2011 TOUR, ROGER HODGSON, Los Angeles, February 28
- On 09 March 2011
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ROGER HODGSON, Grammy Museum, February 28
Daily News, Los Angeles
Concert review: Roger Hodgson of Supertramp acoustic set at the Grammy Museum
By Gerry Gittelson, Special to the Daily News
Posted: 03/03/2011 04:49:26 PM PST
Updated: 03/03/2011 04:52:18 PM PST
Roger Hodgson For classic-rock fans, there is nothing more fun than a big rock show like Kiss or Van Halen. But sometimes, if someone is good enough, he can stand there with just a guitar and prove just as mesmerizing.
Roger Hodgson, the founder of Supertramp and the voice behind most of the British band's biggest hits, pulled out his acoustic for a special intimate show Monday at the Grammy Museum.
He strummed the intro to "Give a Little Bit," and the rest of the evening is a blissful blur.
I don't think I've been this captivated in a long time. Hodgson left Supertramp in 1983 at the height of the group's popularity -- "Breakfast in America" was the soundtrack to my life at Birmingham High in Van Nuys -- and never returned, playing a rare solo concert here and there, but I had never seen him.
He'll be 61 later this month, but Hodgson's voice might be better than ever, a tribute to being one of those rare rock stars from the 1970s who did not ruin everything through excess. It was an intimate night, as Hodgson and an accompanying instrumentalist worked their way through a 35-minute set that included "Dreamer," "Logical Song," "Take The Long Way Home" and of course "Breakfast in America."
With thoughtful, Brit-influenced lyrics, a layered sound and Hodgson's soaring tenor vocals -- all against the backdrop of a huge light show once the band made it to arenas -- Supertramp was always a cut above the American bands they were lumped in with like Styx, Journey, Foreigner, et al.
Hodgson left 27 years ago to raise a family, his exit greased by an ongoing issues with co-founder Rick Davies, and Hodgson took with him the heart and soul of what was then one the world's most popular bands.
Never a party guy, Hodgson was always about the music and his personal principles -- I would guess his hero was John Lennon, as Hodgson professed his love of the Beatles on Monday -- and through the years Hodgson has taken great care of himself, particularly his voice; in 1990, he even turned down a chance to join Yes because he was so dedicated to his own songs.
So there he was Monday, going from the keys to his guitar to a grand piano, delivering his Supertramp songs so perfectly. Chills down our spine or hair raised in the back of our neck? Try tears streaming down our face. It was that moving.
In between, he talked a bit about how the songs came about -- "My girlfriend didn't like that one," he joked about "Breakfast in America" -- and related how grateful he was to still be doing this, and how happy he's been that the songs have held up.
He ended with a version of "Fools Overture" that had us walking on air. Indeed, a special performance from a special artist whose songs will always have a special place in my heart.
Examiner.com
Supertramp's Roger Hodgson tells Grammy Museum audience he wanted to be a Beatle
March 1st, 2011 11:01 pm ET
Matt Hurwitz attended "An Evening With Roger Hodgson," the Grammy Museum event in Los Angeles Monday night starring the former Ringo Starr All-Starr Band member and member of Supertramp. This event was one of more than 70 in the last three years that included evenings with Ringo and also Dhani Harrison and thenewno2.
Besides the connection with Ringo Starr, the event had another Beatle link -- Ken Scott, who was engineer for the Beatles and produced several of Supertramp's albums, was in the audience and chatted with Hodgson during the event.
Here are some details about the show that Matt sent us:
Roger performed a number of his Supertramp classics in a "stripped down" manner - just him on a keyboard and an accompanist he has worked with for the last seven years. Everything from "Give a Little Bit," "Breakfast in America," "Fool's Overture" to "Take the Long Way Home." Really fantastic.
Roger, who chatted with museum director Bob Santelli, talked about the origins of Supertramp and his biggest inspiration - same as ours: He wanted to be a Beatle. Santelli had Hodgson walk the audience through his composition process, Roger explaining that the best of tunes come almost by themselves. "I just get out of the way."
He explained that he and his mother once found a dusty old harmonium, which they purchased in the 1960s. Roger composed a good many of Supertramp's hits on the instrument - which he still owns to this day.
Chiming in from the audience occasionally was Abbey Road/Beatles veteran engineer producer Ken Scott, who had produced several of the group's classic albums. The two talked about the creation of the unique soundscapes heard on Supertramp discs, many sounds of which had never been created before - long before the days of samplers.
Hodgson discussed his post-Supertramp days, time spent mainly raising his family in Northern California. He's currently playing a great many live gigs - both as described above and with a full band with orchestra - dates of which can be found on his website, rogerhodgson.com. He's also got his first album out in a decade, "Classics Live," which is a great representation of the show. It's available through the website.
