The Band rocked jazzy blues beneath gray skies following a downpour at the on Aug. 21. Cray is a blues legend. Age 60, he’s performed for more than three decades, garnered 15 Grammy nominations and won five. His 16th studio record “Nothin But Love” was voted 2012 Album Of The Year by Guitarist magazine. Cray’s website notes his nomination for the 20th Annual Living Blues Awards in two categories: Most Outstanding Musician (Guitar) and Blues Male Artist of the Year.
And after all this time and success, Cray’s still got the goods. He dug deep to hit high notes. His plaintive wails channeled emotions of the downtrodden: “Poor Johnny,” “Shiver All Over,” “On the Road” and “Back Door Slam.” The blues man also demonstrated why he’s ranked among the finest guitarists. Cray, in fact, participated in Eric Clapton’s Crossroads Guitar Festival 2013, screened in select cinemas earlier this month.
In addition to Cray’s masterful guitar, the polished quartet includes a drummer, a keyboardist and a bass player. Cray cued several numbers saying, “Letap go like this.” In homage to Cray’s classic blues look, fans in the house donned fedoras. On one of those Colorado days when seasons shift in the space of an afternoon, fans also wore the free, blue plastic rain ponchos distributed by Arvada Center volunteers. Gracious and conversant with the crowd, Cray thanked “the wet bums” seated on the rain-soaked lawn of the intimate amphitheater.
Mercifully, the weather held off and Cray sang, “The forecast calls for pain.”
Counter-intuitively, Cray makes blues feel good. The responsive audience clapped along to throwback tunes; shouted, hooted, hollered and whistled their appreciation for the iconic Cray. Skies cleared, and the blues brothers played under light from the lingering moon for the rest of the 75-minute set.
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Colleen Smith, a longtime contributor to The Denver Post, is the author of the acclaimed novel “Glass Halo” and the gift book “Laid-Back Skier” by Friday Jones Publishing.
Steve Hostetler is a Denver-based photographer and new contributor to Reverb.
