July 28, 2007

Crossroads Guitar Festival Warmup with Buddy Guy 7/27/07

After leaving the "Cubicle from Hell" at mid-morning and heading for the Windy City, we arrive late afternoon, check in the hotel and line up a ride to Toyota Park in the morning. Then Ernie and I head a few blocks south on Wabash Ave. to Buddy Guy’s Legends to catch a bite to eat and hear a bit of blues to get us in the mood for the Crossroads Festival. Well, we really did not need this to psyche us up, but is was a good excuse to drink and listen to some tunes. Seeing Buddy would have been icing on the cake…..

"Harmonica" Hinds was mid-set when we showed up, so I grabbed a couple of Stella’s and propped up against a pole waiting for a free table. He went through several old classics, from "Bright Lights, Big City" written by Jimmy Reed to "Got My Mojo Working" penned by Willie Dixon and made famous by Muddy Waters. Great way to start off the night.

Harmonica Hinds

Lil’ Dave Thompson was up next and we grab a table as some of the crowd leaves rather than pay 25 bucks to hear the last two acts. Their loss and our gain…. Dave starts off with his own material that was certainly up to par in these hallowed halls and then continues on with a Junior Well’s favorite "Messing With The Kid". An hour had quickly passed by and it was the end of his set already, so his parting shot was "Blues At Sunrise" by Albert King. But halfway through, a string breaks on his guitar and in the ultimate act of musical etiquette, Carlos Johnson quickly unzips his case and hands his guitar to Dave so he can finish the song properly. Gotta’ love musicians……

Lil’ Dave Thompson

A fairly long break ensued and a Buddy Guy sighting was made, so the whispers among the faithful was that Clapton was going to show up as well as several others. Nothing like a little alcohol-induced rumor mongering…..

Carlos Johnson finally came on and I was taken aback that he was playing left handed… with a right handed guitar. Now that’s talent….. I don’t even remember what Carlos started off with as I sat in stunned disbelief but he continued with the Albert King theme with "I Play The Blues For You".

Carlos Johnson

Then the crowd erupts as Buddy approaches the stage, grabs his guitar and starts to join in. All of a sudden, he stops the band and says he can’t continue unless he has his "Medicine" to help him through. As if on cue, a waitress approaches with his "Medicine", which I am not surprised was in a cognac snifter, and he downs that and starts off with " Hoochie Coochie Man" which brought the crowd level noise up a few octaves.

Buddy Guy

Buddy had another couple shots of "Medicine" before performing "Hoodoo Man Blues" by his good friend Junior Wells and the packed crowd went into overdrive with their praise of the "Guitar Master". I have seen Buddy countless times, but watching him perform 10 feet from where I was sitting was a great prelude of what is to come this weekend as well as again in 2 weeks at the Gathering Of The Vibes Festival in Bridgeport, CT.

Carlos and Buddy

Carlos and Buddy

Buddy

Buddy taking his "Medicine"

A quick two songs and Buddy was out of there, but Carlos continued on with his own mastery for the rest of the night. He roamed throught the audience a couple times during his two sets and made a quick fan out of me. I found no website of his own to find out when and where he tours, but if you ever hear his name coming through your area, put him on your social calender.

Carlos Johnson

Carlos’s bass player, Billy Dickens, was as equally astounding at his craft. His 7 string bass had a neck wide enough to land a small plane on and according to his website, he has a 9 string version that he pulls out on occasion. He has played with a smorgasbord of musicians, from Chuck Mangione to Victor Wooten and the list continues to grow. Great stage presence and abundent talent, Carlos let him have his time in the spotlight and it was well deserved.