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| Buddy Guy @ Stern Grove (Photo: Sean Reiter) |
San Francisco had a great case of the blues on a sun-soaked Saturday as Buddy Guy brought his “Damn Right Farewell Tour” to Stern Grove this past weekend. The highest elevations of the Grove’s hillside were covered as a capacity 10,000 music fans came to pay their respect to the greatest living bluesman and rock ‘n’ roll hall of famer. The recently turned 87-year-old Guy delivered a set that combined a few of his best with tributes to his greatest blues influences.
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| Buddy Guy @ Stern Grove (Photo: Sean Reiter) |
Striding to the stage to a hero’s welcome Guy immediately launched into “Damn Right, I’ve Got the Blues” – a song that is 32 years old but sounds as vibrant and youthful as anything put out today. Guy came ready to play his guitar and play with the crowd – teasing the audience throughout like a favorite uncle come to town to visit. Muddy Waters “I’m Your Hoochie Coochie Man” was up next and when the audience failed to follow his lead on the song’s intro, Guy called a halt to the proceedings. “I’m not going to stand here and let you people f*&k a song that great up. Now, do you want to try again?” Guy would go back to the theme of helping protect the audience from themselves several times throughout the concert and he delivered it with a personality that made everyone there just fall deeper in love with him. “Hoochie Coochie Man” saw Guy also generously yield the spotlight to guitarist Ric “Jaz” Hall who delivered an absolutely scorching solo back and forth across the stage as Guy stepped back and proudly observed.
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| Buddy Guy @ Stern Grove (Photo: Sean Reiter) |
Another Waters’ tune, “She’s Nineteen Years Old” had Guy mocking pelvic thrusts and when delivering the line 'Nothin’ I can do to please her to make this young woman feel satisfied' he muttered ironically 'Especially at my age!' Willie Dixon received the next tribute with a great rendition of “I Just Want to Make Love to You” and this time Guy had keyboardist Daniel Souvigny take a brilliant keyboard solo as Guy howled with delight.
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| Buddy Guy @ Stern Grove (Photo: Sean Reiter) |
Guy told stories along the way. How his mom loved polka dots and that inspired his famous polka dot attire and guitars and that he promised when he left Louisiana to play the blues that he would come back and bring her a polka dot Cadillac. When he introduced 2008’s “Skin Deep” - co-created with his drummer-producer Tom Hambridge – he told the story of how he was sitting in front of a broken mirror as a child and told his mom that he was handsome and she replied, “That’s only Skin Deep.” Guy used the song as a great touch point to talk about the importance of how we treat and respect each other – regardless of skin color or origin. He got the audience to sing along on the chorus, at first chiding them for the muted effort by threatening to wrap up the show, but then by becoming overjoyed as they got louder and louder.
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| Buddy Guy in the Stern Grove crowd (Photo: Sean Reiter) |
Guy’s cover of “How Blue Can You Get?” - the BB King song U2 made everlasting with their sampling of the lyric 'I been downhearted, baby' – saw him unleash a scorching solo and head to the far-right side of the stage under the redwoods. That far journey was only a pre-curse for “Someone Else is Steppin’ In” when Guy left the stage to play the guitar without a missing a beat for an extremely crowded stroll through the whole lower seating area. To see the 87-year-old hall-of-famer getting up close and personal with the audience on such a hot day and staying out there for well over 10 minutes is something rarely seen in today’s world of so much separation between the artists and the fans. Big kudos must go out to the Stern Grove team that executed Guy’s pied piper like trip through the crowd flawlessly on the hot day. For many, it was no doubt the highest point of the day.
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| Buddy Guy with Eric Gales @ Stern Grove (Photo: Sean Reiter) |
Guy ended the show with his guitarist son Greg and opener Eric Gales coming back onstage for a rousing guitar jam on “Someday Baby Blues” that then turned into Guy’s walk-off music. It was a triumphant performance by a beloved national musical treasure. Guy isn’t scheduled now to make it back to the Bay Area on this final tour, but here’s hoping he finds a way.
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| Eric Gales @ Stern Grove (Photo: Sean Reiter) |
Opening the night and opening many eyes was blues guitarist extraordinaire Eric Gales – a man who wowed the audience with both his playing and what he had to say. Hitting the ground running with "Smokestack Lightning," Gales challenged the crowd “Do you know the blues San Francisco” before launching into his original “You Don’t Know the Blues.” The song details several rough life situations that had to be overcome to fully appreciate the blues. That said, Gales instantly won over the crowd and it seemed the crowd did the same to him. He remarked that he didn’t usually play for audiences this large, but his playing, connection with the audience and charisma had the crowd buzzing well into the break between the two performers.
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| Eric Gales @ Stern Grove (Photo: Sean Reiter) |
Gales’ guitar chops were fantastic (he has been labeled “the world’s best blues guitarist”) and he took on some real titans. His cover of “Come Together” was delivered with an emphasis on the slithering, serpent tone that underlies the great Beatles’ song. Gales – a left-handed guitarist who plays the right-hand version of his own model guitar upside down just like Jimi Hendrix - ended his set taking on three monster guitarists with “Voodoo Child” into Led Zeppelin’s “Kashmir” to AC/DC’s “Back in Black” and then back into “Voodoo Child” for the finish. A big tip of the cap must go to Buddy Guy for bringing such a powerful and talented guitarist and performer with him as an opener. A lot of artists wouldn’t have had the confidence to take the stage after such a highly respected and well-received act, but Guy more than held his own. He showed that he takes pride not just in celebrating the past, but in trying to establish the future generation of blues greats.
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