So, I saw Niacin live in a small club (Brick By Brick) here in San Diego last night.
John Novello sat on a desk chair; Dennis Chambers has the best posture of any drummer I've ever seen - he almost looks rigid; and Billy Sheehan sat on a barstool for the entire show. From that description you might think it was a sedate show - and you'd be wrong. Turns out it was the opening night of their tour - if they get any hotter there'll be fire code violations! All three musicians are stellar, and they have an obvious love of their music. Great chops, great arrangements, great solos, great interplay. Billy was busier sitting on that barstool than I could have imagined - and what playing. His solo on Montuno was jaw dropping.
They played selections from all of their albums, with the most coming from their latest, "Time Crunch". Billy did most of the talking for the band, and displayed a subtle sense of humor at times - "That's close" after re-tuning his bass, and encouraging the audience to "sing along if you know the words" before doing their impressive cover of KC's "Red".
Brick By Brick is a small club, so I was about 15 feet from the stage at the most, and could really see what the guys were doing. And I got a chance to talk with them afterwards, and they were all really pleasant. Billy's humility in particular was striking, since after seeing him live I'd have to say he's the best bass player on the planet. He seemed genuinely pleased, and a little surprised, that I enjoyed the show so much.
Bottom line: see them if they're playing in or near your town. For a list of dates, see:
http://www.artist-shop.com/magna/index.htm
11-15-2002, 12:22 PM
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