CityLife

Buddy Guy

Buddy Guy

Buddy Guy
Bridgewater Hall
July 4, 2010

An influence on a whole host of guitar players whose fame has long since eclipsed his own, Buddy Guy is a genuine blues legend.

Indeed, Eric Clapton once went as far to call Guy the greatest guitar player alive; those flooding out of the Bridgewater tonight following a stunning hour-and-a-half blues extravaganza would certainly agree.

Now 73, it seems like Guy has been doing this forever, and it shows. Charismatic to the last, his advancing years have done nothing to quell his appetite for showmanship.

As well as doling out blues wisdom and life advice (often very humorously), Guy owns every single inch of the stage. When he decides the stage isn't big enough to house his playing, he goes walkabout, down the aisles of the stalls, up towards to the sound desk, even up onto the second tier. He is predictably mobbed, revelling in the pandemonium of camera phone excitement he causes to such a fashion it was a surprise when he eventually took back to the stage.

It gave the night a sense of occasion that is matched by the exceptional, virtuoso musicianship on show. With a technically gifted backing band, Guy sends us on an epic journey where every nuance of blues-rock is explored. Songs veer from one extreme to the next; quiet to loud, slow to fast, tender to brutal, all helped by his rasping voice, which never fails.

At its very best, as on Someone Else is Stepping In and First Time I Met the Blues, there are moments to cherish.