Photos by Debra L. Rothenberg
Guitar virtuoso Richie Kotzen has been playing since the age of 7, and this week the Pennsylvania born axe man and his band (Dylan Wilson on bass and Mike Bennett on percussion) looped the Salting Earth World Tour around for a second stop at New York City’s recently-opened Sony Hall.
With his signature Sunburst Fender Telecaster in hand, Kotzen opened the set with the 2009 release “Your Entertainer.” Playing without a pick, he shredded through the Kotzen classics (“Love is Blind,” “Go Faster,” “Fooled Again”) including “High,” usually done acoustically, but this night performed electric. Wilson and Bennett are fine musicians in their own right, playing with Kotzen for years and the perfect compliments to his musical genius.
It was only fitting that the highlight of the true road warrior’s evening was the poignant ballad “The Road,” for which Kotzen took to his KORG keyboard, one of his many instruments. Rarely done live, the hymn-like song delivered in Kotzen’s beautiful tone played beautifully in the concert hall. The ash Fender Strat made its appearance for the encore. Richie and crew closed the show with “War Paint,” off of his Cannibals collection.
Les Stroud, who most folks will know as the host of Discovery Channel’s Survivorman, opened, providing some serious harmonica skills and blues tunes with environmental messages.
—Pat Cacioppo
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