I went to the Buddy Guy
concert at the Luther Burbank Center in Santa Rosa with trepidation. Buddy has a recent reputation for uneven shows and spendinga lot of time talking. Friends have had bad experiences at his concerts.Not this time.
Buddy came out and showed why he is the true heir of Guitar Slim. Showmanship and guitar and vocals all full out to the max. Shamelessly and openly playing to the crowd, he was funny about it. He may play only three verses of a song but he's got a smooth modulation now from one song to the next.
And the great guitar playing is still there. The wild dissonant harmonies that work and fit. The superfast fingers. The ability to play more softly than anyone else. In two packed hours he played at least 25 songs, often seamlesslymoving from one to another. And unpredictably departing from the set listand rehearsed numbers. His band really had to work. Sometimes they wouldstare at him watching for clues.
Buddy started the show with a magnificent "Five Long Years". Singing andplaying at his loudest he suddenly cut the band and played his solo at thevolume of misquito whispers. You could have heard a pin drop among the 300+people there. "I've Been Mistreated, People you know just what I'm talkin' about." then he did O.V. Wright's heartbreaking song about Wright's heroin addiction "I'm So Far Down." Achingly sad.
Some other highlights: Muddy Water's "I'm Ready" done with Muddy's swaggerfollowed by a fine solo, followed by Buddy going into the audience and gettingpeople to sing with him, using girl's fingers as guitar picks, and generallygoofing with the audience. Then playing a brash solo he went out into thelobby and disappeared for a minute only to reappear with us in the cheapseats up in the balcony. Then he stood in the balcony and did a short burningsolo before goofing with us up there. Guitar Slim lives!
Some guy called out for some dumb song and Buddy screamed "Shut The F**kUP!" and the crowd roared. Buddy was dressed in a sharp but crazy suit kindalike Sonny Boy's. It had front panels of Glen Plaid, and all the rest wasblack. With his well known Polka Dot Starocaster it was an eye smasher. Thegirls were dancing all over the back of the Hall and waving at Buddy.
Buddy did tune after tune with some surprises, "Ain't that Peculiar" by MarvinGaye, Bill Wither's "Keep On Using' Me", "Trouble Man", and a hilarious renditionof "Strange Brew" with Buddy as Eric Clapton playing Buddy Guy licks, andBuddy singing with Jack Bruce's vocal mannerisms.
Then he did a bunch of his middle period songs. "It looks like Rain", "DamnRight I've Got the Blues". He did one of his new ones, Junior Kimbrough's "I Got Old".
Other craziness: Three manic verses of Voodoo Chile" complete with wah-wah pedal and Hendrix drive bomb runs and body language, "Mustang Sally" done deadpan like every bar band that ever existed.