Leslie West / Mountain Concert Review

                by Dave and Brigitte

Song List:

  1. Blood of the Sun  2. For Yasgur’s Farm  3.Crossroads  4. Sea of Fire  5. Going Down  6. Theme from an
  Imaginary Western 7. Never in my Life  8. Nantucket Sleighride  9. Mississippi Queen
(No encore was played or needed)   You got what you came there for Leslie West, Corky Laing and Richie Scarlet.  

 

      It is because of this little moment that I just described, that I am now able to give you my honest impression of
Leslie West. I was one of the lucky ones, that not only survived this verbal back and forth but we made each other
just a little more comfortable, and in that moment I learned to respect this man all the more.
If you take his words to heart, (take them personally) he will eat you alive, then spit out the bones, and move on
to the next less fortunate person. He likes confrontation, and there is no winning against him, he runs the show,
but if you are lucky enough and he finds you worthy he will show you some attention, but either way he is a Bear
and you had better be ready to duck and cover, or shake his hand but never be indifferent with him.
I think the problems start when someone tries to out smart, or manipulate him, he will slaughter you right where you
stand, he does not have the time or the patience to be bothered with you.
It is very simple --- You can not Bull-Shit an old Bull-Shitter, and he can smell a person who is a phoney ten miles
away.

      Leslie puts on a great show and he never looks bored and not once did he look at his watch, (I am not even sure if he wears one or not ), when the music starts he is all there, and you can see that he lives for the music, and the music is
in his heart and soul.  The show lasted all of two hours, it was one to remember. I would also like to relate one other aspect of our experience at the Blues Garage, the people who own and operate it and the fans that come there are the best there is, they all are polite and friendly, and for this reason alone it allowed us to get some great photos for these
new pages.

      At the end of the show I waited in line to meet Leslie and to get his autograph, I now got to speak to him one on one even if just for three short minutes, this is how it went: As he signed our guest book and our CD inserts I had the chance
to pat him on the back and say “We all Love Ya Leslie” I went to shake his hand  once again (as I did when he was on stage) and I noticed that he still had the same guitar pick in his hand from the                            last song he played Mississippi Queen, as he did not offer it to me I had to coax it free from his                              hand, put it in my
pocket, and take it home with us.                 

      Leslie the man, is mostly all bark, but still able to throw a good punch if                             needs be, and if you
piss-him off you might just deserve it. (most of the time)       OH--- BOY!!!                            Leslie West,  his real name
is Leslie Weinstein, on stage he talked about his mother, now deceased and a little              about his childhood, and  his other great loss, his partner and best friend Felix Pappalardi,  Leslie’s advice “Don’t by a gun for your wife for her protection, and then teach her how to use it  - she might just turn around and use it on you”. 

      Here is a great interview we found from Leslie from Febuary 2001, so please enjoy, it tells you more about the man than I ever could.  http://www.classicrockrevisited.com/legendary_leslie_west.htm        In addition to this concert review it is worth nothing that before this gig I played all of our Mountain / Leslie West solo CD’s for Brigitte and she was not very moved to say the least, but she trust my judgement so she was open to going to the Blues Garage again just for me, now she is a Leslie West fan too, and that is a wonderful thing for both of us.   Corky on stage kept doing rim-shots hurling his drum sticks into the audience all through the show. 

      Richie (The Emperor, and The Bat) Scarlet was in perfect form and is a true Rock Star in ever sense of the word. Long before the concert even began I had the chance to talk with Richie, and when I asked him to sign our guest book he said  “Sure Man Got A Pen”  he does take the time for his fans  - Thank You Richie, you also have our  respect. Leslie loves to watch Richie on stage, it is the chemistry between these three men that keep this Mountain Express well oiled and rolling along.      

     On May 18^th we attended the Mountain concert, on May 19^th we were on our way home and as we stood waiting for the train, who comes walking us the stairs to the platform but Leslie and Corky. So of course I walk over to say hello and then the train comes and off the two of them go to find the first class section. Brigitte and I walk in the opposite direction to the cattle car where all the no-bodies ride. As we sit down Brigitte says " You know it is too bad that we did not get a photo of you and Leslie together last night”, so after a moment of silence we both jumped up, grabbed all of our things and start walking at a fast pace from car to car to find our heros once more (just to see if I can piss Leslie off yet---NOT)  We had to hoof through twelve long cars,climb over 500 people and rock and sway our way along between everyone coming in the opposite direction looking for the damn bathroom, and avoid the three people who did not belong on that train to begin with.  Leslie is a big man but on this adventure he is the proverbial needle in the hay stack (can you F-in believe it?) Picture this if you can  - an  inconspicuious Leslie West (what a paradox that is).         Then there he was, no not Leslie but the next best thing to come out of Montreal, Canada,  Lawrence (Corky) Laing with a ginger-ale in one hand and an orange juice in the other----follow that man!!!  We found both of them alright, but they weren’t as happy to see these two crazy-nuts (Brigitte and Dave) as we were to find them.                I think Leslie was a King in another time and place, Corky looks at Leslie and I kept waiting for Leslie to hold out his hand and turn his thumb down—and then it is off with our heads. I asked to enter the chamber of the King, he said no, and he meant it, but being a stupid New Yorker (and now I was also one tired Blood Hound) I sat down next to him and invaded his space, (I must have a death wish) so Leslie picked up a newspaper in defense of our rude intrusion and my close proximity (in all fairness Leslie you should have just punched me in the mouth and stole my woman). We asked to take a few photos and Leslie said no, and again he meant it, but Brigitte clicked away while I kept setting myself up for the slaughter by the man himself. So here are the few photos that I risked life and limb for (Thank God Brigitte is pretty and fast enough to get away with all this)  Note: Brigitte even offered Leslie her heart --- in the shape of delicious chocolate that she bought for herself --   but he politely refused and told her he is a diabetic.  Corky signed the drum sticks that we caught the night before, and our fifteen minutes of fame was over-----to me it was a close encounter of the most dangerous kind---next time I would rather choose a battle with Mad Mama Bear in heat over taking a seat on a train next to Leslie West, the Human Alligator---I love you Leslie, and you too Corky!!!  In all honesty, Thank You, to both of you for allowing us to force our hero worship upon you if only for a few moments at a time it was all worth it.        To the fans reading this,do not try this at home, or without parental guidence-----all kidding aside this encounter with Corky and Leslie took place while they were in route to their last show in Amsterdam and then it was back home to America for a little well deserved rest. God Bless you Leslie,you are not a saint, you are not a sinner, and you are not Immortal and that is why you have earned our deepest respect.  Boy Oh Boy Oh Boy!!!   Love and Respect from Brigitte and Dave     

Back to the Beginning:     

Set it all up take it all down, and move on down the road. Mark Webber is the Guitar Tech. and Paul "Trigger" Newcomb is the Sound Man,  they are responsable for moving the Mountain. Mark is the one Brigitte and I had the most contact with, and we became fast friends mostly because we are almost neighbors back in the States but also because he is a wealth of useful knowledge and I am a wealth of useless information.  Mark invited us back to the hotel after the show but Brigitte and I were on foot and we didn’t want to get stranded somewhere, also I could not hear anything for the next 24 hours, I made the mistake of standing right next to the speaker (so I learned to read lips very fast).

Thank you Mark for everything,                                                          and what ever they pay you in money is not
near enough.  Mark by the way                                                           is the best guitar Tech in the USA, and that is a fact.  He has worked with                                                                   Aerosmith,  and Joe Satriani I know for a fact,
I think Journey and                                                                              countless others.  It took him three and a half hours to get the stage set up                                                                 for a two hour show,  and another hour and a half before he could leave. Just to                                                               tell you how different this was from
seeing Ten Years After and                                                                 Carvin Jones, it was as different as night and day. I could not hold Leslie’s Guitar,                                                           we were not permitted to take pictures, and the stage was secure and off limits                                                             to everyone. They come in and take over everything, kind of like the                                                                   CIA or FBI stopping by for a short visit,  professional in every way.                                                                   

As a final note, and my (Dave’s) opinion Corky Laing is the sensible, stable, calming,charming, influence, and consistent positive factor in Leslie’s life. Corky wears many different hats in Mountain and in his Devotion and Love for Leslie,
there is no Limit.   Richie Scarlet on the other hand is the Mad to Rock Out, Total Balls to the Wall, Kick Ass, in your face Hard Assed lets get on with it type of person----you name it and he will do it----No Limit Richie Scarlet.  Then there is Leslie who has found a place for himself to live a safe harbor, between these two opposing forces and yet never boring, always moving, flowing, creative and artistic in the true sense of the word.  Nietzsche said out of chaos comes order, but in Leslie’s case chaos is his order and his world, you can’t get on and ride with him, and you can’t stop him, and you can’t change him.
Leslie is Leslie nothing more, he is what he is --  a natural born genius, who is human all to human.

Love and Respect from Brigitte and Dave.

The color Black is the absence of all light----White light contains all the colors of the spectrum,as shown through a Glass Pyramid-----Leslie West is White Light shining through the blackest of all nights, his talent and music is a constant search, looking for that release through that Pyramid----the portal, the door, that through which we must all pass, the way, the fire on high, The Mystic Fire.