The now 80-year-old Mitch Ryder came to Oss with his new band, put together for this tour. The concert was very nice.
Mitch Ryder has been making music since he was 17, the so-called Detroit soul and has a characteristic voice. His new album WITH LOVE was recently released by RUF-Records and is being promoted in Europe for a good month.
Mitch Ryder, who has difficulty walking and spent the entire concert sitting on a bar stool, quickly captivates the audience.
Quietly chatting (for example, he asked how things were going in the Netherlands and when he heard that it wasn’t all that great, he related it to the situation in the rest of the world and said that he would probably make a good president: ‘A troubled man for troubled times’) and telling stories, grateful that he is still allowed to do all this and sometimes singing very fragilely, sometimes also very powerfully, he and his band put on a great show.
He announced that the concert would last approximately 1 hour and 45 minutes. That worked out well.
The names of the band members Denis Palatin (drums), Tom Germann (bass), Léa Worms (keyboards), Sean Athens (rhythm and lead guitarist) and rhythm and lead guitarist Laura Chavez.
A highly valued musician in the scene, who often accompanies others on records and tours. In 2023, Laura won the Blues Music Award for best instrumentalist – guitar, after having been nominated several times in the years before that. I am always fascinated by her, because she can create a great groove and then play a great solo out of nowhere. This is always in the service of the music, the song, the band, as far as I’m concerned, great class!
In addition to Laura, the other band members were also of great class. Thomas Ruf, together with Mitch Ryder, did not spare on quality!
The 14 songs the band played alternated between soulful songs, ballads and powerful rockers. From the fourth piece ‚Yeah, you right‘ the collective had me, a nice groove, a bit of harmonica by the 2nd guitarist, going strong in the 5th piece ‚Tough kid‘ with solos by both guitarists, the 6th piece dedicated to his ex-wife who died of drugs ‚Do you feel alright‘ with an atmospheric in- and outro on the keys, the somewhat Caribbean sounding ‚Oh what a night‘ and the twin guitars in the 8th piece ‚War‘, it all sounded nice.
Mitch Ryder has experienced all the ups and downs of a career in music. During one of his restarts, John Cougar Mellencamp produced his record with the 9th piece he played on it, ‚Thrill of it all‘.
Nice, nice. After ‚Fly‘, Mitch Ryder told an anecdote about his ‚collaboration‘ with ‚His Royal Badness’ Prince and the visits he was allowed to make in his dressing room before a concert he gave in Detroit.
Remains special. The solid rocker ‚Wrong hands‘ about gun violence in the USA was the introduction to an unparalleled version of the piece ‚Soul kitchen‘, a cover of the Doors. Goosebumps!
The band, except for keyboardist Léa Worms, left the stage after which she played the last piece with Mitch, the fragile and modest ‘The artist’, written by Mitch Ryder’s current wife.
All in all a varied concert by a very experienced artist with a great band. If he ever comes to the Netherlands again, both he and the audience deserve it.
