Jackie Greene brought his rootsy rock and roll to the Brighton Music Hall in Boston on Sunday, September 20th. Photos by Rich Gastwirt.
Boston set pic.twitter.com/rPVOOXvvoj
— Jackie Greene (@jackie_greene) September 21, 2015
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(Sunday 9/20, Allston, MA) – The temperature and air pressure might not have been much different on the California Coast but when the humidity suddenly dissipates and mercury drops into the 50s there is a clarity in the night sky that unmistakably signifies the arrival of something new. As fans filed into Brighton Music Hall Sunday night to enjoy an evening with Jackie Greene the nervous excitement of change was in the air, was it the coming of autumn? In May Jackie released Back to Birth, his first studio album in five years and seventh in 13 years as he set aside his roots in an America mix of blues and folk to tour with Trigger Hippy and The Black Crows. Fans were delighted by the release of the album and to have Jackie back on his own. But did Back to Birth seem too accessible at first pass, did fans have the same sense of pause when they first encountered The Soft Parade?
After Lauren Shera’s brilliant solo opener Jackie and his band took the stage. Jumping right into new material Jackie open up with The King Is Dead and then transitioned into Silver Lining before reaching back into the catalog for a furious I’m So Gone. This trifecta shook the multi-generational crowd from the confusion and perpetual motion of life in 2015 and awakened them to the world where the blues, rock, and Jackie Greene is very much alive.
Exploring his impressive canon of work Jackie reminded us how sexy live rock n’ roll is and that none of us want society’s Medicine. As he put down his Les Paul for a hallow body Gretsch Boxcar he lead the audience down a modern folk path, then across a bridge while sitting at his Kawai stage piano blowing harmonica. The delta blues, funk, and gospel spirits crystalized as he moved over to the B3. Trust Somebody, Tell Me Moma, Motorhome, and Now I Can See for Miles brought the crowd Back to Birth before a celebratory Shakedown Street closed the set. It being Sunday, the deeply soulful and simple Hallelujah was as much an amen as it was an encore.
The show ended with the single set being as long as other shows on the tour at about 1 hour 45 minutes, and even though fans were ready for more they left with a certain satisfaction of knowing that after a night of great music, 6 of the 15 songs they experienced were from the new album and the nervousness of the night came from the change in season not the change in their hero of Americana.