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CONCERT: The Joanna Connor Band
The Triple Door, Seattle, WA, January 26, 2005
Reviewed by Eric Steiner
The Joanna Connor Band tore through two hours of high-energy electric slide-fueled blues with some psychedelia and space-age jams thrown in for good measure at Seattle's Triple Door nightclub.
It was no ordinary night for the blues, though. Joanna Connor is certainly no ordinary blueswoman. She's a guitar explosion, and over the course of her two-hour set, Joanna's playing reminded more of Robin Trower or Jimi Hendrix rather than the quieter blues of Robert Cray or Kenny Neal.
After Joanna shredded through an impassioned "Got to Have You" (from her excellent 1998 Blind Pig release, Slide Time) and a high-energy rave-up of the more traditional "Walking Blues," she settled down for a bit with a softer version of Paul McCartney's "Blackbird." Her latest CD on MC Records, simply titled Joanna Connor, was well-represented with a fired-up version of "Fever." Joanna's touring band featured JR Fuller on bass and Lance Lewis on the drums, and they worked through each song and turned up the energy level throughout the set. A Joanna Connor live performance is a blast of blues that sometimes crosses the line to the heaviest metal I've ever heard. Many of Joanna's songs feature extended jams between each member of the band, and each extended exploration gives Joanna an opportunity to do some on-the-fly arrangements in real time with JR and Lance.
Her dangling earrings and red bandanna reminded me of Little Steven in the late 1970's when the Bruce Springsteen guitarist released Little Steven and the Disciples of Soul, long before he put on a dress suit for his role in The Sopranos. I immediately thought of Little Steven's Gypsy outfit when she sang "You're Going With Me" from her aptly-titled 1995 Ruf Records release, Rock and Roll Gypsy. When Joanna leaned back and played, her dangling earrings and silver slide would reflect toward stage right, and when she found the right grooves, she closed her eyes and smiled a sweet and beatific smile (beneath the thunder of her hard-charging, take no prisoners attack on the slide guitar).
Joanna Connor closed the evening with a history lesson from her 1996 release on Blind Pig, Big Girl Blues. "43rd Street" tells the story of the Checkerboard Lounge, a room that is sadly shuttered in Chicago's historic Bronzeville neighborhood. Back in the day (read: 70's), Buddy Guy and Muddy Waters managed the club that attracted blues artists on pilgrimages around the world, such as the Rolling Stones. Joanna tells the Checkerboard's storied and bumpy history in "43rd Street," and if the doors of the Checkerboard should ever open up again, I hope that she'll be among the first to play in homage to the blues greats that have played there.
© 2005 - Eric Steiner