It was an
excruciatingly long wait, but it was worth it. Nearly twenty-four years have
passed since I witnessed the unforgettable show put on by Al Stewart and Peter
White at McCabe's in the summer of 1991. Since then, I'd been dreaming about reliving
the event just once more, and last night it finally happened, albeit in an
unexpected fashion.
We all showed up expecting to see Dave Nachmanoff alongside
Al, as indicated on Al's website. Dave is one heck of a guitar player and I
would have been perfectly happy to see him play, but catching Peter and Al together
yet once again was a whole different matter.
Al took the
stage all by himself, kicked off the evening with a lively rendition of
"House Of Clocks", then brought the house down by simply introducing
Peter White. Without wasting any time, they launched into an epic rendition of
"On The Border" and everything that followed was equally epic.
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| Al Stewart (right) & Peter White at McCabe's |
Al will turn
seventy in September, yet his voice is in excellent shape - someone who hasn't
heard him since the mid-seventies will have absolutely no trouble recognizing
him. And what can I say about Peter ... his guitar playing was absolutely
superb, especially on the Django Reinhardt-esque "Last Train To Munich",
the song that also featured an outstanding upright bass solo played by Roberto
Vally.
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| Al Stewart McCabe's |
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| Peter White at McCabe's |
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| The set list |
Throughout
the evening, Al was in his usual humorous mood and held nothing back when it
came to historical references. As a matter of fact, he ended the show by re-introducing
his two cohorts, Peter White and Roberto Vally, then said "My name is
Woodrow Wilson, thank you very much and good night". Al and Peter came
back for a one-song encore, namely "End Of The Day", a number they
co-wrote in the late seventies.
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| Al Stewart & Peter White thanking the crowd |
For me, the
evening ended with two autographs and two handshakes that will be hard to
forget:
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| Two priceless autographs |
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| Al Stewart after the show |
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| Peter White chatting with fans after the show |
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| The stage |
