_{[ Home ] [ Up ] [ Acoustic Alchemy ] [ Average White Band ] [ David Benoit ] [ The Bobs ] [ Buckwheat Zydeco ] [ The Coasters ] [ Dr. John ] [ The 4 Bitchin' Babes ] [ Jerry Garcia Band ] [ Richie Havens ] [ Lainie Kazan ] [ Al Kooper ] [ Leo Kottke ] [ Ladysmith Black Mambazo ] [ Patty Larkin ] [ John Mayall ] [ Kenny Rankin ] [ The Roches ] [ Rockapella ] [ Livingston Taylor ] [ Loudon Wainwright III / Adrian Legg ] [ Peter White ]}

Shop at Fishnose

Patty Larkin

Singer/Songwriter

Technical Stuff

Patty arrived with two acoustic guitars (one a Martin, the other I forgot - sorry) and a Pendulum pre-amp. She also brought herself (an essential ingredient). Setup and sound check went very smoothly, and I was very impressed by her technical knowledge of her instruments. She also knew enough about the frequency spectrum to make corrections to her monitor mixes with no problem.

She only needed one monitor mix with two wedges in front of her. We used the preamp for most of the sound coming out of her guitars, and we put up a Beyerdynamic MC-703 condenser mic to add a slightly different acoustic guitar sound (good thing, too - I'll explain later).

Review

Some people feel a little "ripped off" if they are paying to see an artist in concert, and that artist shows up without a band. These same people would most likely feel cheated if the performance doesn't sound EXACTLY like the recordings they have heard.

I say a resounding "POO POO" to these people. Artists like Patty Larkin, David Wilcox, John Gorka, etc. are AMAZING to see in concert, especially when it is just their guitar and their voice. The songs themselves take over, and you forget that there aren't 10 people on stage.

Patty performed some of her old "hits", as well as some new material which will be on a release coming out later this year. Her songs were powerful, funny, touching, cute, silly, and a lot of other things. She is a consummate artist and professional performer, so when she walked out on stage, plugged in her guitar, and the preamp didn't work, she just kept going anyway. The audience LOVED the show.

We fixed the preamp problem at intermission (it was a loose plug), and the second set included the sound of her direct preamp. Some people liked it more without that sound, but it was just a matter of preference. Her second set was every bit as good as the first, and a standing ovation brought her out for an encore.

Believe me, by the end of the night, NOBODY was complaining that she performed solo. It was an excellent experience, and she was very personable as well.

I have no vested interest at all, but you should listen to and buy this woman's music.

Back to Reviews