22/05/2025

Pokey LaFarge – Tuning Fork: May 21, 2025 (13th Floor Concert Review)

Pokey LaFarge and his band warmed up a sold-out crowd with a set of tunes that had feet tapping and souls shakin’.

As Pokey himself noted, a lot of water has gone under the bridge since he was last here in 2019.

“I’m grateful to be alive…there was a time when I wasn’t” he confessed. “I had everything I wanted and it still wasn’t enough”.

Fortunately Pokey is on firmer ground now…he was married in 2023 and has found Jesus. As John Lennon sang…”Whatever gets you through the night”.

Pokey kept the religious talk to a minimum, instead infusing his music with a touch of gospel along with a mix of jump blues, country swing, calypso, Tex Mex, Creole and rockabilly…a true melting pot of music that was very ably performed by his 4-piece band.

Instead of an opening act, Mr. Matthew Crawley set the mood with a DJ set as we lined up for drinks and a chat before the main event.

Pokey and the band appeared just after 8pm…well closer to 8:30…and warmed up with a little Chick Shack boogie before getting down to business with So Long Chicago, a track from his most recent album, Rumba Country.

As Pokey pointed out there’s “been a lot of music released” over the past few years, and he was keen to share it with us.

And so, off we went.

The band really cooked and I’ve gotta give special “ups” to drummer Beth Goodfellow who watched Pokey intently throughout the evening as he altered arrangements, extended outtros and basically kept everyone one their toes. I think she missed just one cue all evening and was smiling throughout.

For those new to Pokey, perhaps imagine a mix of Dan Hicks and Hot Licks with Booker T & His MGs…not a very helpful comparison if you’re under 60 probably…but that’s all I got.

Guitarist Erik Miron also deserves special mention for spicing things up with his trumpet playing…at one point he was playing both instruments simultaneously!

The rest of the band includes keyboard player Hank Mehren and stand-up bassist Andrea DeMarcus. Everyone was given a chance to shine and the musicianship on display was second-to-none.

Pokey’s sound owes a debt to the 1950s and he acknowledged that with a slowed-down, slinky version of Bo Diddley’s You Can’t Judge A Book By The Cover, followed by the instrumental Tonk Game, a thinly disguised rewrite of Bill Doggett’s 1956 hit, Honky Tonk.

But what made the evening special was the warm, positive vibes given out by the band and returned by the audience…who was on their best behaviour.

We all had a good singalong (and a scream) when set closer Fine To Me came around. Then Pokey returned, alone, to begin the encore with a bit of testifying and a heartfelt version of the old gospel tune, Ain’t No Grave.

Then the party resumed as the band returned for fan-favourite Something In The Water, featuring another trumpet solo, an organ solo and a lyric that goes…”Hoosier girl is so fine, shake the watermelon off the vine”.

Now, that’s testifying!

Marty Duda

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