I just got back from seeing Susan Tedeschi and Buddy Guy at Wolf Trap in Vienna, VA. I couldn’t find anyone else that wanted to go so I dropped $75 and got a 3d row seat right in the middle of the orchestra pit. The seating was not comfortable…think unfixed metal chair with thin cushion and no arms. I had two overweight people on the left of me and an asshole on the right of me. I never could sit all the way back in my seat because I couldn’t scrunch my shoulders together enough.
However, and this is a big however, I have never been that close at a concert and it was well worth it. I wish I had ignored the “No Photos” rule because everyone else seemed to including the ushers. Buddy Guy was all in the crowd playing his guitar and the cameras were flashing left and right. I could have brought my Nikon D60, used no flash, and got some awesome pictures from the 10 feet I was away from the stage. Oh well.
Susan Tedeschi, who isn’t a big name by any stretch but could be, was awesome. She writes some very good songs. The version of the title song from here 2008 album “Back to the River” was stunning. She is married to Derek Trucks (nephew of Butch Trucks of Allman Brothers’ fame) and she appears to picking up a quite a tips on lumbering from him. She was working that axe!
Buddy Guy was a different story. He got up there and started wailing on his guitar and put Susan to shame. But his act was all a show. He is such a powerful guitarist I justed wanted to hear him crank out the jams for his set. As it was, we got about an hour and 15 minutes of his “show” which featured way too much audience participation.
As I mentioned, he did go up into the crowd which is apparently a signature thing for him. He also did some partial covers or imitations of the likes of Marvin Gaye, John Lee Hooker, and Ray Charlies. He somewhat redeemed himself by bringing Susan out on stage for an impromptu duet of “Feels Like Rain.” Buddy put on good show and was entertaining, but I would have preferred he spent his time picking and grinning!