A cool blues double bill played one of Buffalo’s infamous venues in Asbury Hall this past Wednesday night. Samantha Fish along with newcomers Texas Headhunters played to a near capacity crowd. With the summer heat that everyone has been embracing lately, the inside of Asbury Hall was about to get a whole lot hotter.
First up was a new project called the Texas Headhunters. This outfit was led by Samantha Fish collaborator Jesse Dayton. You can call it a rock blues supergroup that also featured Johnny Moeller and Ian Moore. This was only the 6th show that all 3 played together. It was also the last show on the Samantha Fish tour. They plan on releasing their self titled debut album on August 22, 2025. Tracks called “Pocket’ and “Fool Don’t Play with Fire” seemed to go over very well with the Buffalo audience. Dayton, Moore and Moeller all traded off vocals of the entire 35 minute performance. I was impressed by what the band did in a limited amount of time and we will see how it will translate over for the long haul.
The headliner Samantha Fish is no stranger to the Buffalo area. She has played here numerous times and draws a bigger and bigger crowd each time. She just released a great new record in April called ‘Paper Dolls’ to raving reviews. Fish decided to take things up a notch on how she would open her show. She did a different but yet very interesting cover of the MC5 classic “Kick Out the Jams.” The title track from the latest effort was up next in “Paper Doll.” Fish didn’t say too much in between songs but did change her guitar after every tune. One of the guitars that caught my eye was when she played a cigar guitar during “Bulletproof.” I loved the sound of the slide guitar she made on it and I will have to say, it was the highlight of the evening for me. She closed the set strong with “Black Wind Howlin’ then came out for a stirring encore of the R. L. Burnside cover of “Goin’ Down South.”
It was a great way to spend a mid week day catching one of the hottest blues artists out there in Fish and a cool new band in the Texas Headhunters. Check out each if they come around your town.
Setlist:
Kick Out the Jams (MC5 cover)
Paper Doll
Can Ya Handle the Heat?
I’m Done Runnin’
I Put a Spell on You (Screamin’ Jay Hawkins cover)
Lose You
Sweet Southern Sounds
Off in the Blue
Bulletproof
Fortune Teller
Don’t Say It
Rusty Razor
Dream Girl
Black Wind Howlin’
Encore:
Goin’ Down South (R.L. Burnside cover)
We would like to thank Patti DeVries from Devious Planet PR for the credentials to review the show.
