Gary Clark Jr – Powerstation

Last time Gary Clark Jr played in Auckland he had about 25 minutes to get his message across. This time around, he took almost two hours to tell his story. That story is one that is based solidly in the blues.

Out of the past seven days, I’ve spent six of them at The Powerstation. I swear I’ve been there so often at one point I considered getting my mail redirected.

Out of those six shows, it looks like Austin guitarist Gary Clark Jr has pulled the biggest crowd. Opener Aaron Tokona was facing a full house as he whipped up his own version of the blues…inspired heavily by Jimi Hendrix.

Then, at 9:30pm, the house lights dimmed and we were treated briefly to the sound of Johnny Guitar Watson’s version of Those Lonely Lonely Nights as Clark and his band took their place on stage.

A naturally shy man, Clark was situated on the left side of the stage, rather than the centre, with drummer Johnny Radelat next to him, then bassist Johnny Bradley and second guitarist Eric (King) Zapata on the far right.

Clark began laying down a slinky blues riff and the rest of the band fell in. As Clark sang the first few lines of Catfish Blues, the first thing I was aware of was how good the sound was, particularly the bass drum. Often the first song or two at a concert suffers sonically as the sound man gets things together, but not tonight. It was spot on from the first note.

The slow jam lasted about nine minutes, plenty of time to get the band and the audience in the mood (if they weren’t already). Clark’s first solo of the evening drew cheers…it was economical, with a few flourishes, but nothing too flashy, much like man himself.

Next, Radelat pounded out a simple beat on that bass drum to usher in Next Door Neighbor Blues, a song that gave King Zapata a chance to show off his skills with a solo of his own before Clark chimed in with his slide solo. There was no feeling of competition between the two guitar-slingers, no showboating, just clean, tasteful playing.

“How y’all doin’? Good to see you”, Clark greeted the crowd.

The drums and bass then locked into a groove as Clark changed guitars. He joined in playing a choppy riff as the band rocked its way through Ain’t Messin’ Round. “I don’t believe in competition”, sang Clark, “Ain’t nobody else like me around”. Gary reached for his wah wah pedal for this one giving the fans something more to cheer about.

Most of the 11-song set centred around songs from Clark’s 2012 debut album, Blak And Blu, an album that caused a bit of a fuss when it was released because of Clark’s decision to mix styles, rather than stick to the blues.

It seems that since then, the guitarist has decided to embrace the blues fully as there was little straying from the genre tonight.

But rather that coming out with guns blazing, firing off killer solos from the get-go, Gary took his time, giving the set a certain ebb and flow.

The first part of the show built up to Don’t Owe You A Thing, a performance that really brought the energy level up. The high-speed boogie number saw both guitarist letting loose.

Clark followed that with a long-ish break between songs to tune his guitar, giving the crowd to come down from their temporary high. He then brought them back up again during When My Train Pulls In, again trading solos with Zapata and generating the biggest ovation of the night.

Then nit was cool down time as Clark broke into a soulful falsetto for Please Come Home. The 1950s-style ballad was embellished with a twangy guitar solo.

Then it was time to rock along to the Chuck Berry-like Travis County, during which Radelat took a brief, but stirring drum solo.

“Gonna play some blues by Albert King…it’s about that time”, announced Clark and we were treated to King’s Don’t Throw Your Love On Me So Strong and this time it was Zapata that got the cheers for his solo.

The set ended, not with a blazing rocker, as one might have expected, but rather tentatively with You Saved Me…a slow burner that finally took off after a hesitant start.

Gary Clark Jr returned alone for the encore, introducing an unnamed new song that featured just Clark’s voice and his electric guitar. This was the least bluesy moment of the evening. It sounded as if we were listening in to a demo of the tune, rather than a fully-realized version.

This may not have been what his fans were expecting, or wanting, but they listened respectfully.

As he then segued into Blak And Blu, the rest of the band joined in and by the time they finished up with Bright Lights, the guitars were blazing away once more.

“See ya…peace”, were Clark’s parting words.

It was an interesting evening. When I saw Clark open for the Red Hot Chili Peppers two years ago he sounded much more interested in making a big impression, squeezing as much playing as he could into his allotted 25 minutes.

Now, headlining his own show, he gave himself and his fans plenty of time to see that he is more than just a Hendrix wannabe. Some folks may have wanted more guitar fireworks, but that doesn’t seem to be Clark’s true inclination. Instead, he showed the full range of the blues.

Marty Duda

Click on any image to view a photo gallery by David Watson:

Gary Clark Jr set list:

1. Catfish Blues
2. Next Door Neighbor Blues
3. Ain’t Messin’ Round
4. If Trouble Was Money
5. Numb
6. Don’t Owe You A Thang
7. When My Train Pulls In
8. Please Come Home
9. Travis County
10. Don’t Throw Your Love On Me So Strong
11. You Saved Me
12. New Song (no title)
13. Blak And Blu
14. Bright Lights