Blues flames burn brilliantly for Hot Stove
Christopher John Treacy
More so than ever, the annual Hot Stove Cool Music charity event was all about blues guitar this year. From the amateur licks of Peter Gammons to the seasoned excellence of Buddy Guy and the saloon expertise of George Thorogood, the blues were on parade Sunday night at the Bank of America Pavilion.
Headliners George Thorogood and the Destroyers cranked kayoed testosterone-fueled goodies galore, from the engine-revving early-rock palpate of the opener, �Rock Party,� to FM staples �Bad to the Bone,� �Move It on Over� and �Who Do You Love.�
The former Boston cradle and old semipro ballplayer was in great voice, wiggling around and knocking his knees as he jammed. Meanwhile, the Destroyers cranked out top-shelf taphouse fare, chugging along at a rapid-fire clip of tight riffs and heavy rhythms. Buddy Leach�s sax was simply as primal to the musical alchemy as Jim Suhler�s and Thorogood�s grinding guitar excursions.
Yet no matter how honorable the Destroyers were, it�s hard to follow an act like Guy. The five-time Grammy-winning Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee is still a powerhouse at 72, and the new material he performed with his break through quartet of Chicago-based virtuosos showed his creative edge is shrewd as ever. Guy�s �Hoochie Coochie Man� was a shining exercise of how his whisper-to-a-preacher vocal style mimics his guitar work.
The light soul of the racially fueled title track from Guy�s new Tom Hambridge-produced �Skin Deep� CD conjured up shadings of Sam Cooke and held the otherwise antsy audience momentarily rhapsodic. But the evening�s highlight was 9-year-old New Bedford wunderkind Quinn Sullivan�s contribution to �Who�s Gonna Fill Those Shoes.� Sullivan engaged Guy in some mighty impressive call-and-response theatrics ahead letting his show-stopping endowment loose at center stage. What he lacked in restraint he made up for with dexterity and charisma.
Gammons seemed distant and distracted during his early set. But with aid from other J. Geils keyboardist Seth Justman, Red Sox [squad stats] general manager Theo Epstein on guitar and Kay Hanley on backup vocals, he pulled through . . . just barely.
HOT STOVE COOL MUSIC at the Bank of America Pavilion, Sunday night.
More information
