Top live shows of 2017: #’s 15 – 11

We’re halfway through my list of top live shows of the year.  Who’s in the top half?

#15 – Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers – Scottrade Center – St. Louis, MO May 12th.

This was an impressive show with a sold-out crowd.  Tom Petty and his crew had a fun time tearing through a lot of classic hits, and the performance took on a deeper meaning to my wife and I after Petty’s death at the end of this tour.  We’d wanted to see him for a long while, so we were thankful we caught him in time.

#14 – Buddy Guy – Lerner Theatre – Elkhart, IN September 9th.

Blues legend Buddy Guy is pushing 90 and still shredding better than guitarists a third of his age.  He dazzled with his skill and spoke openly about the importance of love and compassion in these tough times.

#13 – Depeche Mode – Air Canada Centre – Toronto, ON September 3rd.

Depeche Mode were a big part of our high school years, so it was surprising that it took my wife and I so long to finally catch them live.  It was a solid set with new and classic tracks and one of the best encores we saw all year.

#12 – Deap Vally – Valley Bar – Phoenix, AZ March 11th.

Deap Vally are easily one of the best live bands of this decade.  This set at Phoenix’s VIVA PHX festival was a stunner.  I always feel bad for any band that has to follow them, and getting to chat with them after the show was an added treat.

#11 – The Black Angels – Thalia Hall – Chicago, IL May 11th.

I won’t skip an opportunity to see the Black Angels.  I’ve already bought tickets to see them at next year’s Levitation Austin festival.  This set in Chicago was a great start to a fun weekend with my wife, and the Black Angels played more aggressively than I’d seen them in a long while.

Who cracks the top 10?  Tune in tomorrow to find out!

Keep your mind open.

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Live: Buddy Guy and Quinn Sullivan – Elkhart, IN – September 09, 2017

My wife and I caught Buddy Guy at the Lerner Theatre in Elkhart, Indiana.  It was our first show at the Lerner, even though we’ve lived a 30-minute drive from Elkhart for over 20 years.  I don’t know how this happened, but we got some good seats (after a ticket mix-up at the box office) and settled in for the opener – 17-year-old blues guitarist wunderkind Quinn Sullivan.

Quinn Sullivan

Sullivan first played on stage with Buddy Guy when he was seven years old.  He shreds like he’s been playing for far longer than seventeen years.  He played a few cuts from his three albums, as well as a cover of Jimi Hendrix’s “Little Wing.”

Buddy Guy came out to meet a rowdy crowd (many of whom had done plenty of pre-game drinking) and got right down to business by breaking a guitar string on the first note.

Buddy Guy with replacement guitar.

Once a replacement guitar was brought to him, he proceeded to shred through “Damn Right I Got the Blues” and then played around with classics like “Rock Me Baby,” “Fever,” “Hoochie Coochie Man,” and “Who’s Making Love to Your Old Lady?”

Guy had plenty of fun stories as well, including one lively rant about genetically engineered chickens and tomatoes (“When I was a kid, a tomato was like cotton.  You could make a sandwich out of it.  Now you get a tomato and you could play baseball with it.”) and how you should buy produce that still has bugs on it (“Because it hasn’t been sprayed with stuff you shouldn’t eat.”).

One wild part of the show was when he played a guitar solo using a drum stick and a shirt.

Playing guitar with a shirt and a drumstick. Really.

Trust me, it worked.  It worked quite well, in fact.  He was flailing his guitar with a T-shirt and playing Cream riffs while doing it.  He also walked through the crowd, shredding and singing the whole time.

He brought his son, Greg Guy, and Quinn Sullivan back onstage for the end.  His back-up band was, just like the last time I saw him, killer.  They can play seemingly any tune and stop on a dime.  Greg Guy and Sullivan played along during Buddy’s hit “Feels Like Rain” and then tore through Clapton and Hendrix covers to end the show.

Buddy Guy (right) watches his son, Greg, and Quinn Sullivan carry on the blues tradition.

The show was close to three hours total, and a fun performance that had everyone cheering and hollering.  Buddy Guy is eighty-one years old now, so don’t miss him if he comes close.  He’ll probably tour until he drops dead, but make sure you see him shred.  There aren’t many living legends anymore.

Keep your mind open.

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