Well, folks, I saw Johnny live Friday night for the first time in 22 years. I was not disappointed. Judging from recent posts to the list, I was very worried he would cancel, or come on very late, or be in such bad shape that I'd be sorry I had gone to see him. I am very happy to say that none of those things were true.
The show at the "House of Blues" in Myrtle Beach, SC, started at 9:00 pm. The opening act was the "Eddie Bush Group" of Charleston, SC. Eddie is obviously a talented guitarist, but he is of the "2 million notes per second/ 22 effects pedals/ volume knob always on 11" variety; a complete contrast to Johnny. Some of the crowd enjoyed Eddie, but he was mismatched with Johnny. His show lasted until 10:00 pm.
After 10:00, the place really started to get packed. While not absolutely full, I'd say the crowd was close to capacity. Johnny started promptly at 10:30 pm. As soon as the curtains parted, the crowd went nuts; Johnny was obviously pleased with the response.
The set list for the evening was:
- Hideaway (instrumental) – Played for almost 15 minutes; some cool interaction between Johnny and the bassist. Tasty guitar work, and a great drum solo.
- Got My Mojo Working – A somewhat different version from the traditional one. A little slower and easier sounding.
- Boogie Real Low
- Sick & Tired
- Black Jack Blues
- Just a Little Bit – More outstanding TIGHT interaction between Johnny and the bassist.
- ?? (slide) – I'm very sorry to say I did not recognize this song. Johnny announced he was going to play a little slide for us – the crowd (including me) went bonkers! A Firebird was pulled from a massive road case, and he swapped it for the Lazer. He played a few slide licks before he walked up to the mic, and the crowd loved it. The song was straight blues, with something in the chorus about "I've got new shoes, you got nothing to lose...". Nice slide work, but not necessarily outstanding.
Johnny then quickly introduced the band and yelled, "God bless you and good night." The drummer was Tom Compton, but I did not get the bassist's name. The band had been playing just about an hour at this point. Given some of the reviews, I was very worried that would be it for the night, but the crowd rose to the occasion. After about 5 minutes of thunderous applause, random howls, and wolf-whistles, a chant of "Johnny-Johnny-Johnny" was started.
When he came back on, the crowd really went nuts, and there was definitely some "spring" in his step – which meant a lot. When he yelled "YEAAA" into the mic, it was the well-known trademarked Johnny Winter howl. He launched into Johnny Guitar , which went for about 15 minutes. The bassist then started the audience clapping in unison, and they played what I can best describe as a "funk" instrumental. The feel of it was something like the opening riff for "Waitin' for the Bus" by ZZ Top, if you know that song. Some really rippin' guitar by Johnny with absolutely no cliché licks. I think this song really showed that the man still has it. In the middle of this song, Johnny actually did a "spin" on stage, which had to take a big effort on his part – the crowd loved it. Almost exactly at midnight, the band walked off, and it was obvious there was no chance for a second encore. (I guess I'm spoiled by the previous "3 encore" Johnny Winter shows I've been to!)
While Johnny's guitar work was not "blazing", it was excellent and without fault as far as I could tell. Some of his licks were a little repetitious, but he did not appear to "stumble" at all. He and the bass player had some really tight coordination that was great to listen to, and his guitar tone was the best I've ever heard (IMHO). His vocals were much softer than his traditional trademark growl. He sounded great, just different. Sort of a "kinder, gentler" Johnny Winter.
My impression of Johnny's condition was that he was not emaciated or gaunt (maybe he caught up on his eating over the summer). On the other hand, it was obvious from his movements on stage that Johnny has some kind of physical problem. He moved very slowly and deliberately and did not even tap his foot once all night. His way of moving reminded me of the way I moved when I injured my back a year ago. You don't do anything quickly for fear it's going to hurt – BADLY. The one thing I noticed conspicuously missing from his guitar work was that trademark lick he does where he chords high up the neck while rapidly strumming over the end of the fingerboard. I don't think he wanted to move that much. IMHO Johnny is suffering from severe arthritis or something with similar symptoms. I wish I knew, 'cause I'd change my donation to the "United Way" to suit.
I am very happy to say that the crowd didn't seem to give a rat's ass that Johnny wasn't howling or jumping all around or trying to outdo the opening act with flaming guitar work. You could tell that Johnny put his heart into it, and the crowd responded accordingly.
GEARHEAD CONTENT:
Johnny played his usual white Erlewine Lazer through 2 Music Man 4 x 10" combo amps. He had two effect pedals, one near his mic stand that he could operate and one back near the amps that I saw a roadie kick in when he plugged in the Firebird to play slide. The Firebird looked cherry; I'd guess it was a recent re-issue.
The bassist played a tobacco sunburst Sadowsky 5-string through two sets of Hartke 4 x 10" cabinets (I couldn't make out the amps). If anybody knows who this guy is, I'd sure like to hear. Being a bass player myself, I'd say this guy has my dream job. He really had the ability to throw in some "flash" while still always playing a solid bass groove, and he looked like he really enjoyed himself. He definitely inspired me to play better at my band's gig last night.
Keep Rockin,
Hugh Odom
