Blues foundation ASSEN organizes
LIVE blues music in a unique and intimate location with
LARS MÜLLER & JON MEYERJON
Review Gerrit Kuik (BluesAlert)
After another weekend of no live music at all, we were finally allowed to go to 'Camping Graswijk' near Assen again on August 15th for a concert by the duo Jon Meyerjon & Lars Müller.
Oh well, I could have gone to football last week to socialize (because yes – there and in car racing – anything is allowed), but that hasn't been my thing since the last century. That aggression sometimes next to that drinking (although I like them myself) are quite against me. In the past, … I can still remember that at halftime we walked from behind one goal to the other on the Wageningse Berg and encountered the supporters of the opposing team along the way. A lot of screaming and laughing and all yelling at each other with a beer in hand (that is) until you were back in your place and the second half could start. Oh well, ... everything used to be better ... But not really!
Okay, so we finally go to Graswijk. A Groninger and an Enschede in Drenthe, where they both live.
I had heard and seen this duo before and every time I was amazed that two very different guitarists and personalities can still make such a wonderful concert together.
They also play their instrument in different ways. I have absolutely no idea about making music, but I do hear and see that Lars picks up the high tones more while Jon makes his guitar growl and growl more. Jon also plays slide quite often.
Furthermore, these men are completely different. Lars plays with a guitar pick and Jon has reinforced nails. Jon uses a whole arsenal of buttons for his feet, while his companion only occasionally twists a button on that big box behind him.
Lars looks much freer on stage while Jon has also been frontman with Greyhound Bluesband. Jon dives under his cap while playing, looking for the right notes very seriously. I guess just not to be distracted from the crazy antics Lars sometimes has. He is free to look around and in between also draws the public's attention to a caterpillar crawling over the cables of the equipment. He therefore has contact with the audience and sometimes also seeks this with Jon, who, however, is bent over, probably playing with his eyes closed. Yet you can conclude that, if Lars pulls a musical joke again, Jon can certainly appreciate it with a smile.
It is a concert with a lot of variation and that is not only due to the different playing of the two gentlemen, but also because both gentlemen have such a different voice.
The songs are also well chosen. The two gentlemen sing alternately a few songs.
Starting by Lars with first 'One finger is not enough' followed by one of my favorites 'Crossroads'. Despite the fact that that song is played by almost every band, soloist or duo, I still really like it. I will make a folder on the PC with all those different covers and run them one after the other. Still, I don't think it would bore me.
Then it was Jon's turn and he started with a beautiful, I think own work, 'Bright Red Mustang'. That song is just a beautiful story, which is also delivered by Jon.
A few gems followed in that first set, such as: 'I've had it with you' (Lars) and 'Ease off mama' (Jon).
The second set started with 'Insurance man Blues' (Jon), followed by an amazing 'Walking Blues' (Lars). Oh well, in the second set there was so much beauty to listen to and see. At my request, the concert was concluded with a beautiful version of 'The thrill is gone' by Lars. Actually, they secretly didn't want to play it. Yes…. dew!
All in all, this afternoon was great groovin' and swingin'. Luckily we didn't have a roof over our heads, otherwise we would have left too!
This beautiful day thanks to Asser Bluesdagen, Jan Postma and Camping Graswijk.
Gerrit Kuik.
