TOMMY EMMANUEL AND DAVID GRISMAN

SPECIAL GUESTS ROB ICKES AND TREY HENSLEY

AMES CENTER

NOVEMBER 5, 2017

​

All content by: Patrick Dunn

​

String instrument masters Tommy Emmanuel and David Grisman joined forces for a fantastic night of acoustic music at Ames Center in Burnsville, MN. This posh venue served the music very well with exceptional sound and a comfortable environment designed with great sight-lines throughout. The main event was of a very high caliber considering both artists are so skilled and free on their instruments leaving the possibilities on where they might choose to take a composition seemingly limitless. It was a lot of fun to watch them feed off each other for inspiration and I could sense a hint of competitiveness between the two as well. They covered an interesting range of material that was well thought out and suited the scaled down approach this format offers nicely. I would say many in attendance were musicians themselves, but I believe this performance could be enjoyed and appreciated by any level of listener. 

​

Adding to the entertainment value, the evening began with a blistering set of acoustic fireworks from Rob Ickes and Trey Hensley. The offered up an opening set most would dread having to follow, but in this case it was the perfect primer to what was a solid evening of live music that provided a good deal of "WOW" factor.