head... I was thinking the same about the age. Ray is 72 and Robby 68 and they're touring their ass off. Did you see all these different countries on this tour?

Post by **Mystery Train** » Sat Jul 20, 2013 10:23 am

Today two years ago Ray and Robby played here in Basel, Switzerland. Back then I did not think Ray would be gone by now

I'm glad to have been there and I'm sure Teo, who also was there in the front row, also is

Best concert ever!

Time to watch some footage!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kbb4p5nEmfM
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cq-p5PyB4xg

RIP Ray