22/4/2010 Darrel Bath @ the 12 Bar Club

Subject	Darrel Bath @ the 12 Bar Club
PostedDate	4/22/2010
	A night out somewhere other than Camden for a change! This time it's down to the west end and the intimate 12 Bar Club. I'm there to see 'guitarist's guitarist' Darrel Bath and his band. It's always a pleasure seeing this man perform. His playing is so natural and fluid. You could hardly find a better example of that saying about it being what you don't play being as important as what you actually do play - knowing when not to play. I know a few very technical widdley guitarists who could learn from this... Darrel has a terrific way of fitting what he plays around the song, rather than just blasting away all the way through it. He always manages to get a great tone as well - even through a not very nice sounding Marshall amp that's provided for him tonight. The transistor amp sounds scratchy and rasping at first, but he seems to somehow adjust his own technique and play himself into it - making it sound better without having to fiddle with the settings on the amp. It's rare to see such an intuitive player.