A double bill of music hit Artpark last Wednesday in Lewiston, NY. Blackberry Smoke and Jason Newstead and the Chophouse Band played to a very hearty crowd. The weather wasn’t the most cooperative as we were experiencing some less than ideal air quality conditions due to the wildfires going in Southern Ontario Canada. Nevertheless, the show must go on and go on it did.
Taking the stage first was former Metallica bassist Jason Newstead and the Chophouse Band. This is a brand new project for Newstead. The set consisted of mostly covers and a few originals mixed in. They opened up with “Bear Creek Blues” from the Carter Family. That was an outfit that was active in county and folk about 80 years ago. Newstead dug deep for their set. They incorporated as many different genres into a 40 minute set of music. County, Rock, Metal, Blues, Folk, Country, Americana were all were represented in some fashion. For all the Metallica fans that were hoping to hear something from his time in the band didn’t get that but did get a Metallica reference though. A portion of “Creeping Death” was mixed into the Mark Twain cover “The War Prayer.” It was a very odd mashup if I do say myself. Newstead and The Chophouse Band made it work though. It was a very interesting set of song selections and the way the band presented them live.
This is the second year in a row that Blackberry Smoke has played Artpark. Blackberry Smoke are calling this run of dates the ‘Rattle, Rumble, and Roll Tour’ which celebrate the bands 25th year in existence. They are one of the few bands that will not give you the same set night after night. They constantly change it up to give the fans some surprises and a level of uncertainty. It’s rare to see that with most bands now a days. I must say it’s very refreshing. Blackberry Smoke has consisted of lead vocalist & lead guitarist Charlie Starr, lead/rhythm guitarist Paul Jackson, guitarist Benji Shanks. bassist Richard Turner, keyboardist Brandon Still and drummer Kent Aberle. They opened up with “Fire in the Hole” off of the ‘Holding All the Roses’ album. 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 played a deep track in “Scare the Devil,” which appeased long time fans. Blackberry Smoke decided to do one cover and I thought it was an appropriate choice. The Black Sabbath song “Fairies Wear Boots’ was hit out of the park. Kudos for the band to do that song live. It fits into Starr’s range perfectly. They closed the set with one of their most well known songs in “Ain’t Much Left of Me.”
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:
Fire in the Hole
Good one Comin’
Hammer in the Nail
Leave a Scar
Till the Wheels Fell Off
Hey Delilah
Lay It All On Me
Whatcha Know Good
Pretty Little Lie
Sleeping Dogs
Azalea
Scare the Devil
Everybody Knows She’s Mine
Run Away From It All
Ain’t Got the Blues
We Got Company
One Horse Town
Freedom Song
Encore:
Fairies Wear Boots (Black Sabbath cover)
Ain’t Much Left of Me
We would like to thank Dave Wedekindt from Artpark for the credentials to review the show.