SANTA BARBARA BOWL
Anticipated to be one of the grooviest rock shows of the 2016 Santa Barbara Bowl season, Austin-based guitar hero Gary Clark Jr. delivered on that promise and more, bringing his smooth vocals and electric energy to a beautiful Friday night on the hill.
Before Clark hit the stage, Shakey Graves, a fellow Austinite, warmed up the crowd with his own blues/folk/rock style. Born Alejandro Rose-Garcia, Shakey Graves has a loyal following; the guitar-wielding singer left the stage to fans pleading for an encore. It’s a rare request for an opening act that proves he’s got just what it takes to come back as a headliner.
“You’re gonna know my name by the end of the night.”
Gary Clark Jr. opened the show with the title track from his 2011 EP Bright Lights. It was the perfect song choice to introduce this singer/songwriter to the Santa Barbara crowd. Expecting a rock star frontman, some were surprised to see Clark act as anything but on Friday night. In fact, the climactic moment we were all waiting for—when Clark breaks out of the shadows and without missing a beat glides into the spotlight—never came. Instead, Clark spent the majority of the show hidden under his iconic hat and dim lights, allowing the music—and not the man—to take center stage.
A well-rounded musician known for effortlessly fusing together blues, jazz, soul, and hip hop, Clark kept the groove going with his ‘50s-esque rock-and-roll tune “Travis County,” followed by “Next Door Neighbor Blues,” a song deeply rooted in the traditional rhythm-and-blues style he grew up listening to.
His music might only now be garnering the worldwide attention it deserves, but GCJ isn’t new to the music scene. Picking up a guitar at the young age of 12, the Grammy Award-winning artist got his start in the Live Music Capital of the World mentored by some of the biggest names in the business, including Jimmie Vaughan and Hubert Sumlin.He has collaborated with the likes of Sheryl Crow, Alicia Keys, and Dave Matthews Band; his songs have appeared on a number of TV shows and video game soundtracks; his album Blak and Blu (2012) won Album of the Year at the Austin Music Awards; he has spent the last few years prominently playing the festival circuit including Coachella, Bonnaroo, Glastonbury, Lollapalooza, and Eric Clapton’s Crossroads Guitar Festival; and he has opened for such greats as the Foo Fighters and the Rolling Stones.
During his shows, Clark typically pays homage to those musicians who inspired him in his career. For the first cover of the evening he opted to play a rendition of “If Trouble Was Money,” the electrifying blues jam by Albert Collins, before switching gears to “Cold Blooded,” a jazzy track off his latest album The Story of Sonny Boy Slim (2015).
“I’ll give you my heart and soul. What more could you want?”
For the first time since taking the stage, Clark took a second to address the crowd, asking “Santa Barbara, how we doin’?” The audience responded with a deafening cheer, and that was all he needed to get back down to business. The next three songs—”Ain’t Messin’ ‘Round,” “Don’t Owe You a Thang,” and “When My Train Pulls In”—was a one-two-three punch from his first two albums, crescendoing with an epic guitar solo and a standing ovation.
Taking it down a few levels, Clark serenaded the crowd with “Our Love” and “You Saved Me,” a couple of sexier slow jams that tugged at the strings of every beating heart in the house.
“Don’t stop, baby keep on moving
Please don’t stop, baby keep on grooving.”
Little time was spent on pleasantries, with the occasional check-in to make sure the crowd was still feelin’ him. And boy, were they—Clark invited the entire Santa Barbara Bowl to move and groove their bodies to “Shake” before introducing his bandmates (Johnny Bradley on bass, King Zapata on rhythm guitar, and Johnny Radelat on drums) and taking a quick break off-stage.
Allowing a few minutes for the crowd to chant “Gary! Gary!”, Clark returned with a harmonica and Radelat on drums to perform the beautiful and soulful “Church.” Then the full band rejoined them for a packed encore of new songs from his latest album including “Grinder,” “Down to Ride,” and “The Healing.”
“This music is my healing
This music is my healing
Lord knows I need some healing
’cause this world upsets me,
This music sets me free, yeah…”
Clark closed out his set with two more inspired covers: “My Baby’s Gone” by B.B. King and Elmore James’ “Dust My Broom.” We were getting an education in the blues—a style of music that laid the foundation for almost every popular style that followed, including rock, jazz, country, and hip hop—and no one in the venue wanted the lesson to end.
At only 32 years old, Clark is often compared to legends like Jimmie Vaughan, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Smokey Robinson, The Black Keys, and even early Bruce Springsteen. And while he’s definitely worthy of the comparisons, Clark proves he is in a league of his own. His eclectic style has set him up to ascend to the top of many different music charts in his lifetime, and his electrifying performance—and unassuming stage presence—ensures that everyone will know his name.
Rachel Jefferson is a writer for a Santa Barbara-based software company and an avid concertgoer.
Check out all the show photos by Santa Barbara Bowl House Photographer, A Art Fisher, on our photo library.
