For the packed-to-the-fences crowd at Sunday night, it was a nostalgic flashback, a dose of the good old times with the soundtrack of the ’70s generation.
Itap been 35 years since headlined his first ever solo tour, forging an iconic playlist that he’s surfed for decades. Frampton on Sunday tore through his consequential “Frampton Comes Alive!” double album – or, in his household, “Me Comes Alive,” he joked – for a crowd that relished every lick. Even if you caught the 1976 shows that created one of the best selling live albums of all time, it was a chance to extol the tracks that defined the anthemic 1970s guitar sound. This time with a “Hello Littleton!” intro.
Frampton’s fans have added a few wrinkles and a few pounds and the 61-year-old guitarist on stage has lost those windswept, manly-Farrah locks, but the empty-nested Boomers rocked with the original guitar hero like they were back in the heart of the freewheeling 1970s.
Yes, more than a few even raised lighters when Frampton settled into the gentle riffs opening his signature talk-boxed “Do You Feel Like We Do,” with the screen behind the stage flickering with dated images of the man rocking in his hairiest glory. And everyone – every person in attendance, from the sunglassed, ear-plugged security guys to the food cart cooks manning the grills – sang along with gusto. (Frampton was selling live, three-CD sets of the nightap show for $35 and he likely made a mint on that side gig.)
They swooned in each other’s arms for Frampton’s acoustic “Baby I Love Your Ways” and worked up a sweat for the heavy “(I’ll Give You) Money,” which saw Frampton and Aussie guitarist Adam Lester sculpting some stand-out jamming.
“Shine On” and Frampton’s fun take on “Jumpin’ Jack Flash” wrapped his replaying of the album that he can never leave. And ironically, thatap when Frampton started flinging fire. With flames now on the stage screen, Frampton erupted into “Asleep At The Wheel” and “Thank You Mr. Churchill” off his same-named 2010 album. A series of instrumentals off his Grammy-winning 2006 “Fingerprints” – “The only album I ever made where I didn’t sing a note and they gave me an award,” he said – elevated Frampton’s searing guitar work.
Following a raucous tune from Frampton’s 1968 band Humble Pie, the graying guitarist returned to the talk box for a unique twist on Soundgarden’s “Black Hole Sun,” which ranked as one of best tunes of the night.
As a thousand fists punched the sky Frampton meandered from vague riffing into a genuine “While My Guitar Gently Weeps” closer that pulled the cord on the time machine, leaving the crowd grinning from both the music and the memories.
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Jason Blevins is a strange dancer, but that has never stopped him.
