Robert Cray

April 3, 2010 @ House of Blues

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Shemekia Copeland

April 3, 2010 @ House of Blues

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By Dave Miller

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This was no ordinary night of music at the House of Blues Saturday night in Chicago. WXRT's Tom Marker kicked off the evening by introducing it as a "blues event." Those smart enough to be in the room were treated to a 2-for-1 special with Shemekia Copeland and Robert Cray on the same bill. Each has been known to sidestep the expectations of blues traditionalists to take the genre to new places. It was a show not to be missed for those in the know.

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Somebody had to go first and the younger Copeland was the one who did, though she's certainly a headliner in her own right. In fact, the 30-year-old daughter of the late bluesman Johnny Copeland doesn't have to take a backseat to anyone when it comes to today's blues singers. I'll go one step further. Copeland performs like a blues legend right now. All she needs is time for more people to see her to gain such acclaim on a widespread level. Time, and talent, are on her side. Catch her when you can. Years from now you'll brag about it.

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Copeland's opening set clocked in at just under an hour, but that was plenty of time for her voice, stage presence and confidence to shine. Unlike many of the divas in the pop world, Copeland knows she doesn't have to put her powerful voice through vocal gymnastics worthy of a Cirque du Soleil routine to make her point. Less can be more, and Copeland has a lot of more. She's the opposite of a diva act onstage, too. She's humble, funny and self-effacing, though you'd never think for a second that she's anything but a strong woman. She performs in the moment, and played an audience request of "Born a Penny," one of five songs she performed from her latest album, the terrific Never Going Back.

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Of course, Copeland played "Never Going Back to Memphis," which the album title references. But she didn't play her first hit, "It's 2 A.M." It was listed as the closer on the setlist, but she didn't get to it because she called another audible - "Has Anybody Seen My Man?" - as a dedication to the late Koko Taylor. The best example of Copeland showing her independance in the blues world was "Dirty Water," a cover written by alt-country cult heroes Buddy and Julie Miller. It's on her latest album and was one of the highlights, along with the ballad "Salt in My Wounds," of her too-short set.

Cray demonstrated once again that's he's no strict blues traditionalist, either. He wore sandals, dark pants and a breezy, white short-sleeved shirt, looking the part of a vacationer lounging around a cabana instead of a bluesman going down to the Crossroads. But the coolness Cray exudes can be deceiving. He worked up a sweat playing his gold and sunburst Fender Stratocasters in front of three amplifiers, two Matchless and a Fender. Unlike some flamboyant guitar heroes, Cray eschews theatric showiness for economical and clean, piercing notes with no special-effects pedals, which tend to make his solos sound fresh and contemporary.

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While Cray is a smooth player, he gets the blues dirty by digging deep with his soulful voice and pointed songwriting. Cray sang of a cheating husband getting his in "Poor Johnny":

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Poor Johnny,
He came home looking cool one day,
just wasn't lucky to come out that way
once from the left...then from the right
they took him down, late that night

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Once the new kid on the blues block when he enjoyed breakthrough success with his Strong Persuader album in 1986, Cray, 56, is steadily moving toward becoming one of the music's elder statesmen. He's released 11 studio albums since Strong Persuader, but apparently he hasn't lost any zest for that one. He played the title track along with the lead cut from the album, "Smoking Gun," which closed the main set and featured his best guitar work of the night. He ripped off notes and then dug in, playing the song like it was written yesterday.

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A lubricated, rowdy fan called out all night, it turned out in vain, for "Twenty." Perhaps Cray thinks he's made his point with the song and it's time to move on, but it's too bad he didn't honor the request as it's one of Cray's biggest songwriting achievements. Released as the title track of his 2005 album, "Twenty" features a soldier questioning the desert war he's fighting in before his mom receives a knock at the door. He played it at Eric Clapton's Crossroads Guitar Festival in 2007, and it was one of the highlights of the show. It made Cray stand out as a bluesman of the present.

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A reflection on Cray was the quality of his band. His longtime bassist, Richard Cousins, keyboardist and area native Jim Pugh, and drummer Tony Braunagel were with him every step of the way, and followed their frontman's lead by playing tasty flourishes. The same can be said of Copeland's band led by guitarist Arthur Neilson and held down by bassist Kevin Jenkins. Together, Cray and Copeland showed the blues is in good hands wherever they want to take it.
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Shemekia Copeland's setlist:

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Sounds Like The Devil
Dirty Water
Givin' Up You
Salt In My Wounds
Big Lovin' Woman
Never Going Back to Memphis
Who Stole My Radio?
Born A Penny
Has Anybody Seen My Man?
Big Brand New Religion

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Start: 8:31 p.m./Finish: 9:26 p.m.
Totals: 10 songs, 55 minutes

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Robert Cray's setlist:

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instrumental intro

Our Last Time

Anytime

Leave Well Enough Alone

Poor Johnny

Phone Booth

Don't You Even Care

Right Next Door (Because of Me)

Chicken in the Kitchen

Sitting on Top of the World

I Can't Fail

One in the Middle

Smoking Gun

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Lotta Lovin'

Time Makes Two

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Start: 10:00 p.m./Finish: 11:34 p.m.

Totals: 15 songs, 1 hour and 34 minutes

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