The gracious Austin-based guitarist and his band reflected a “beautiful, amazing” vibe at the outdoor amphitheater on Wednesday, uncorking a show to remember. (Review, photo gallery)
As West Michigan-bred bassist Johnny Bradley puts it, Gary Clark Jr. “has a lot of friends and people in his corner,” all of them thrilled to be part of any musical projects the 31-year-old guitarist and singer assembles.
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For Bradley, bandmates King Zapata and Johnny Radelat, touring and performing with the Texas blues-rock and soul artist is about having fun while sharing and exploring the “different eras and different genres of blues” with a special musician.
They demonstrated that mutual joy of the blues in inspiring fashion in Clark’s debut at Frederik Meijer Gardens & Sculpture Park in Grand Rapids on Wednesday night, quickly pumping up the sold-out crowd of 1,900 by launching the evening with perhaps the guitarist’s most popular, well-known songs, “Bright Lights” and “Give It Up.”
But what followed that audience-pleasing introduction was every bit as powerful and stimulating – a 90-minute set that had Clark playing familiar tunes and brand new songs, oozing soul like some reincarnation of a Motown great on one tune, then channeling a Delta blues slide-guitar icon on the next, followed by guitar-driven nods to fellow Texans Stevie Ray Vaughan and ZZ Top, all of it delivered with a high-volume wallop and a contemporary flair.
And Clark is nothing if not understated in powering up his version of the blues: There’s nothing overly dramatic, animated or the least bit contrived about his approach – just a genuine, cut-to-the-bone rendering of songs such as “When My Train Pulls In,” Albert Collins’ “If Trouble Was Money” and perhaps the highlight of the evening, a blistering version of “Don’t Owe You A Thang.”
The band – Bradley (who grew up in Battle Creek, graduated from Western Michigan University and played with Grand Rapids’ Junior Valentine and Hank Mowery), guitarist Zapata and drummer Radelat – perfectly complements Clark’s personality, steaming ahead like a well-oiled train without any rock-star histrionics or pay-attention-to-me interludes.
(Opening act Heather Maloney, who’s familiar to West Michigan audiences from previous appearances here, did much the same with her 40-minute set: showing power and restraint in a good way during a performance that included a stellar take on Joni Mitchell’s “Woodstock.”)
Clark himself was a man of few words on Wednesday, occasionally introducing a song and marveling at the “beautiful, amazing” amphitheater and crowd – always gracious, well-mannered and, perhaps, overly cognizant of Meijer Gardens’ curfew at the end of the night.
That graciousness extended to his band, with Clark often allowing Zapata to enjoy the limelight on guitar solos and then conferring with bandmates during the encore to decide which song they’d play to close out the night – an on-stage chat that came right after Clark played a solo version of a poignant new song, “The Healing,” with the line: “The music is our healing; Lord knows, we need some healing.”
Appropriately enough, they chose to cover the late B.B. King’s “3 O’Clock Blues,” the legendary blues guitarist’s first big hit from the early 1950s.
Consider us healed.
GARY CLARK JR./HEATHER MALONEY: PHOTO GALLERY BY TORI THOMAS
Read the Local Spins feature on Clark’s bassist Johnny Bradley.
Copyright 2015, Spins on Music LLC