That Buzzing Sound: Showcase: Gary Clark, Jr. @ The Troubadour (11/14/12)

How I fell in love with an electric guitar, #afterthebreak…

Gary Clark, Jr. & Timothy Bloom at Doug Weston’s Troubadour

11/14/12

Highlights:

Part of me feels like I did my daddy proud by allowing the music of Gary Clark, Jr. into my life. There isn’t many artists around that can restore your faith in music with a single guitar solo. Skills like Hendricks, voice like Raphael Saadiq/Dan Auerbach, and seeping pure rock n’ roll blues from every fiber of his being. A fact punctuated by last night’s second sold out show at my favorite venue — Doug Weston’s world famous Troubadour.

If you haven’t heard of this award winning up and coming eccentric artist, I was just like you a few weeks ago. It took one listen to “Ain’t Messin’ Around” to get me to pick up a ticket to last night’s show. A similar story to when I first heard Ben Howard. However, Gary is/was so popular he had three back-to-back nights at the Troubadour. Great sign. At that moment I knew what I was about to get into and that Mr. Clark would excel above all the blogging hype circling around the internet. Happy to say, the rumors are true, Gary Clark Jr. is one of the modern day saviors of blues music.

I’m gonna let that sink in for a moment.

Last night, He made me fall in love with the sound of the guitar once more. Like we never parted. What a raw experience. This man of 28, born merely a few weeks apart from this author across the desert in the lone star state, took the stage in front of a jam pack sold out crowd of hipsters, journalist, media moguls, celebrities, and random strangers and left it everything on that stage for a second time with his unbridled skills. It’s really hard to convey the visceral sense of it all. A man, his band, and one electrifying guitar that seemed like a extension of his inner musical soul. I know these are intangible words, but surely you must understand. It’s like walking into the king’s court and witnessing a musical miracle for a few hours. That good.

The cherry on top was the fact that Gary Clark didn’t say much. He didn’t play the songs with all the fast paced lyrics at first. Something a little rock n’ rollish, with that bluesy flare to it, that just stagnated and blended into each other. Long intermissions of the beating of drums and bass. Plucking of strings. Screams of the crowd. Resulting in the Deafening of ears. Reminded me of when I saw Prince’s secret show at the Troubadour. Not a lot of lyrics. Just hours of wonderful soul you can rock out too. A expert skill level type of performance. Not just from Gary, but from his amazing band too. A similar feature I see in other acts like– Allen Stone. The band makes the artist…despite the fact I think Gary could handle himself on his own. Let the man play.

That’s what I loved. Pity I had to duck out before it all wrapped, but like being caught up in some wild music dream…if I didn’t run I would’ve stay until they closed up at 2am.

Maybe the reason why I’m building these feelings up is because of the four hours of sleep drained out of me from my 11 hour day…ah, man…wish I could tell you more.

Big shout out to Timothy Bloom for taking on the responsibility of opening. And he opened well. Was kind of surprised. Started off a bit quiet and shy, but by the time the room was literally filling with people they showing off the same kind of sound that Gary and his team were about to bring. Little guitar. Even more piano. You know that super soul funk express had taken off and we going for a space ride baby. Personally they were the reason why I chose to go last night. Felt like a complete experience because I have seen ZZ Ward open and had a feeling Tim would’ve brought it too. Which, I think he did.

What I will say is I never seen the Troubadour that sold out before. Literally, pinned up against the wall all night with some nice people who weren’t afraid of chatting with a total stranger. Or the drunk girls giving me the free lap dance every time someone had to move onto the bathroom. That’s the type of experience you only get at the Troubadour. Still my favorite venue in Hollywood to see a show.

This was a showcase I had been waiting on. The perfect moment when choosing to go far out weighed any laziness. Sometimes bet on the bright lights and crazy nights. You might me the savior of blues with his electrifying lady cradled & singing in his hands. Moral: Bet on music like this. No it’s not strange to I feel like a badass for 5+ minutes.

Thank you to Gary, Tim, their respective bands, your groupies, the Troubadour, you for reading, and just great music in general. Go pick up their records! Gary’s is still streaming in our player for a limited time. Don’t miss it! Sorry for typos. Like always, the pictures below are yours to share.

-J

Setlist: