Blackberry Smoke, Mike Campbell and the Dirty Knobs and Shannon McNally @ Artpark, Lewiston, NY 7-31-25

A triple bill of music hit Artpark last Thursday in Lewiston, NY. Blackberry Smoke, Mike Campbell and the Dirty Knobs and Shannon McNally played to a very hearty crowd. The weather was more cooperative as we weren’t experiencing the humid hot temperatures that the area was facing over the last serval days.

Taking the stage first was singer songwriter Shannon McNally. With just an acoustic guitar on hand, McNally played a 30 minuet set. She dedicated “Rock My Soul” to Levon Helm. She had a few others join her to sing both “Bohemian Wedding Song” and “Helplessly Hoping.” I thought McNally’s hippie flavor set the stage for Mike Campbell and the Dirty Knobs set.

This was the 1st time Mike Campbell and the Dirty Knobs played Artpark. In Fact, it was the first time that he has played the WNY since Tom Petty played Darien Lake with Crosby, Stills and Nash in 2010. So you can say that there were a lot of fans waiting to hear some of Campbell’s solo work along with some Tom Petty and the Heartbreaker classics. They mostly had to wait for the latter as Campbell and his band came out to join Blackberry Smoke for the encores to do those songs. Campbell and The Dirty Knobs played an hour and 15 minute set that started off with “So Alive” off their latest effort ‘Virgins, Vagabonds and Misfits’ album. The band continued with the same album as they went into “Dare to Dream.” Campbell seemed to be in great spirits and talked about how wonderful playing Artpark was. He said that we would like to play a sweet tender ballad. Well, that song title was called ‘Fu*k That Guy.” They did do one Toy Petty song in their own set. It is one of my favorites they used to do. That song was off the ‘Hard Promises album and titled “Woman in Love.” Overall, I though Campbell and the Dirty Knobs totally delivered during their performance.

Headlining the evenings festivities was Blackberry Smoke. This is the bands first appearance at Artpark since 2021 when the world was just starting to come out of the pandemic. Since the last time they played here, Blackberry Smoke has gone through some dramatic lineup changes. Unfortunately, founding member and drummer Brit Turner passed away in march of 2024 from glioblastoma, a cancer of the brain. Also touring musician and percussionist Preston Holcumb retired from touring in the spring of 2024. Blackberry Smoke now consists of lead vocalist & lead guitarist Charlie Starr, lead/rhythm guitarist Paul Jackson, bassist Richard Turner, keyboardist Brandon Still and drummer Kent Aberle. They are joined by touring musician and guitarist Benji Shanks. Blackberry Smoke is still on tour supporting their latest effort ‘Be Right Here’ which came out at the beginning of 2024. The reached back to the ‘Whippoorwhill” album to open things up with “Six Ways to Sunday.” The fun “Hammer and the Nail” soon followed. A few songs later the band played one of my favorite songs that they do in “Hey Delilah.” They finally dipped into the latest effort half way through their set with “Dig a Hole.” They closed the set with one of their most well known songs in “Ain’t Much Left of Me.” As mentioned earlier, Mike Campbell and The Dirty Knobs came out to join Blackberry Smoke for the encores. That consisted of playing 5 songs from his former bandmate Tom Petty and then a cover of what put The Troggs on the map in “Wild Thing.” Starr’s vocals had a very Petty -esque to them. I thought the flow was very good and made for a fun set.

Overall, not many bands really give off a fun vibe like Blackberry smoke does. A great band that surely delivers in a live setting.

Blackberry Smoke setlist:

Six Ways to Sunday

Hammer and the Nail

Rock and Roll Again

Good One Comin’ On

Living in the Song

Hey Delilah

Pretty Little Lie

Dig a Hole

Sleeping Dogs

Till the Wheel Fell Off