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...Once again he's back! After just about 18 months, Paul Gilbert is  here again in Munich on this 10th day of October, this time supporting his new instrumental album 'Silence Followed By A Deafening Roar'.It's actually his 13th release. Again, there are mainly fans of guitar fretboard acrobatics and musicians in the audience, to convince themselves one more time, just how good Mr. Gilbert is on his instrument.Only the venue has changed since last time. This time it's the
Metropolis, and this one is better filled, unlike the Backstage last time.First to hit the stage, we had a German support act, who I have actually forgotten what their name was. To be honest, I haven't got a clue what they are doing here. Because their music is so different from Paul's material, they would serve a totally different audience.That's why I won't criticize them, and simply leave a question mark here instead.

Nothing much has changed since last time, in regards to Paul's stage wear. He doesn't wear this jumpsuit anymore, but has opted for a simple t-shirt and jeans. Yes, he still has the headphones. Some people might have asked themselves, 'what's up with that...?' I can tell you this much: Paul is suffering from hearing loss. So he protects his ears onstage, from noise levels which might further damage his hearing. Meanwhile, the headphones have become almost a sort of trademark for him.

Apart from that, you've got to have a whole lot of understanding for the music of the ex-Mr. Big guitarist. His music is rather complicated, though it's shows just how talented this guy is. His fingers compete in a race with the devil across the strings, with such blistering speed, that we have difficulty adding one and one together,if you understand what I mean.Paul's got a very good bassist named Craig Martini with him, and drummer Jeff Bowders. On keyboards, like last time, is Emi Gilbert,Paul's wife.

In the beginning, there were some minor complications with the keyboard and the stage lighting. But Paul took it easy and said "at least it gives me a bit more time to tune my strings". That's it really, and the guitar orgy kept right on rolling.There is another aspect of the show which seems quite nice. The rather
introverted musician is much more relaxed and easygoing this time, and he immediately builds up a good connection to the audience with funny small talk conversation in between the difficult cascades of sound.
You can turn it 'round however you want. Paul Gilbert is offering us a brilliant show, but it isn't music to dance along to, really. It is rather, heavy and complex stuff, which is probably best understood by other musicians. On the other hand, there are enough of those here tonight.

The setlist moved throughout Paul's catalog and included solo standards, and also some tracks of his former band Racer X. Only the Mr. Big era was left out of the set, within this almost completely instrumental performance. Only at the end of the nearly 2-hour show,Mr. Gilbert sang the blues, well, almost talked the blues. Though it sounded okay to me, you can hear that tonight he preferred his guitar playing to singing.

Whatever will the future bring... ?! You never know... maybe there will be a reunion of Mr. Big or so. Between you and me, there is only one of the former band members who is still hesitating. And that one stood here on stage tonight. Time will tell, I guess...

http://www.paulgilbert.com/


all Clips -  Live in Munich

and please find a great website blog about Paul Gilbert at:
http://metalichicka.wordpress.com/ 

Former Racer X drummer Harry, has come to the show to say hello to Paul...