Ernie Ball Music Man St Vincent with Jamie Dickson
Like many gigs that take a lot of prep, my Brian Eno retrospective gig in Bristol seemed comfortably far in the future until, all of a sudden, it was right on top of me. The show, entitled ‘The Songs of Brian Eno’ is the brainchild of Bristol musician Chris Apthomas. As you might expect of a back catalogue that includes plenty of Robert Fripp’s dextrous guitar work, it’s tricky in places and, what’s more, we’re to perform it in synch with video that will fill the venue, Bristol’s Cube Microplex, with a riot of imagery as well as music. No pressure then...
My tool of choice for this gig is the Ernie Ball Music Man St Vincent signature model – an unorthodox but solidly capable instrument. First, its trio of Dimarzio mini-humbuckers are very welcome from the point of noise reduction: many of Fripp’s lead tones – yes, I volunteered to throw myself under that particular bus – are high gain but, in this cinema-like audio environment, superfluous hum and buzz is unwelcome.The Dimarzios are quiet, contemporary and not too bright, without being bland, which works ideally here. I’ve also borrowed a Line 6 Helix LT to help me evoke the diverse soundscapes of the three classic Eno albums we’ll be drawing from: Before And After Science, Another Green World and My Life In The Bush Of Ghosts, a collaborative long-player that Eno made with David Byrne in 1981. In this context, I’ll be disabling the Helix’s amp and cab models and instead using it solely as a multi-effects running straight into the superb Victory Sheriff 44 amp, which was chosen to bring some big valve-amp presence and projection to the stage. On the opposite side of the stage, fellow Guitarist contributor Rod Brakes – the other guitar man on the gig – has gone the other way and brought his vintage Gibson tweed combo, 60s Strat and vintage effects.
Soundcheck done, the audience file in to take their seats and the house lights lower as Chris and Bristol songwriter Jonny Velon open the show with the meditative piano piece By This River, which they perform beautifully. Then it’s time for Rod and I to take the stage, wielding – of all things – an EBow each. As we summon up, in stereo, the bagpipe-like drones of Everything Merges With The Night, I reckon this could be the first time since the late 70s that Bristol has witnessed a double EBow solo... No time for anything more than a wry smile though, as we go straight into the two trickiest numbers of the night, from a guitar point of view. The first hurdle is the solo to Golden Hours. In true Fripp style this takes the form of a simple melodic motif that is elaborated on, at speed, with cruel precision. I make an irritating stumble over the end of the first section of the solo, but there’s no time to worry as we’re already into the second part, this time crisply articulated. The St Vincent plays its role perfectly, delivering the punchyyet-warm clean lead tone the track requires, without fuss. That neck and its positive, linear feel give you confidence, even where the musical terrain threatens to crumble.
Next, we’re into St Elmo’s Fire, with its swiftflowing legato solo that is so saturated with gain that it almost sounds like a synth, with swooping arpeggios running helter-skelter up and down the fretboard. Again, the St Vincent handles those high gain tones well, articulating crisply and sonorously.
After that, I can relax a bit as the rest of the gig is comparatively straightforward riffs and licks, though you can never fully drop your guard with Eno’s material. It’s been a tough but rewarding show but the St Vincent has proven an instrument of real integrity and very versatile too. That deep sense of trust that really cements the bond between player and instrument has grown appreciably.