Blues night at the Greek Theater in LA and future shows (9/06)

 On a beautiful Friday night in September, a packed crowd at the marvelous, intimate Greek Theater enjoyed a wonderful night of music with 4 outstanding groups. This Blues oriented evening started with the popular New Orleans group “The Dirty Dozen Brass Band” who came on early while many people had yet to enter. I have seen them at Jazzfest in New Orleans and they are extremely fun and entertaining. They brought out some great Horn sounds and played an upbeat style to start the night out right. They came back in between the next 2 bands with a parade-like rendition similar to how they do it in the Big Easy! Next up was the legendary Buddy Guy.

I had heard much about Buddy Guy but had never seen him perform. He was quite the character and all around showman! His bluesy guitar and group rocked the house with some down home blues and popular covers of famous musicians. As many of the people started to fill up the seats, they were treated to this true legendary musician. He not only played many great tunes, but did imitations of famous blues guitar players such as Clapton and Hendrix to name a couple. Near the end of his set, he started up a row while grovin on his guitar. He kept going into the second section with the spotlight on him while people crept closer to check out this Cool Cat! He made his way back to the stage with a roaring applause and amazing time.

Up next was the ever so popular Dr. John- His more low key listening music of jazzy/blues kept the evening flowing. His 5 piece band sounded great while Dr. John alternated between the piano and Hammond Organ even playing both with one hand each on a song or two. A nice way to settle down and get ready for the headliner, George Thorogood and the Destroyers. Dr. John also plays Jazzfest in New Orleans quite often among traveling all over the world to play his distinct style and promote his new solo album.

George Thorogood also known as George T is an all around classic and ultimate entertainer. He played with his rock’n roll/bluesy band. He came out in his usual bandana while jeering up the crowd before taking over the house. This long time band rocks and tells you about it too. With so many top hits, he had the audience singing along on most all of his songs. His high energy set featured him on guitar, bass, another guitar, drums and great saxaphone to round it out. He was all over the stage either singing or riling up the crowd about how much he loves rock and roll. His performance was truly outstanding. The sound was crisp; the band was tight and the atmosphere topped it all off. People were dancing in their seats and ailes while he lit up his set and finished up the night.

The summer season comes to a close in October. Look out for Wavefest on 9/29-9/30 weekend and Paul Simon on October 4th.For the show schedule and how to purchase tickets for future shows, please visit www.greektheater.com