Photos by Tim Dwenger
The Scene: Two nights, two sold-out midweek shows at The Ogden for Gary Clark Jr. and his band. Tickets were hard to come-by on the street and beer lines were long in the venue. This Texas guitar god has been on the scene for several years now and the crowd that flooded the mid-sized theater on Wednesday was a varied mix of people of all ages and walks of life. There were hardcore Blues fans, hipsters keen to check out what all the buzz is about, dads with their 20-something sons, and plenty of 30 and 40 somethings out a little too late on a “school night.” As we waited for Clark to appear, the air was buzzing with an energy usually reserved for weekends.
Gary Clark Jr.: When Clark and his band hit the stage promptly at 9:15 the room exploded and the Austin, TX native kicked things off with the driving Blues of “Travis County” from his breakout Blak and Blue. Right out of the gates the band was rockin’ and the crowd was eating it up. While Clark seemed to let his rhythm guitarist, Eric “King” Zapata, bask in the spotlight for the first few tunes with some scorching, stretched out solos, the guitar-slinger soon delivered what the droves of fans had come out to hear as his fingers danced up the neck of his ax as the band tore into “When My Train Pulls In.”
“Don’t Owe You A Thang” delivered more guitar heroics, and showed off Clark’s rootsy influence, before the band slowed things up and took us to church with “Please Come Home.” While I’ve always been impressed by his playing and his music, in the past I had felt that Clark tended to sound more like a Blues mixtape in the live setting, rather than a single well-tuned artist. This show changed that for me. Sure, influences like Chuck Berry and Stevie Ray Vaughn still rang through, but they were tempered by a well structured set that allowed Clark to show several sides of his musical persona without losing the thread. He has matured as an artist and this show proved that Clark is well on his way to becoming one of the giants of the genre.
A longtime staple of his set, Albert Collins’ “If Trouble Was Money” dazzled despite it’s slow plodding feel, but it was “Bright Lights” that was the highlight of the set. The band let this beast of a song take on a life of its own as they seemed to barely keep things in control to the delight of the packed house. “You Saved Me” allowed Clark to step out to the edge of the stage and deliver one of the strongest solos of the night before “Shake,” from Clark’s most recent record The Story of Sonny Boy Slim, took us back to the 50’s and closed the set in style.
Clark delivered a couple more from his most recent record during a lengthy encore, but Clark also tipped his hat to the legendary BB King when he dropped “My Baby’s Gone” and people hit the street satisfied. It’s been a pleasure watching this man mature as an artist and I can truly say that he is finally hitting his stride. I can’t wait to catch him the next time he rolls through town.
Energy: B+
Musicianship: A
Sound: A
Stage Presence: B
Set/Light Show: C
Overall: B+
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