Buddy Guy is a legend! The last time I saw Buddy Guy perform was a tribute to his late friend Jr. Wells. Almost a century later, he is better than ever and a little spicy while roasting the Grove audience. Buddy is known for helping younger artists achieve success. Opener Eric Gales may be young in comparison; yet, was epic on his own.
This Stern Grove concert wasn’t on Buddy Guys tour, thus, most but not all fans were local and aware of what was yet to come. The weather was perfect, the venue entry was smooth, and the crowd was settled and ready for an epic bluesy day. DJ Walkin’ Love had selected an introduction of jazz allowing the crowd to ease into the mood.
Opening for a Legend such as Buddy Guy, is a daunting zone to enter. Eric Gales rocked! His heavy influence of rock fused with the sweetness of the Blues performing magic bringing his upside-down guitar alive. The entire performance was enchanting and exceeded his reputation after winning the 2022 Blues Music Award as instrumentalist -guitar. His set was fluid until he paused for an announcement to slow it down for an intimate version of – “The Storm.” “The Storm” and an earlier play of “You Don’t Know the Blues” with a highlight mashup of a unique slow, moody, bluesy (Aerosmith/Beatles): ComeTogether, AC/DC: Back-n-Black, Eminem: LoseMyself brought a personal connection to a story the Eric Gales is a musical storyteller. His creativity runs deeper than an amazing technical guitarist on stage. It was personal and to prove it he introduced the newest addition to his family, the cutest little puppy named Crown. Ever grateful for the experience! Attempted to purchase the Album to autograph but the fan line was so long I would have had to miss Buddy Guy and that wasn’t going to happen.
Buddy Guy is a spicy 87 years young. He began the set by using his belt buckle to play his guitar. A very nice echo back to history when “Chess Records” apologizes for holding Buddy Guy back from his experimental stages early in his career.
With a loving smile as he thrust his hips in rhythm while magically delivering the blues like no other. Still, at the beginning of his ‘Damn Right Farewell Tour’ he doesn’t hold back. The Stern Grove stop isn’t on the tour yet thousands of fans flooded to the Gove to experience greatness. In his own sweet style, he couldn’t help but roast the audience. Claiming he wasn’t sure if he should continue… He has tried this many times, and San Francisco always screwed it up. Then he would start a song then deliberately pause. A few people clearly and loudly finished the lyrics. After a few tries of cat/mouse, Buddy looked down, and nodded with a smile so big it moved his ears backward.
His playful presence was unlimited as he exited the stage and circled the crowd while commanding a new level of blues from his guitar.
I love Buddy Guy’s stories…even his sweet apologies for cussing, which was never in the vocabulary until Hip-Hop. The humbling memory of his Mom combing her hair while smoking a pipe and looking into a broken mirror. As Buddy walks up and catches a glance of himself, exclaiming how good looking he is. Without missing a step his Mom replied, “Beauty is only skin deep.” Taking his mother’s words to heart, Buddy and Drummer/Producer created the song “Skin Deep,” as ‘underneath we are all the same.’
Emphasized the point when men and women are sent to war it’s ‘kill or be killed.’ It makes no sense to face situations of ‘kill or be killed’ and be too young to drink or listen to the blues. As a parent, Buddy Guy didn’t force his children into music. If they failed, it would then be his fault. So when his son heard Buddy Guy play at the club for the first time, he cried. He said, ‘I didn’t know you could do that.’ Then to close out the show Buddy Guy’s son joined his father along with Eric Gales. As they jammed, Buddy Guy tossed out his guitar picks, and the audience responded with flowers.
