Bonnie Raitt delivers a near-perfect bluesy performance on a near-perfect night at Meijer Gardens in Grand Rapids.
Guitarist-singer Bonnie Raitt certainly gave fans “Something to Talk About” on Friday night in Grand Rapids.
The instant Bonnie Raitt takes the stage pretty much anywhere, something magical happens.
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The Grammy-winning singer and slide guitarist oozes class, high-caliber musicianship and an undeniable musical sensuality that no one else can duplicate, especially at 62.
But that magic somehow gets multiplied many times over when Raitt graces the outdoor amphitheater at Frederik Meijer Gardens & Sculpture Park, especially when meteorological conditions are gorgeously perfect and especially when she duets with legendary Chicago gospel/R&B singer and “force of nature” Mavis Staples, playing “Will the Circle Be Unbroken” during Staples’ opening set.
Raitt’s second appearance at Meijer Gardens in three years may have raised the bar even higher than her 2009 debut with Taj Mahal, playing a 1-hour-and-50-minute show on Friday that had her digging deep into her catalog along with spotlighting gems from her potent new studio album, “Slipstream.”
Backed by a stellar band and boasting some of the smoothest, bluesy slide-guitar licks you’ll hear anywhere, Raitt clearly relishes the “incredible” environment of Meijer Gardens (which she also claimed contains some terrific “places to make out”).
Longtime Raitt pal Mario Leon, center, and pop musician Casey Stratton, left, were treated to a song dedication during the encore.
“It is one of the most beautiful places or venues I’ve ever been,” she told the sellout crowd of 1,900-plus.
Maybe that’s why she played an extra song during her encore (four tunes in all), a raise-the-hair-on-the-back-of-your-neck-and-bring-you-to-tears version of John Prine’s “Angel from Montgomery,” and a particularly sexy and sultry jazz-blues rendition of Bob Dylan’s “Million Miles.”
But part of her love for Grand Rapids is also clearly linked to longtime pal and record store owner Mario Leon and singer-songwriter Casey Stratton, to whom she dedicated a song during the encore.
All of it made for a red-letter night at Meijer Gardens, the second one in a row, following up Grace Potter & the Nocturnals’ extraordinary rock display on Thursday. (Read John Serba’s review of the concert at MLive.com here.)
Raitt and her band played for nearly two hours on a picturesque evening.
Of course, the always-gracious Raitt credited her band (aka “my boys”: James “Hutch” Hutchinson on bass, Ricky Fataar on drums, George Marinelli on guitar and Mike Finnigan on keyboards) for supplying much of that magic, whether cranking out a rump-shaking, funky rendition of “Love Sneakin’ Up on You” or the crowd-pleasing “Something to Talk About.”
But Raitt’s live shows also have a spellbinding quality because she feels her music so deeply, so much so that she even had to sit down to perform a heartfelt, spine-chilling rendition of “I Can’t Make You Love Me” to start off her encore.
At one point, she marveled at how iconic, influential bluesmen such as John Lee Hooker could be so “cool, calm and bad-assed” in their 60s.
Sounds like a perfect description of Raitt, too.
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