Well, my first time to see the Herb - has to be done - gotta see the legend. I had heard that most of his gigs in the last few years have been straight ahead jazz - don't know whether that's true or not but this one had the old fusion tunes! So Chameleon, Watermelon Man - could not believe my ears when those tunes started up. That made the night.
However it has to be said, that while it was great to see 'the ledge', the show was somewhat not quite as expected. There were plenty of moments of brilliance, totally amazing solos, that made you grin from ear to ear at how he does it, but there's a problem with this kind of music I think...
I'm thinking, Herbie Hancock has to keep being "Herbie Hancock", or at least what everyone expects that act to be. So a few million notes hit your ears, from 2 keyboardists, a slappin/funkin bass player, hard hitting drummer with arms as wide as most people's legs, a guitarist from Benin whose guitar sounded like a keyboard, and a singer from Savannah (Georgia) who also plays violin.
Not so much "light and shade" as "light and bright light" - so there's no relief - how do you do "less is more" when more is what you do - more or less...