The pristine City Winery in Manhattan hosted the Louisiana Calling tour, featuring Sonny Landreth and The Iguanas, on Sunday night, May 19th. The artists have been traveling up the East Coast together, presenting their swampy, roots-rock, and blues to excited fans.
Opening the night with an hour-long set, The Iguanas, Rod Hodges (guitar/accordion), Joe Cabral (saxophone/guitar), Rene Coman (bass), and Doug Garrison (drums), presented their engaging mix of conjunto, blues, Tex/Mex, and R&B, all of which is distilled through a New Orleans filter. After dealing with a few sound issues during “Benny’s Cadillac,” things locked into gear as the group rolled out their roots rock with “Late at Night.”
Their version of “El Aguacero” featured nice accordion work from Hodges, while the group nailed “Oye Isabel,” which was pushed even higher by excellent sax work from Cabral. “Love, Sucker” was a groovy R&B throwback track with rich bass, sax, and slide electric guitar, while “Boom Boom Boom” was a clear set highlight, distilling all the traits that make this band such a joy to catch live.
The group decided to honor a randomly shouted-out request from the crowd as they delivered their slow, voodoo-drenched take on the classic “Fortune Teller” before closing their opening set with the quick, upbeat “Para Donde Vas”.
After a short break Sonny Landreth arrived with percussionist Brian Brignac and Coman pulling double duty on bass. For the first half of the trio’s set, both Landreth and Coman were seated with Brignac playing light percussion as the group delved into the blues in a slightly softer fashion. The restrained “Blues Attack” started things while the group worked up the tempo during “Hell at Home”. Landreth’s vocals are restrained and, at times, forced, yet his slide playing is fascinating as the nuanced picking, unique tapping, and guitar manipulation are a literal joy to watch and hear.
Other highlights from the seated portion of the set were the shimmering “Blacktop Run,” which built up to a point only to fade away, and the motoring “Creole Angel,” which closed the opening segment. After a short break to reset the stage, Brignac sat behind the kit while Coman and Landreth stood as the volume kicked up.
“Firebird Blues”, which was written as a tribute to Johnny Winter, was a masterclass in blues slide guitar, while “South of I-10” featured a lighter touch with Landreth’s enchanting slide playing. The trio moved into almost prog-rock land when they paired up “Brave New Girl” with “Native Stepson” for a ten-minute-plus musical movement that went in a wide range of directions.
The stomping “Cherry Ball Blues” was more direct, while the twangy “Back to Bayou Têche” closed the set via an exploring solo from Landreth that was possibly the best from a set full of good ones. The whole night wrapped up with a spirited encore of “Congo Square” as booming drums and bass led the way, allowing Landreth’s slide guitar to ring throughout City Winery, closing things brightly on this Spring night.
