Concert Review 6/19/18

So I took a little trip out “west” (aka Maine to Pennsylvania) because a good friend from high school got tickets to see Boz Scaggs! Talk about a blast from the past; I hadn’t seen Mr. Scaggs since I was a kid! I was probably 12 years old when I saw him at the Schaefer Music Festival Concert Series in Central Park around 1972 but I have listened to his music for years. His 1976 album, Silk Degrees, was a staple on my Dad’s turntable. It was an album that all of my family loves to listen to even today.

I am really enjoying seeing all of these septuagenarian artists in small venues. It is so much more personal and intimate that any stadium show. I saw him play in a beautiful, historic old theatre in York, PA called the Strand Performing Arts Center.  The acoustics were incredible. He opened the show with “Jojo” from his 1980 album titled Middle Man. His voice was clear and strong – he sounded just as he had 40 years ago. He continued with some less known songs from various albums such as “Drowning In the Sea of Love” , Gone Baby Gone”, “Last Tango on 16^th Street” and ” The Feeling is Gone”. The tunes were bluesy and soulful and showed off his skill as a vocalist and guitarist. Then he cranked out “It’s Over” from his Silk Degrees album and the audience chimed in enthusiastically. He performed some new material with “Rock and Stick” which I was very excited to hear knowing that he is still making new music.

He kept things going with his Silk Degrees hits with “Harbor Lights” and “Georgia” adding “Cadillac Walk” (a Moon Martin cover) and his slow ballad hit “Look What You’ve Done to Me”.

Silk Degrees was certainly his most popular album and he indulged the crowd with more hits like “Low Down” and “Lido Shuffle” which got the crowd clapping and singing along. His first encore had the crowd up and dancing to “What Can I Say” and “Somebody Loan Me a Dime”.

He clearly did not want to stop playing and was touched by the standing ovation from the crowd because he said “I gotta play you another one!” which drew even louder applause. He ended the 2 ½ + hour concert with “You Never Can Tell” (a Chuck Berry cover) that no one wanted to end. All in all it was a great concert that I would repeat ANY time!

If Boz is coming through your neck of the woods, definitely check him out! You’ll be glad you     did J.