Review | Peter Frampton Shines On at the Arlington in Santa Barbara
Iconic Brit Shows Us the Way to Keep Playing with Grace, Humor, and Some Damn Fine Music
Longtime British rock star Peter Frampton may have ambled onto the Arlington stage with a cane, but he sent the crowd out of the show with a tug at our hearts and a spring in our steps.
They opened the August 16 performance with a sentimental slideshow featuring Frampton as a golden-haired, golden boy guitarist, alongside the likes of David Bowie, David Letterman, Olivia Newton-John, and other celebrities from the ’70s and ’80s.
A diagnosis of the degenerative disease inclusion-body myositis had Frampton announcing a farewell four years ago, but as the aptly named 2023 Never Say Never Tour clearly indicates, where there’s a will, there’s a way — to play. And play he did — though seated for the entire set, almost three hours, Frampton gave an energetic, triumphant, enthusiastic, and endearing performance that had the sold-out crowd up and out their seats dancing — and playing like teenagers — for much of the evening.
