Two masters of the guitar played at the CMAC Constellation Brands Performing Arts Center in Canandaigua, NY, last Friday. Buddy Guy and Jeff Beck shared the stage and each put on an electrifying show. Guy is celebrating his 80th birthday and Beck is supporting his new album “Loud Hailer.”
Individually, these two veteran guitarists are in top form. Guy plays the blues like no other and Beck’s technical skill is unmatched. Guy took the stage first and opened with “Damn Right I’ve Got the Blues” from his 2015 Grammy winning album “Born to Play Guitar.”
Dresssed in a dapper outfit with matching cap, guy strode about the stage throughout his set and even ventured out into the crowd for the aforementioned albums title track. He paid tribute to his guitar hero Willie Dixon with “Just Want to Make Love to You” and celebrated the blues of John Lee Hooker with “Boom Boom.” Guy is on a self-proclaimed mission to ‘keep the blues alive” when on tour and he did not disappoint on this night.
Jeff Beck took the stage after Guy and calmly ripped into “The Revolution Will be Televised” from the new album “Loud Hailer.” His playing style was rough and ready on the new tune, with staccato notes flying off his “Freeway Jam” from “Blow by Blow” was next. The mood went from rocking to subtle as Beck’ s note bending never sounded better. No less than five tunes from “Loud Hailer” peppered the set with vocal collaborator Rosie Bones and guitarist Carmen Vanderburg in the spotlight.
Also appearing was vocalist Jimmy Hall on “A Change Is Gonna Come,” “Morning Dew,” “Rollin and Tumblin,” and “Little Brown Bird”. Beck seems to find the perfect musicians to accompany whatever project he is working on and this tour and new album are perfect examples of the high level of playing he has exhibited over his 50 year career. Switching back and forth from Bones to Hall throughout the set was never a distraction and the mix of new and old songs was a welcome treat. Never one to be static, Beck still plays with an uncanny ease while moving about the stage and coaxing sound out of his instrument like no other rock guitarist. One wonders how long the 72 year old Beck can keep playing at this level. He answered that at the end of the night when he grabbed the mic and said his only words of the night, “Thank you and goodnight! I’ll see you again!”
Are Beck and Guy immortal? It would seem so after tonight’s performance. Play on, Gentlemen.
Setlist:
The Revolution Will Be Televised (Rosie Bones vocal)
Freeway Jam
Lonnie on the Move (Lonnie Mack cover)
Live in the Dark
The Ballad of the Jersey Wives (Rosie Bones vocal)
You Know You Know (Mahavishnu Orchestra cover)
Morning Dew (Bonnie Dobson cover, Jimmy Hall vocal)
A Change Is Gonna Come (Sam Cooke cover, Jimmy Hall vocal)
Big Block
Cause We’ve Ended as Lovers (Stevie Wonder/Syreeta cover)
O.I.L. (Can’t Get Enough of That Sticky) (Rosie Bones vocal)
Scared for the Children (Rosie Bones vocal)
You Never Know
Rollin’ and Tumblin’ (Hambone Willie Newbern cover, Jimmy Hall vocal)
Superstition (Stevie Wonder cover)
Right Now (Rosie Bones vocal)
Encore:
Little Brown Bird (Muddy Waters cover, Jimmy Hall vocal)
A Day in the Life (The Beatles cover)
We would like to thank Melissa Dragich-Cordero MAD Ink PR for the photo pass to review the show.
