Fan Reviews of the Shows at Buffalo Showplace

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Just got home from Johnny’s concert at the Showplace Theater, and I’m really glad I went! It’s impossible to miss one of his shows if you’re able to make the drive, and it’s only 20 miles from Niagara Falls, Ontario to Buffalo, New York. He started at 10:30 and played until midnight—a relatively early show for Mr. Winter, and the longest set I’ve seen from him in at least 15 years.

Animal Planet opened the show, and I managed to catch their last three songs. They’re a classic rock trio, and they closed with “Hush” by Deep Purple, circa 1968. From what I gathered, they’re a local act, and the sound was great. The Showplace is an old film theater in Buffalo’s college area. It’s seen better days cosmetically, but it has a lot of character, and the room's acoustics were warm and inviting.

I managed to get a pen from a bartender and jot down the setlist, so here it is:

Hideaway : Uptempo and spirited.

Mojo Working : Played in half-time, with a neat arrangement. Tom Compton was busy in a good way. Boogie Real Low : Lots of showing off on the headless guitar, with a very nice groove between Mark and Tom. The song lasted about 10 minutes.

Just A Little Bit : An old standard, and the first time I’ve heard Johnny perform it. Great soloing, and it was fun to hear him growl a bit. He seemed to be enjoying himself.

Black Jack : A slow blues number. The open-tuned Firebird made its appearance, and the crowd knew it just from the sound. More intricate thumbpicking than flashy scales and leads. The solos were concise, but full of emotion.

Mojo Boogie? : The old brown Firebird again in open tuning, leading into "Mojo Boogie." The lyrics were different, though—same tune, same arrangement, but no mention of pine trees in Georgia or Mardi Gras in New Orleans. It was strong, with Mark and Tom laying down a really nice shuffle.

Sky Is Crying : Beautiful. A subtle two-note intro, with great pocket playing from the band. Johnny’s voice was perfect on this one, and his headless guitar was really shining. Worth ten times the ticket price for this alone!

Sick and Tired : An old Chris Kenner rock-and-roll tune from the last Pointblank record, played with a lot of guts. The crowd went wild!

Johnny Guitar : A killer version! Tom and Mark were clearly having fun, and the tempo was fast. Tom Compton played the best chops I’ve seen from him since he started playing with Johnny ten years ago. He still has those beautiful wood Ludwigs, and it sounds like he’s more into Johnny’s music than ever. I can’t praise Mark Epstein (bass) enough—he’s a young guy, but he seems to have listened to a bit of Randy Jo Hobbs (Johnny’s bass player from 1970 to 1976).

Johnny and the band closed with a funky groove tune that, believe it or not, had a chord pattern similar to "Pick Up The Pieces" by the Average White Band. It really worked for them, and Johnny gave Mark the bassist a chance to stretch out. It brought back memories of Randy Jo Hobbs' picking—really nice!

He could never pass by unnoticed. The hawkish profile, pale, pale skin, and long, wispy white hair—along with the skeletal, tattooed arms—would draw every eye, no matter what his occupation.

Though some on his staff downplayed it, something was clearly not right with Johnny Winter. He needed assistance to change guitars, moved as though he were underwater, and the road crew had to shine flashlights along the floor of the brightly lit stage. He stood as rigid as a statue for most of the hour-and-a-half performance, barely opening his eyes while playing. But could he still play? Yes, like any talented mere mortal. His once-breathtaking command of the slide guitar was no longer evident, and there were noticeable stumbles on fingered notes. Even so, he still possessed an extra, indescribable quality—something that couldn’t be calculated or defined.

The compact crowd, standing shoulder-to-shoulder at the Showplace Theater on 10 April, didn’t seem to care that Johnny was no longer the performer he once was; they had come to see a legend. His glory days in the late sixties and seventies earned him gold records for *Live/Johnny Winter And* and *Still Alive and Well*. Over the years, he had proven himself a true fan and friend of the blues and the musicians who played them. When Muddy Waters’ career was on the decline in the eighties, Winter produced four albums for him on Blue Sky Records. Two of them, *Hard Again* and *I'm Ready*, went on to win Grammy Awards. Most of Johnny’s albums feature a generous helping of blues-based or blues-inspired songs, and he was the first white artist inducted into the Blues Foundation’s Hall of Fame.

On this night, the 54-year-old Texas-born guitarist, accompanied by bass and drums, played solid blues: *The Sun Is Shining*, *Got My Mojo Workin'*, *Black Jack*, *I Just Want A Little Bit*, *The Sky Is Cryin'*, *Sick and Tired*, a taste of Freddie King, and his own *Johnny Guitar*, all performed in a hard-rocking style. He seldom addressed the crowd, and while his singing voice seemed more or less unchanged, it could have benefited from better microphone work.

Johnny now lives in New York City, and he has a couple of albums in the works—label unknown—to be recorded live at The Bottom Line.

I sincerely hope I wasn’t too harsh in this. I truly admire the man!