Pic Playback: Peter Frampton Rocks The MGM National Harbor
Last Thursday, July 20 saw the arrival of a musical legend to the MGM National Harbor stage. With over 50 years being a force in the industry, guitarist Peter Frampton is still bringing delight to his fans, with his latest outing, the “Never Say Never” Tour. The title isn’t just some random phrase he decided to use, it has a way bigger meaning in the purpose of his life.
Over the last few years Frampton has been battling a degenerative disease that weakens muscles known as Inclusion Body Myositis, and was unsure unsure if he would ever be able to perform again live, but by the grace of the powers above, he’s back on the road and doing what he loves best.
The show began with a montage of photos that chronicled the span of his career and culminated with a single spotlight beaming down on Frampton as he walked out to the stage. With his guitar in hand, he swiftly dug into the first song of the night “Lying.” For the next two plus hours, Peter and his four piece band would blow the dust off of both solo and past group hits including “Shine On,” “Can’t Take That Away,” and “Baby, I Love Your Way.”
To show his range as a true musician, there was even the decision to include a few cover tracks from other artists in the setlist as well. “Black Hole Sun” (a Soundgarden cover), a cover of The Beatles “While My Guitar Gently Weeps” and “I Don’t Need No Doctor” by Nickolas Ashford all seamlessly fit alongside the other live renditions of songs released from Frampton Comes Alive!
Between songs Peter made this feel like more of a gathering of old friends than just your normal concert by incorporating banter amongst the audience, story telling and even a few sing-a-longs.
Peter Frampton is one of the most celebrated artists and guitarists in rock history. In 2007, Frampton won a Grammy for Best Pop Instrumental Album for Fingerprints and in 2014 was inducted into the Musicians Hall of Fame. He received the prestigious Les Paul Innovation Award from NAMM’s TEC Awards in 2019 and his album All Blues was #1 for fifteen weeks on Billboard’s Blues Chart. After 47 years, Frampton Comes Alive! remains one of the top-selling live records of all time selling over 17 million worldwide.
Let’s continue to give this artist his flowers and the appreciation that he deserves, since he’s overcoming so many different obstacles just to continue to share his gift of music with us, when in all honesty, he can stop at any moment.
