Saturday evening was a lot of fun. We went to B.B. King Blues Club to see Southside Johnny and The Asbury Jukes perform. The venue is only three blocks away from our hotel on the western edge of Times Square and all its hubbub. It was a great show if just a tad loud. It is set up with cabaret seating and really not a bad seat in the house. The room is very attractively decorated. You can tell it is not vintage but it still has an old and warm feel of a clubroom from years ago that you see in movies from the 30s and 40s.
You get there two hours before showtime and you get your pick of seats, no need to tip anyone for preferential seats. No hustling. They have a full dinner menu with prices that are midrange by even non-New York standards. They really have a nice system and they have it down.
Johnny had a full band, just like you see in this video. Four piece horn section in addition to the usual band setup. They did just about any Jukes song that readily came to mind and a few later ones that weren't as familiar and a rousing version of Stagger Lee. You could tell that Johnny was the band leader as the members were watching his every move for cues of what he wanted to do next. Not a fixed set list here. Four encores, mostly of two songs plus, indicated that Southside meant it when he sang, "and I don't want to go home".
I have always thought SSJ rode the coattails of Springsteen but now I wonder if Bruce didn't "borrow" more from Southside than just his guitarist. They have three more dates there this year..... June 5, Sept. 25 & Nov. 20.
You get there two hours before showtime and you get your pick of seats, no need to tip anyone for preferential seats. No hustling. They have a full dinner menu with prices that are midrange by even non-New York standards. They really have a nice system and they have it down.
Johnny had a full band, just like you see in this video. Four piece horn section in addition to the usual band setup. They did just about any Jukes song that readily came to mind and a few later ones that weren't as familiar and a rousing version of Stagger Lee. You could tell that Johnny was the band leader as the members were watching his every move for cues of what he wanted to do next. Not a fixed set list here. Four encores, mostly of two songs plus, indicated that Southside meant it when he sang, "and I don't want to go home".
I have always thought SSJ rode the coattails of Springsteen but now I wonder if Bruce didn't "borrow" more from Southside than just his guitarist. They have three more dates there this year..... June 5, Sept. 25 & Nov. 20.
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