Edmonton Alberta Concert Review

Certainly not Boz Scaggs, who ran through his extensive body of work at the Northern Alberta Jubilee Auditorium Tuesday night.

Within the first few lyrics of show opener Jojo, a voice in the crowd sighed with relief, “Ah, he sounds exactly the same!”It was apparent from the beginning the years haven’t chipped away at his coolness either.

Scaggs appeared comfortable, though not bored, his head tilted back slightly as he belted out well-worn lines in his unmistakable craggy voice.

Contemporary

As many Edmontonians learned last week from Scaggs’s contemporary, Tom Petty, new songs from old rockers can be a bore.

Even if they’re great, they’re still not infused with the same memories and meaning that old songs have had years to collect.

In that vein, Scaggs delivered hit after hit, barely even pausing to acknowledge the crowd or offer obligatory Calgary-bashing banter.

On Hercules, back-up singer Miss Monet’s chops were on display, alongside Scaggs’ guitar often-overlooked skills.

Slow Dancer stopped the jubilant head-bobbing as the crowd was lulled by a stream of pale, blue light.

Next up was a “song about change, a word that’s used a lot these days,” Scaggs said, possibly referring to his president’s campaign slogan.

Although his foot-tapping during that track, Some Change, remained reserved, the hit roused some to do the awkward “seat dance” that’s necessary at many auditorium shows.

Throughout, he made only slow, lazy movements as if he was reserving all his energy for his voice, the real reason everyone was there. Or maybe it was just that old-school-cool demeanor on display.

Still, a rousing cover of Fats Domino’s I’m Sick and Tired kicked up the atmosphere a notch with the piano and saxophone running at full tilt.

Scaggs does, indeed, boast an epic backing band of veterans. The 66- year-old has been slapped with several titles over his many years in the business.

He was a bluesy-rock star at the helm of several Steve Miller band tracks at the beginning of his career in the late 60s.

Breaking out on his own at the end of that decade, he slipped into a more blue-eyed soul role, with help from famed backing band, Muscle Shoals Rhythm, which included the late, great guitarist Duane Allman.

Scaggs has played gently with disco vibes, prominently with jazz (though he reportedly humbly declines the label of jazz singer) and comfortably with R and B.

While his rapidly expanding catalogue received much critical acclaim, it wasn’t until 1976’s Silk Degrees — boasting hits like Lowdown and Lido Shuffle (which features the well-known “Whoa –oh-oh-oh” refrain that anyone born before 1990 will probably recognize) — that he really became a star.

Spawning

After spawning a pair of hits – Jojo and Breakdown Dead Ahead — from the 1980 album Middle Man, Scaggs traded in the music spotlight to run San Francisco bar, Slim’s. He released just one other album that decade, but reappeared throughout the 90s with new discs and a greatest hits.

His most recent effort, 2008’s Speak Low, rips pages from the American Songbook, and features a collection of breezy standards.

His Edmonton show featured a range of it all, including a thrilling cover of Bonnie Raitt’s Something to Talk About.

Earlier, opener David Jacobs-Strain was introduced as the kind of act you might see while slugging back a pint at Slim’s.

Wearing a ball cap, jeans and leather jacket with a fresh, young face, he was clearly born long after Scaggs first emerged on the scene.

No matter.

His incendiary guitars skills — picking, sliding, all out wailing on his poor, ol’ acoustic — elicited appreciative, sincere, hoots from the crowd.

In his younger days, he explained he caught flak for playing “age inappropriate tunes” before launching, appropriately, into a Robert Johnson song, You Better Come into my Kitchen Baby.

His bluesy growl, fiery passion and self-labelled geekabilly sound filled up the entire auditorium, making it clear why Scaggs (presumably) picked him.

Scaggs’s excellent taste is not surprising. With a career nearly twice as old as this reviewer, Scaggs has had a good long while to develop an ear for the next big thing.