PETER FRAMPTON : AT ROYAL ALBERT HALL

1. Something’s Happening
2. Lying
3. Lines On My Face
4. Show Me The Way
5. Georgia On My Mind
6. All I Wanna Be (Is By Your Side)
7. (I’ll Give You) Money
8. Baby, I Love Your Way
9. Do You Feel Like We Do?

Label : UMR/Island

Venue : Royal Albert Hall, London, UK

Recording Date : November 8, 2022

Release Date : September 1, 2023

Length : 71:09

Review : On 8 November 2022, Peter Frampton performed at London’s iconic Royal Albert Hall. Nine songs from the 16 set concert are now released as Peter’s next live album. Frampton is still alive !

Concert Review (Louder Than War) : A few minutes before he takes the stage at London’s Royal Albert Hall, Peter Frampton’s voice emerges from its PA. He requests that if you want to film or photograph the show, could you please only do it during the first three songs and then please switch your phone off and enjoy the show in the moment. There’s a ripple of applause among the velvet balconies. There’s one from me too. As an accredited photographer I’m only allowed the first three songs. To then watch live music whilst peering round everybody else’s raised mobile phones is annoying in the extreme. Steve Jobs had a lot to answer for. When Frampton does emerge, it’s with assistance. In 2019, he announced his ‘finale’ tour, and with it that five years previously he had been diagnosed with inclusion body myositis, an extremely rare condition that causes muscle weakness and degeneration in certain areas of the body. Ultimately, and very sadly, it will likely rob him of his ability to play the guitar. Right now, his fingers sound as good as they ever have, but his mobility is limited and he sits for the duration of the performance. Despite the long-term implications of the condition, Frampton is remarkably sanguine. He plays with a broad smile etched on his face and is clearly extremely happy to be here – behind a guitar, in front of an audience. I’m not surprised he’s happy; Covid delayed the tour by two years. I’m guessing there may have been concerns he might not have been able to do it at all. Frampton is also quite the raconteur. With frequent stories between songs, he comes across as just an extremely decent guy. During his first chat with the audience, somebody shouts “Welcome home Peter!” to him. “Thank you. I first played here in 1902”, he replies. He also wastes no time in thanking and complementing tonight’s support, Cardinal Black. The Welsh four (or in touring guise, six) piece band keep turning up to play supports at gigs I’m at. Frontman Tom Hollister has a voice smoother than Roger Moore’s raised left eyebrow, and guitarist Chris Buck is an online phenom who seems to add 20k to his YouTube sub list every time I look at it. He’s currently at 194k. He’ll probably be over 200k by the time you read this. And it’s not hype. He’s truly amazing. The band play a swift five-song set featuring tunes from their recently released debut January Came Close. They receive a standing ovation and they make a lot of friends. Aside from his work with Steve Marriot in Humble Pie, Frampton has released 18 solo studio albums; but if you ask anyone to name a Peter Frampton album, it most likely won’t be any of those. Frampton Comes Alive, his live release from 1976, and one of the best-selling live albums of all time will likely be the one that gets a mention. There are clear nods to it tonight, not least that he starts with Something’s Happening, also the set opener recorded 47 years ago. We’re reminded of the album cover too; featuring Frampton with his luxuriant blond curls and his iconic three pickup Gibson Les Paul, it’s one of many images that flash up on a video screen behind the band. And what a band it is. Playing additional guitar is Adam Lester. He’s a long-time collaborator and a superlative musician. At times he fills the sonic space with relaxed acoustic guitar. At times he performs the other half of melodic harmonies. And at times he’s given the opportunity to demonstrate that he too, is a formidable lead guitarist. One of these occurs in (I’ll Give You) Money. The band take it down whilst Lester and Frampton trade a few tasty licks. They occupy swivel seats so they’re able to face each other. It builds to a fantastic proggy, loud climax whilst the lighting designer has some fun and the pair point at each other in mutual admiration and respect. The whole thing earns a well-deserved standing ovation. The only member of the band not sitting down is Rob Arthur. He’s standing behind a Fender Rhodes piano and Hammond organ, a position from which it’s possible to be a little anonymous in a five-piece with twin guitarists; but not so here. He plays a major role in Do You Feel Like We Do, arguably the highlight of the entire set. Once again, Frampton is swapping licks, only this time it’s with Arthur and that oh so funky Rhodes. The keys player wins out and those licks resolve into a brilliant solo. It finishes as all rock piano solos should, with multiple keys being banged by both fists. Arthur also plays guitar (the Les Paul salesman got a nice bonus when Peter Frampton came to town) in a fine cover of Soundgarden’s Black Hole Sun. Like all good covers, it’s not remotely like the original. The vocal melody is played by Frampton through a heavily distorted and effected guitar. His trademark talk box is thrown in at the end for good measure, coincident with a photo of Chris Cornell on the big screen. Black Hole Sun is one of five covers tonight, though you could argue Peter has been playing them so long they’ve essentially become his own. Hoagy Carmichael’s Georgia (On My Mind) comes early in the set. It’s another where Frampton plays the vocal melody in a really tasteful display of blues guitar. It’s not unlike the sort of thing Gary Moore used to do, only with Frampton, you don’t get the feeling he desperately wants to drop the solo from Murder In The Skies somewhere in the middle. As one might expect for an artist whose career has seen seven decades, this is an audience of a certain age and I recognise I’m squarely in it. There are no pint glasses being thrown around and no dancing in the aisles. There’s also an absence of extra loud singing; the type you get when the person next to you is desperate to demonstrate their fandom by screaming every word slightly sharp or flat. In fact, there’s no noticeable audience participation at all; until, that is, Frampton drops the occasional vocal line and it becomes clear that several thousand people are quietly singing along. It actually sounds fantastic, helped not in small part by the wonderful acoustics in this concert hall venue and those peculiar magic mushrooms which hang from the ceiling. It may be all seated, but there’s plenty of standing; especially towards the end where the ovations come thick and fast. At the conclusion of the main set, Peter speaks through the talk box: “Thank you. You make me feel very happy. Do you feel like we do?”. For a couple of minutes, wave after wave of applause indicates that we do. Just as it seems like it’s about to wane another wave comes and Frampton seems genuinely moved. It’s not unlike the end of Liz Truss’s speech at the Tory party conference. Except that we all mean it. When it finally subsides, Peter addresses us: “Normally we’d go off now, take loads of drugs and then come back on and play three sloppy encores – but you’ve taken the time anyway.” They do play three encores, and they’re far from sloppy. The middle one, a cover of Nickolas Ashford’s soul classic I Don’t Need No Doctor, is another musical tour de force featuring all members of the band. Rob Arthur plays a Hammond solo out of Jon Lord’s top draw. This is followed by more of Adam Lester’s fine work and some thunderous rumbling from the Fender Precision bass of Steve Mackey. Dan Wojciechowski behind the drums follows suit with a short solo spot of his own. Some people don’t like drum solos. Those people are wrong about drum solos, especially when they are tightly choreographed like this. The band really are at their best when they do these instrumental jams. Frampton plays a thirteen song setlist, plus the three encores. On paper, that might have seemed a little light, but with his easy conversation and these truly spectacular extended instrumental sections in some of the tunes it comes in at just under two and a half hours of inspirational music. They finish with While My Guitar Gently Weeps. It’s a fitting end to our time with one of the UK’s most iconic players. The elephant in the room is Peter’s condition and the fact that we may not see him play in the UK again. Before he leaves the stage, he addresses it: “Never say never. I’m going to keep on fighting. Thank you very much everybody. This is a dream come true for me.” It turns out it’s not just the audience that have been enjoying the show in the moment.