Initially, The Steel Woods were announced as the supporting act for this wonderful Southern Rock evening, in addition to Blackberry Smoke.
However, this was changed to Bones Owens, a power rock trio from Nashville. Caleb ‘Bones’ Owens is a singer-guitarist who plays in Bon Jovi’s touring band, among other things.
However, as a solo artist he has three albums to his name, the third of which, Love Out of Lemons, was released in July of this year.
Bones Owens combines Nashville country with classic rock influences that sound much rougher live than on the record. Especially the fat bass sound that Sonny Remlinger conjured up from his bass made Lemmy’s pale in comparison.
Partly because of this sound and the solid drumming of Doy Gardner, it was a supporting act that was certainly enjoyable.
Partly because of this sound and the solid drumming of Doy Gardner, it was a supporting act that was definitely enjoyable. With songs from all three of his albums, it was mainly the uptempo tracks like Goin’ Back Where I Came From, Love Out of Lemons and Lightning Strike that impressed with Caleb’s fat riffing.
Bones Owens was a surprising support act and highly recommended.
After this violence it was the turn of the main act Blackberry Smoke, and that is a completely different experience. From the start with the cool All Over the Road, band leader Charlie Starr took the band and the performance by the hand; full of energy he set the example. He led the audience through songs from their latest album, such as Hammer and Nail, Like It Was Yesterday, and a beautiful, sensitive version of Azalea.
Together with the slide guitar of Benji Shanks, Charlie’s solos rolled into the room. The third guitarist, Paul Jackson, limited himself largely to the rhythm work, but it was mainly his vocal contributions that gave extra cachet to the songs. But the big man of Blackberry Smoke is Charlie Starr.
In the set of 19 songs he slowed down where necessary and stoked the fire when desired. The acoustic intermezzo was beautiful, ushered in before Azalea and Everybody Knows She’s Mine, to then continue with a blazing fire with The Wheels Fall Off.
What also makes a Blackberry Smoke performance so special is the interaction with the audience. When Charlie stops singing after a sentence, the audience finishes the sentence with conviction. This way, the performance becomes a collective happening.
Hey Delilah, Waiting for the Thunder and Ain’t Got the Blues Anymore get a different dimension. Another beautiful song is Free on the Wing with a great double slide solo.
After the inevitable One Horse Town, the performance came to an end. In the encore, Blackberry Smoke once again showed that they are a top band, with, among other things, the Little Feat cover Willin’ and the masterful Ain’t Much Left of Me.
After a good two hours the show came to an end, which you had the feeling had only just begun. That is the power of Blackberry Smoke: making it look simple, but still playing music at a high level.
