Buddy Guy Live at Legends

Every January the one and only Mr. Buddy Guy performs to sell out crowds during his annual residency at his Chicago blues club Legends. This year's residency comes hot on the heels of the release of a four disc career spanning boxed set entitled "Can't Quit The Blues". I've gone to see Buddy perform at Legends for the last three years in a row. Last night was my fifth time seeing him play there, my sixth time seeing him overall. It's recently been reported that Buddy has to find a new location for Legends come June, so this will most likely be the last time I see him play there.

He hit the stage at 10:30 wielding a cream colored Strat and launched right into his infamous version of "Mary Had A Little Lamb", a song he's been performing since the sixties. Much to my delight, he embarked on an intense, extended solo before singing the first verse. At the song's end he remarked that he had a sore throat and would be "hiding behind his guitar" for much of the set. He had made a similar remark during the beginning of his 2005 set at the Chicago Blues Fest. On that day it was quite clear that he was struggling with his vocals and he did in fact spend much of the set "hiding behind his guitar", but last night his full voiced singing betrayed no sign of the sore throat he referenced. The second song of the evening was a long, drawn out slow blues. Buddy said it was something by Albert King, but the title escapes me at the moment. What I do know is the innuendo packed lyrics delighted the crowd and if I remember correctly it was during this second number when Buddy first stepped into the crowd. As anybody who's seen Buddy in concert can tell you, he always enters the crowd at some point, often during an extended solo, but I was surprised to see him leave the stage so early in the concert. He ended up walking through the audience a couple different times. Every time he did he was mobbed by people wielding camera phones. I myself was able to capture the two above pics during one of his walk throughs.

Once back on stage Buddy pulled out all his usual tricks, playing the guitar with a drumstick at one point and with his teeth at another. Always the master showman, Buddy will often bring things down to a near whisper before releasing an absolute avalanche of sound from his guitar! One of the highlights of the evening was a killer rendition of "Nobody Understands Me But My Guitar" from his new boxed set. Prior to starting the song Buddy asked the audience how many people had the boxed set and I was surprised to see how few did, as was Buddy. He made a remark to the effect of "why are you coming out to see me if you don't know much about me?" and then quickly added that he was just kiddin' around, but I think there's some truth to that statement. More on that later.

The last portion of the set was typically chaotic. Buddy never uses a set list and often will play just a snippet of one song before moving onto something else. This approach annoys some people, but I always thought that spontaniety was part of the charm of a Buddy Guy concert. A cover of Muddy Waters' "Hoochie Coochie Man" was followed by a snippet of John Lee Hooker's "Boom Boom" and a good chunk of Cream's "Strange Brew" which was introduced with the words "this is how Eric Clapton used to do it with THE Cream" and during which Buddy once again entered the crowd. As is usually the case, "Strange Brew" was followed by Jimi Hendrix's "Voodoo Chile". The last Buddy Guy concert I witnessed ended with a ferocious take on "Voodoo Chile", but this time he only performed a verse or so before moving on to something else. I believe it was Otis Redding's "I've Got Dreams To Remember", a track from his most recent CD "Bring 'Em In". The last time I saw him do this song it was drawn out over ten minutes long, but this time Buddy stuck closely to the script, so to speak. It was followed by the crowd pleasing "Mustang Sally", a staple of Buddy's live shows ever since he recorded it in 1991 for "Damn Right I've Got The Blues". Buddy's four piece band was tight as could be throughout the set, with second guitarist Ric Hall and keyboardist Marty Sammon delivering some jaw droppingly awesome solos of their own.

After the show Buddy went over by the front door to graciously sign autographs and pose for pictures as per usual. I brought my copy of the new boxed set with me and was able to get it signed. I read an interview with Buddy last month where he mentioned that he doesn't currently own a copy of the boxed set. I asked him if that was still the case and much to my amusement he replied "Naw, I don't own it." LOL! All in all, it was a fun night, but I must admit last year's concert was probably better overall. That show featured some of the best guitar playing I've ever witnessed from Buddy. It's always a pleasure to see him play though.

One thing that most definitely is NOT a pleasure is dealing with some of the more obnoxious members of the Legends' crowd. As some of you may recall, I mentioned this in my review last year and this year it was just as bad, if not worse. You get a lot of people coming to these shows who've never seen Buddy perform before. You would think that these people would be among the most attentive audience members but that's not always the case. It seems a lot of these people just come to see a "living legend". Often they will proceed to talk, very loudly, over the entire show. During the quieter moments of the set you can barely hear a god damned thing! I realize that it's not uncommon for people to talk over the music at a small club and I realize a lot of these folks don't really know that much about Buddy Guy beyond his name, but you would think they would be a little more respectful of one of the greatest guitar players who's ever lived. Especially after having payed thirty dollars to see him do what he does best, but I guess not. They come to have a "good time" and they really could care less what affect their behavior has on the concert experience of those around them. It's a shame to 'cause I know I was far from alone in my frustration with them last night....