Robert Cray Band
Robert Cray Band
Antone’s
Austin, Texas
It‘s expected that Robert Cray will turn in an intense, impassioned performance. Standing tall and confident, the sincerity of his facial expressions and intricate guitar work demonstrate that genuine blues course through his veins. If anything, his legacy as a blues behemoth, in both recorded form and live engagement, is secure. And at the landmark Antone’s, a club where blues luminaries such as John Lee Hooker, B.B. King, Clarence “Gatemouth” Brown, Jimmy Reed, and Pinetop Perkins have graced the stage, Robert Cray continues to carry that sacred blues baton.
Cray, a Grammy Award winner and seminal figure in the ‘80s pure blues revival, took the blues of Muddy Waters and Albert Collins and the soul-blues of Bobby “Blue” Bland and Z.Z. Hill and created his own brand. Many blues and blues rock artists, from John Lee Hooker to Eric Clapton, respectively, have expressed their respect to him as one of the greatest blues guitarists of all time.
Opening with the frantic “Our Last Time,” a paralyzing force seemed to sway the audience as Robert Cray held them with a berserk and screeching guitar solo, which would soon be revisited on most of the songs that night. His support structure of Tony Braunagel (drums), Jim Pugh (keyboards), and Richard Cousins (bass guitar) was equally exhiliarating.
The classic “Phone Booth” was next. “I’m back in Austin,” Cray sang a few times. “There are no phone booths anymore. If you remember them, then you’re as old as me.” And after laughter enveloped the air, Cray did a little snippet of the song, substituting “phone booth” with “cell phone.”
The new song, “Love 2009,” destined for release on Cray’s upcoming This Time album, slowed the mood a little with its light blues feel, but the band eventually picked up the energy and heat of the room when they broke into another new song, the funny “Chicken in the Kitchen.”
Concertgoers who wanted to hear great blues got their money’s worth. The carefully selected songs and combustive music both combined to elevate the intensely personal blues idiom into an explosive night of dancing and merriment. Along with other younger keepers of the blues flame such as Lucky Peterson, Kenny Neal, and Joanna Connor, Robert Cray is living proof that the blues can still enrapture audiences.
by Jeff Boyce
Antone’s
Austin, Texas
It‘s expected that Robert Cray will turn in an intense, impassioned performance. Standing tall and confident, the sincerity of his facial expressions and intricate guitar work demonstrate that genuine blues course through his veins. If anything, his legacy as a blues behemoth, in both recorded form and live engagement, is secure. And at the landmark Antone’s, a club where blues luminaries such as John Lee Hooker, B.B. King, Clarence “Gatemouth” Brown, Jimmy Reed, and Pinetop Perkins have graced the stage, Robert Cray continues to carry that sacred blues baton.
Cray, a Grammy Award winner and seminal figure in the ‘80s pure blues revival, took the blues of Muddy Waters and Albert Collins and the soul-blues of Bobby “Blue” Bland and Z.Z. Hill and created his own brand. Many blues and blues rock artists, from John Lee Hooker to Eric Clapton, respectively, have expressed their respect to him as one of the greatest blues guitarists of all time.
The classic “Phone Booth” was next. “I’m back in Austin,” Cray sang a few times. “There are no phone booths anymore. If you remember them, then you’re as old as me.” And after laughter enveloped the air, Cray did a little snippet of the song, substituting “phone booth” with “cell phone.”
The new song, “Love 2009,” destined for release on Cray’s upcoming This Time album, slowed the mood a little with its light blues feel, but the band eventually picked up the energy and heat of the room when they broke into another new song, the funny “Chicken in the Kitchen.”
Concertgoers who wanted to hear great blues got their money’s worth. The carefully selected songs and combustive music both combined to elevate the intensely personal blues idiom into an explosive night of dancing and merriment. Along with other younger keepers of the blues flame such as Lucky Peterson, Kenny Neal, and Joanna Connor, Robert Cray is living proof that the blues can still enrapture audiences.
by Jeff Boyce
