Music nerds rejoice! Five Peace Band hit Melbourne on Wednesday night and with an epic seven song set that lasted over three hours, left fans screaming for more.
Five Peace Band is the band lead by piano virtuoso Chick Corea and the godfather of jazz-fusion guitar, John McLachlin.The show was billed as Chick Corea and John McLachlin, but the whole band had their chance to shine through.
The incomparable Christian McBride held that band together with phenomenal bass playing that almost single-handedly carried each song through its thirty-minute journey.
Despite the fact that McBride often looked exhausted, he still managed to pull out a top-notch performance throughout the whole show.
Brian Blade on drums has only been with the Five Peace Band for a few months, since their original drummer Vinnie Colaiuta left to tour with Jeff Beck.
Kenny Garret’s sax playing seemed somewhat docile for much of the performance, until an incredible solo in the second set saw the audience go mad.
The real star of the show, however, was John McLachlin, who’s guitar style is so iconic in the jazz world it was humbling just to watch. The ease with which he shoots through lightning fast rhythms or casually beautiful melodies is a little unnerving to most guitarists, but it makes for a great show.
One highlight was the dynamic ‘Hymn To Andromeda’, a new composition from Corea where he gets to show off his unique and masterful piano skills.
“I don’t know if this is out in Australia yet, it doesn’t matter though, you can download it for free these days!” McLachlin said to the audience in a tone that seemed equally snarky and light hearted.
The encore consisted of a single song, ‘It’s About That Time’ which closed an excellent and dynamic set.
The set list for Five Peace Band at Hamer Hall, Wednesday 18th of February, 2009 was:
Raju
With The Skies
New Blues Old Bruise
??
Senor CS
Hymn to Andromeda
Dr. Jackle
??
It’s About That Time
