So I went to church on a Thursday night this week. For the second time in about a year I was fortunate enough to see living Blues legend Buddy Guy in concert. The logistics of the event sucked. I quit work at 3:30, drove to Harrisburg. Went to the G-Man for a mostly liquid dinner, walked to the concert, made the 2 hour drive back and finally wound down and got to bed after 1. Woke up at 5:45 to be in at 7 as I'm extremely busy at work. Was it worth it? God, yes. The man is 72......72....think about that....and you would think he's 50, he has that much energy. he played longer than when I saw him last time in Reading. I think he came on at 8:20 and played until slightly before 10.
I'll try to recap what happened but having 5 vodka tonics in less than 90 minutes sometimes changes perception. The ticket named nobody as an opening act so I was hoping Guy would take the stage at 7:30 but no such luck. Again, I only wanted to see Guy and get home. Instead, we were treated to "Indigenous". I texted Stilladog at exactly 7:32 with 'Who the F is Indigenous?'. i got my answer a few minutes later. A good band consisting of some Native Americans. After two songs I said to my frined how much they sounded like Stevie Ray Vaughn. When I looked them up on Wikipedia a short time ago - it mentions the influence of SRV in the opening paragraph. As it turns out, the band isn't really Indigenous any longer. It's one original member, Mato Ninj and a group of capable side musicians. Meh. Mato is completely badass. Voice and guitar. I will get some of his work to check out. I'm more interested now in the original lineup.
After a short intermission, The Damn Right Blues Band came out and started to jam to a standing ovation of maybe 500 people. The forum is on the smallish side and the top ends weren't sold it looked like. Buddy had a world class keys player with him last night who was very very impressive, Marty Sammon. Ric Hall also lit it up again on rhythm and took over twice on blistering solos. The drummer and the bassist are adequate. I don't think he had keys when I saw him last year.
From what I remember he ripped through Hootchie Cootchie Man, Boom Boom Boom Boom, She's 19 Years Old, Vodoo Chile, Damn Right I Got The Blues, Skin Deep, Fever.....more that I am forgetting. Memorable to me was picking a kid out of the audience who gave him a pick during the walk through and taking him up onstage. Usually he allows someone to strum a solo while he plays with the left hand. Nope. He took it off and let the kid jam. He was decent enough. he was 17. If Rio is reading this, Rio would eat him alive, but the kid was OK. He and Sammons played off each other for Fever and it was live art - no other way to describe it. During one quiet stretch as it seemed like he was taking requests, yours truly screamed out 'DAMN RIGHT BUDDY' and with that he ripped right into the song. Goosebumps. We were so close. Some of the solos were just sick. It's so much easier to get into concerts when you have great seats.
I see he's at Jersey's House Of Blues in June. Maybe I'll go again? I didn't stop smiling the entire concert as he adds his own humor into the set. Wow. I just can't say enough good things about seeing him live. Pictures below are from my phone.
I'll try to recap what happened but having 5 vodka tonics in less than 90 minutes sometimes changes perception. The ticket named nobody as an opening act so I was hoping Guy would take the stage at 7:30 but no such luck. Again, I only wanted to see Guy and get home. Instead, we were treated to "Indigenous". I texted Stilladog at exactly 7:32 with 'Who the F is Indigenous?'. i got my answer a few minutes later. A good band consisting of some Native Americans. After two songs I said to my frined how much they sounded like Stevie Ray Vaughn. When I looked them up on Wikipedia a short time ago - it mentions the influence of SRV in the opening paragraph. As it turns out, the band isn't really Indigenous any longer. It's one original member, Mato Ninj and a group of capable side musicians. Meh. Mato is completely badass. Voice and guitar. I will get some of his work to check out. I'm more interested now in the original lineup.
After a short intermission, The Damn Right Blues Band came out and started to jam to a standing ovation of maybe 500 people. The forum is on the smallish side and the top ends weren't sold it looked like. Buddy had a world class keys player with him last night who was very very impressive, Marty Sammon. Ric Hall also lit it up again on rhythm and took over twice on blistering solos. The drummer and the bassist are adequate. I don't think he had keys when I saw him last year.
From what I remember he ripped through Hootchie Cootchie Man, Boom Boom Boom Boom, She's 19 Years Old, Vodoo Chile, Damn Right I Got The Blues, Skin Deep, Fever.....more that I am forgetting. Memorable to me was picking a kid out of the audience who gave him a pick during the walk through and taking him up onstage. Usually he allows someone to strum a solo while he plays with the left hand. Nope. He took it off and let the kid jam. He was decent enough. he was 17. If Rio is reading this, Rio would eat him alive, but the kid was OK. He and Sammons played off each other for Fever and it was live art - no other way to describe it. During one quiet stretch as it seemed like he was taking requests, yours truly screamed out 'DAMN RIGHT BUDDY' and with that he ripped right into the song. Goosebumps. We were so close. Some of the solos were just sick. It's so much easier to get into concerts when you have great seats.
I see he's at Jersey's House Of Blues in June. Maybe I'll go again? I didn't stop smiling the entire concert as he adds his own humor into the set. Wow. I just can't say enough good things about seeing him live. Pictures below are from my phone.
Buddy Walks The Crowd
Buddy is so close I could reach out and touch him
Mato Nanji of Indigenous
1 comment:
Just wanted to say I am enjoying Seth Walkers CD immensely.
Also, going to Five Guys tonight for a kick ass burger and fries.
mmmmmmmmmmmmmmm
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