Keller Williams is the definition of multi-instrumentalist if there ever was one. Guitar, bass, keys, and a few other gadgets, Mr. Williams has long been recognized in the jam band world as the “one man band”. On Friday evening Williams made a stop in Bethlehem, PA at Musikfest Cafe located in the historic Bethlehem SteelStacks.
The barefooted Williams took the stage and was greeted by the Steel City crowd with open arms. The accomplished singer-songwriter is known for his looping skills as well as his fan interaction. On the opening numbers, “Mental Instra” and “Brunette”, Keller freely moved his fingers up and down the strings of his acoustic guitar with ease. “Bounty Hunter”, off his 1999 release with longtime friends The String Cheese Incident, kept the Bethlehem crowd fixated on the guitarists’ every move. With Williams, you can always expect from the unexpected. Not missing a beat, he segued straight into “Wanted Dead Or Alive”, the classic Bon Jovi tune. You could see that Williams and the crowd were having a ball during the song, as everyone followed the singer-songwriter’s lead, singing every lyric. As the one man band found his groove throughout the first set, he thanked the crowd for coming and supporting live music and the picturesque SteelStacks. Over the past two decades Williams has had a number of tunes that have become crowd favorites. One of these songs, “Alligator Alley”, featured Williams and his free flowing guitar work. K-Dub, as he is known by his fans, enjoys mixing in originals along with cover tunes. Paying homage to one of the most accomplished musicians of the century, Tom Petty, he performed an excellent rendition of, “Last Dance With Mary Jane” and “Breakdown”, back to back. A longtime fan and friend of Grateful Dead members, he decided to perform a song about his experience at Deer Park Amphitheatre in 1994, entitled “Gate Crashers Suck”. As the first set winded down, smiling ear to ear, Keller thanked everyone and closed out with the Grateful Dead classic “Fire On The Mountain”.
After a short break, the lights dimmed and Williams walked down the Musikfest Cafe stairs strumming his guitar, the quick instrumental segued straight into, “Apparition”, off his eighth studio album, Home. It’s not just a musical experience during his live shows, but also a visual one as well. Throughout both sets, Keller used his looping abilities to mix guitar, bass, and beatbox into a continuous beat. With the 50th anniversary of the Dead being celebrated this year, it was fitting for Williams to perform a number of tunes by the band. “Loser” was a great slow paced rendition with each lyric being heartfelt, and one of the highlights of the evening came when he took a seat at the piano to perform an A+ version of “Brokedown Palace”. The musician asked the audience if they had any requests, then proclaimed, “I have one for you!”. Williams then noodled a little guitar riff which transitioned into, “Best Feeling”. Stepping up to the microphone to close out the 3+ hours of music, Williams used his vocal range to nail the song “Boob Job”.
Keller Williams is just not a guitar player, but a live experience all rolled up into one person. His fan appreciation and musicianship has brought him to the forefront of the jam band world for two decades, with many more years to come.
All photos by William McKee.
One Response
Good review Chris!
My recording is available at the Live Music Archive
https://archive.org/details/kw2015-10-30.spc4.cards.flac16