Alexandria, VA
April 5, 2006
A night of amazing guitar work was in store for the nearly
500 people who filled the Birchmere. A double-bill: Nick
Colionne, who is becoming one of the most sought after artists
these days; and Ronny Jordan, the London-born guitarist with
a soulful sound who has graced radio for many years. Two
different styles and two very different personalities added
up to one night of beautiful music.
For the first 90 minutes, Nick Colionne held the audience
in the palm of his hand. His band took the stage first
with “Hollywood” Dave Hiltebrand (bass), “Pretty
Boy” John Blasucci (keys), Tim Gant (keys/Hammond B3),
and Chris Miksel (drums). Nick came out in one of his
signature hats and immediately blew the crowd away. His
personality is completely infectious. His style and sense
of humor is so engaging. Standing ovations were the norm
for nearly every song played. Nick wowed the crowd with
his soulful rendition of “Rainy Night in Georgia.” It
was the first time I had heard Nick sing live and was very
taken by the emotion in his playing, singing, and expression. “Drumbalaya” gave
the focus over to Chris Miskel, who completely floored the
crowd with his ability. Nick went into “Hurry Up
This Way Again” and then followed with his current single “Always
Thinking of You,” from his latest CD, Keepin’ It
Cool. The tune, written by Nick and Dave
Hiltebrand, really got the crowd rocking! Nick got the
crowd laughing with his version of the Prince song, “Purple
Rain.” It was definitely an audience participation
song, and crowd loved it. Through it all, watching Nick
finger those strings was masterful.
Putting the crowd into a frenzy was the extended version of
Nick’s hit, “High Flyin’.” John Blasucci
gave a rousing solo that allowed everyone to get into funk-mode! Before
we knew it, the song soon morphed into “Papa Was A Rolling
Stone,” which had people on their feet as Nick made his
way through the crowd, ending back on stage and finished out
with the remainder of “High Flyin’.” The
crowd loved every minute of Nick’s performance and made
this Chicago native feel very much at home in Virginia.
After a short break to reset the stage, Ronny Jordan took
the stage as part of his trio: Ronny on guitar, Mel Davis
on keys/Hammond B3, and Charles Hayes on drums. This
was my first time experiencing Ronny Jordan. He opened
with the tune “Sugar,” a traditionally sounding
soul-infused jazz tune. Then came a crowd favorite…a
very hip, up-tempo version of “On Broadway.” He
truly made this classic his own. Next up was “Smooth
Operator.” Now, we all have heard this song too
many times to count, but Ronny’s rendition was a playful,
very nice instrumental cover. Mel Davis took the reins
on the cover of Janet Jackson’s “That’s the
Way Love Goes,” which is on his own CD. The Ray
Charles’ tune, “This Little Girl of Mine” followed
and then went right into “The World is a Ghetto,” which
had the audience singing right along. The set ended with
the hit song, “After Hours,” which Ronny dedicated
to his uncle, who had passed away just one week earlier.
So, after nearly three hours of pure guitar music, all fans
went home happy. It was truly a wonderful experience
from two masters of their craft. Nick and his incredible
high energy performance, and Ronny with his soulful, old school
sound. Definitely a show worth seeing.
- Bonnie Schendell |
