“More reverb, please.” It’s 4:30 in the afternoon, inside the mostly empty Birchmere Music Hall, and guitar virtuoso Eric Johnson simply cannot get enough reverb. He's already asked 4 or 5 times. “Just a little more reverb, please.” Johnson has gotten down from the stage during this sound check and has planted himself at a table about a third of the way back into the house, so that he can hear what the audience will hear. And so, seated with his Stratocaster on his lap, Johnson calmly releases a barrage of notes, his left hand a blur, then stops abruptly to ask the sound tech, without the slightest hint of annoyance, for “More reverb, please.”
They don’t call Eric Johnson the “Texas Tone Ranger” for nothing. The super skinny, and still boyish looking 57 year old, is a known perfectionist (“Try one db less, flat, at 500", he instructs the tech) and is worshipped by “Guitar Heads” for his pure tone, with an unmistakable rock edge. You might say Johnson is, quite literally, loud and clear.
Now it’s more than 4 hours after the sound check, and the nearly 500 fans who now fill the Birchmere are getting antsy. When the house lights finally go down, Johnson walks to the stage alone, holding only an acoustic guitar. Without a word, he plays two instrumental songs, beginning with “Once Upon A Time In Texas.” After completely crushing that and a Paul Simon cover, Johnson welcomes the crowd and confesses that “that’s pretty much the end of the quiet stuff for tonight.” The audience cheers their approval.
What follows is 90 minutes of Johnson’s well known originals, some tasteful covers, and several great songs from his most recent CD release, “Up Close.” Gem and Austin were two standouts from that CD on this night. It was also fun that he gave a nod to his bassist and drummer (Chris Maresh and Wayne Salzman), who each got a good old fashioned rock concert solo moment, and made the most of it, in both cases.
Ending the set with his bestselling song “Cliffs Of Dover,” Johnson had the crowd on their feet, and came back to finish with the Jimi Hendrix classic “Are You Experienced” which respected the source, while being performed in an arrangement that made the song uniquely his.
The crowd files out into the night, almost everyone sporting a post-concert grin, but Johnson remains back in the dressing room, quietly giving an audience to a friend or two. He’s almost the last guy out of the building, and as he heads out the door, he looks back and gives a friendly smile to the last waiter still wiping down tables. Then he’s gone.
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