Went to this last night in Denver with my Dad, who narrowly missed his only chance to see Hendrix back in '69. Last night, the guitarist lineup was:
Eric Gales
Mato Nanji (from Indigenous)
Brad Whitford (from Aerosmith)
Eric Johnson
David Hidalgo and Cesar Rosas from Los Lobos
Jonny Lang
Hubert Sumlin
Kenny Wayne Shepherd
Buddy Guy
Killer show, basically. The best part was that Billy Cox (Hendrix's best friend, Band of Gypsys bassist) and Mitch Mitchell (original Experience drummer) were there and playing quite a lot. Billy was quite a surprise, as he had a nice voice and was able to burn through "Stone Free" like nobody's business. Mitch seemed a little tipsy and was just having a good time ("Thank you for making an old man smile!") -- but they did "Up From the Skies" with Eric Johnson and Mitch was killin' it with the jazz chops as always. There were 3 drum kits set up, and Chris Layton (SRV's drummer) was the workhorse with Mitch sitting in from time to time and several other guys rotating in.
Buddy Guy stole the show though -- go see him while you still have the chance. Dude is hilarious, sings like a mofo, still plays with fury and great skill, and just put on a great show. They did "Red House" as the closer with Billy Cox singing -- great stuff. He's magnetic -- that's the best way to describe it.. had the whole room captivated when he did his set. Heh, he held a note for probably 45 seconds at least, and in the middle some dude came out and gave him a drink -- I was dying.
Highlight in terms of musicality and "holy crap, that was good!" was probably Eric Johnson pulling off "Bold As Love" flawlessly while still adding his sonic touches to it... never thought I'd see that song played live and sound that great. Kenny Wayne Shepherd was probably the best guitarist/Hendrix impersonator -- dude just tears it up and did an awesome version of "Voodoo Child" (the slow, bluesy one) and led into "Voodoo Chile (Slight Return)". Los Lobos doing "Little Wing" was another highlight, and I was very surprised with Brad Whitford's lead skills -- Joe Perry always got the shine, but he was very impressive.
Tickets were almost $50 apiece, but if you're a guitar fan, a blues fan, a Hendrix fan, or just want 3 hours of uninterrupted music, go check it out. A lot of the dates are already sold out, but it's worth a look.
Eric Gales
Mato Nanji (from Indigenous)
Brad Whitford (from Aerosmith)
Eric Johnson
David Hidalgo and Cesar Rosas from Los Lobos
Jonny Lang
Hubert Sumlin
Kenny Wayne Shepherd
Buddy Guy
Killer show, basically. The best part was that Billy Cox (Hendrix's best friend, Band of Gypsys bassist) and Mitch Mitchell (original Experience drummer) were there and playing quite a lot. Billy was quite a surprise, as he had a nice voice and was able to burn through "Stone Free" like nobody's business. Mitch seemed a little tipsy and was just having a good time ("Thank you for making an old man smile!") -- but they did "Up From the Skies" with Eric Johnson and Mitch was killin' it with the jazz chops as always. There were 3 drum kits set up, and Chris Layton (SRV's drummer) was the workhorse with Mitch sitting in from time to time and several other guys rotating in.
Buddy Guy stole the show though -- go see him while you still have the chance. Dude is hilarious, sings like a mofo, still plays with fury and great skill, and just put on a great show. They did "Red House" as the closer with Billy Cox singing -- great stuff. He's magnetic -- that's the best way to describe it.. had the whole room captivated when he did his set. Heh, he held a note for probably 45 seconds at least, and in the middle some dude came out and gave him a drink -- I was dying.
Highlight in terms of musicality and "holy crap, that was good!" was probably Eric Johnson pulling off "Bold As Love" flawlessly while still adding his sonic touches to it... never thought I'd see that song played live and sound that great. Kenny Wayne Shepherd was probably the best guitarist/Hendrix impersonator -- dude just tears it up and did an awesome version of "Voodoo Child" (the slow, bluesy one) and led into "Voodoo Chile (Slight Return)". Los Lobos doing "Little Wing" was another highlight, and I was very surprised with Brad Whitford's lead skills -- Joe Perry always got the shine, but he was very impressive.
Tickets were almost $50 apiece, but if you're a guitar fan, a blues fan, a Hendrix fan, or just want 3 hours of uninterrupted music, go check it out. A lot of the dates are already sold out, but it's worth a look.