Legend “Buddy Guy”, Future Legend “Jonny Lang, Dual Headline at the Historic Florida Theatre.  

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The rainy blues didn’t stop the blues lovers from making their way to downtown Jacksonville to see and hear “The Best Blues guitar player ever”, said Eric Clapton, one of the best known blues players ever, perform at the Historic Florida Theatre. Buddy Guy, and Master of the blues rock Jonny Lang.

The stage was set for Blues to be piercing through your veins and bouncing off the velvet walls of the Theatre in Jacksonville Florida, as blues prodigy Jonny Lang Blues rock style was to open for the legend of old school Blues of Buddy Guy. The two head liners we more than ready to give the packed crowd all the blues that could handle in a night that was set to be like no other.

The Theater was buzzing with excitement as blues lovers were making their way to their seat anticipating of watching two of the great blues guitar players of our times to hit the theater stage.

Jonny Lang made is way out on to the stage at 8pm sharp to a loud applause of fans seated and the ones still making their way in from the cold rainy street. He didn’t waste any time and hit the stage running with the bluesy rock he is know for. If you have never seen Jonny Lang you are missing one of the true masters of the Ax. He attacks every riff as if on a mission. From the minute he steps on stage until his last riff this guy give you everything he has and seems genuinely happy to share his virtuoso with his audience. This guy is hard driving all the way. One of the highlights was his rendition of Stevie Wonder’s hit ‘Living for the City’. Stevie would have been proud. If you are a fan of true rock and roll played by one of the top ax men of all time, check out Jonny. All of this and at the historic Florida Theatre, It doesn’t get any better than this for rock and roll fans.

Jonny and his band took me on a musical journey with every song. Just when you thought it couldn’t get any more intense, it did, and I found myself lifted and suspended in the stratosphere with his impassioned playing.

Just when you thought you couldn’t get any more Soul,. Buddy Guy struts his way on stage to an energetic standing ovation ready to play you the blues like no other. Buddy Guy is a spry, energetic man of 76 years. He likes to swear and he likes to smile. Watch his 90-minute stage show and you will feel like a richer person than you were before he started.

The Chicago blues pioneer played the Peoria Civic Center Theater on Friday night, following a 90-minute set by Jonny Lang. Guy got right into business with the first tune, “Damn Right I’ve Got the Blues,” thrusting his hips as the keyboardist took the song into a furious solo.

“I’d like to let you know, this is the kind of playing you don’t get on the radio anymore,” he said to, to a smattering of whistles and shrieks, as he grinned slyly from under his cream-colored newsboy cap.

Guy told stories about listening to AM radio as a child in Louisiana, and how their airing of jazz, spirituals and the blues informed his approach. Lamenting the limitations of today’s stations, Guy proceeded to mix and match styles at will, often within the same song. He blended funk, soul, avant-garde and rock, changing tempos on a whim or abruptly ending tunes when a different thought crossed his mind. Moving from one extreme to another, he caused notes to sting, bite and moan before promptly allowing quiet to dominate, touching his strings with utmost delicacy and tenderness.

“I got kind of rusty,” he announced after blistering ears with the livewire opener “Damn Right, I’ve Got the Blues.” Akin to many of his double-entendre lyrics and bawdy narratives, the comment drew laughs. Indeed, for all of Guy’s blues cheerleading, his most persuasive argument on behalf of the style relates to his carrying on of a custom that traces back to 1920s Delta pioneer Charley Patton: good, old-fashioned showmanship that makes people want to be in his presence.

In the end, It was an all-out blues Fest with two great performers of our time with a little different styles of the blues, it is refreshing to see a fairly young performer put on such an uninhibited performance like Jonny Lang did. Buddy Guy can rest assured the blues will carry on.