Randy Hansen / Soulstice concert at Club Broadway

by Gary Draper
RockTheBlues.com

Lee Ann Davis (photo by Gary Draper)

      Soulstice (photo by Gary Draper)

Saturday March 13th, 2010 at Club Broadway in Everett, Washington was the location of a concert myself and many others will not soon forget. Teri Beede told me last summer, “Gary, you’ve got to see this band named Soulstice. They are a Fleetwood Mac tribute band and they’re great”. Soulstice opened the show and I have to say they are the best Fleetwood Mac tribute band I’ve seen. Well OK, maybe the only Fleetwood Mac tribute band I’ve ever seen, but never-the-less, they were great and I really enjoyed their set. Lee Ann Davis, the singer portraying Stevie Nicks, has the most beautiful long blond hair I’ve seen in a long time. And her vocals were amazing. Best of all, she didn’t sound like she was singing while sitting on top of a washing machine during the spin cycle (just kidding Stevie, we love ya). The musicians were very talented and tight as a rope. Joey Walbaum played the keyboards and sang vocals. Tom Davenport was on lead guitar. Rick Walbaum strummed the bass, Ike Sutton manned the congas / percussion, and Ronnie Newton mastered the drum kit. They pumped out a tasty portion of Fleetwood Mac’s hit tunes and the audience cheered their approval after every song. Soulstice resides in the Gig Harbour / Port Orchard area, but if you get a chance to see them where ever they happen to be appearing, do it. You won’t be disappointed.

Randy Hansen playing guitar with a bottle (photo by Gary Draper)

Randy Hansen and band (photo by Gary Draper)

Next up and closing the show was none other than Seattle’s own Randy Hansen and band. I’ve probably seen more of Randy’s shows than any other band and it is always an unbelievable experience. The old adage, “if you’ve seen one, you’ve seen them all” does not apply here. Each and every performance of Randy and his band is unique and different. You just never know what Randy has up his sleeve. Randy can play just about anything you can imagine on his guitar. Case in point, he blasted out an awesome cover of the Who’s “We Won’t Get Fooled Again” and actually played the keyboard part on his guitar. I couldn’t believe my eyes and ears. Also, to every body’s surprise, he performed his unusual rendition of Black Sabbath’s “War Pigs” with, (I’m not joking), the lyrics of “Rudolf, The Red Nosed Reindeer”….And it worked! I asked Randy in the greenroom after the show what inspired him for that and he told me that someone asked him to play War Pigs and he told them “I don’t know the words, but I know the words to Rudolf, The Red Nosed Reindeer”.
Although I don’t know anyone who can recreate Jimi Hendix’s music better than Randy, there is so much more to him that unfortunately sometimes goes unnoticed or perhaps under appreciated. He writes his own original music that really needs to be recognized. For example his original “Texas Twister” that he wrote as a tribute to his late friend, Stevie Ray Vaughn. An absolutely great tune. Being the kind soul that he is, Randy played Jimi’s song “Angel” which he dedicated to his long time friend and manager, Kevin Fillo, who’s mother passed away the day before. What a fitting song to be played in her honor.
Randy is backed by two of the most talented musicians you could ask for. There is Kevin John Adams on the bass guitar and Rick Spano on the drums. I felt really sorry for Rick. Randy decided to play about a two and a half to three hour non-stop set (no complaints from the crowd… trust me) and Rick in turn got one hell of a work out. I think musicians should also be classified as athletes. Perhaps a Rock and Roll event in the Olympics? Just a thought.
I have to give Ted Walker kudos for putting such a great show together. Thanks Ted, I had a blast!

links:

www.thesoulsticeband.com
www.randyhansen.com
www.rocktheblues.com

Tags: fleetwood mac, jimi hendix, randy hansen, rocktheblues, rocktheblues.com, soulstice, Stevie Nicks

The “Soulstice” band has rocked Kitsap County and Pierce County for over 6 years. Soulstice is a 6 piece band and are well known for their heavy percussion sound, smooth harmonies, and genre versatility. They also feature as a FLEETWOOD MAC Tribute band.

Soulstice

LEE DAVIS-Vocals, Rhythm Guitar

RICK WALBAUM-Bass,Vocals,Sound Engineer

TOM DAVENPORT-Lead Guitar,Vocals

JOEY WALBAUM-Keyboards, Vocals

RONNIE NEWTON-Drums

IKE SUTTON-Percussion

I really enjoyed “Soulstice” because they play such a wide variety of music from rock, to easy listening and they also play great dance music too. The music was so well performed, that it brought back many memories for me of all the music I had loved so much when I was younger. Personally, I’ve never seen Fleetwood Mac perform live before, but when I heard Soulstice play the Fleetwood Mac songs, I felt like LeeAnn’s voice sounded so much like Stevie Nicks that it felt like Stevie was singing right there in front of me.

Band members LeeAnn Davis (guitar) and Rick Walbaum (bass) are both husband and wife and sing really well, and the keyboardist of the band is Rick’s son, Joe Walbaum who is an amazing singer too. They are family, but the whole band makes you a part of the family too! Tom Davenport is awesome on guitar, and I especially enjoyed the fact that the Soulstice band has both drums and congas in their band. Ronnie Newton (drums) is an amazing drummer and Ike Sutton, who’s in charge of percussions, is absolutely entertaining to watch.

Teri Beede
“I just want to see you smile”…Paul Rodgers
Be sure to check out my MySpace page: www.myspace.com/fun2baround

Tags: bass, drums, fleetwood mac, ike sutton, joey walbaum, keyboards, kitsap county, lead guitar, lee davis, paul rodgers, percussion, pierce county, rhythm guitar, rick walbaum, ronnie newton, soulstice, sound engineer, teri beede, tom davenport, vocals