A happy crowd had poured into the Trump Marina Casino to see inimitable blues guitarist Jonny Lang. Everybody was ready to cut loose on this steamy Friday summer night.
So when quirky opener Reeve Carney appeared onstage with no fanfare and began to burn up the stage with his electric guitar in the most oddly straightforward manner, everyone was with him. So ready that they didn't even mind his subject matter. Hidden in the all the screaming wailing bluesy riffs were straight-up spiritual lyrics, passionate in-your-face faith. And the crowd was still open for more of the same when Jonny Lang stepped out forty minutes later.
From the first fiery chords of "Long Time Coming," the crowd was awestruck by Lang's electrifying performance. He pours himself into every lick, his agony/ecstasy visible in the contortions of his body and face. Lang is as startling visually as he is audibly, and that is a lot, believe me. But it is that furious sound that curls your toes, those note-bending licks of sheer exuberance, veering from blues to rock with the occasional jazz reference in the speed of light. His smoldering guitar solos on the opener and his next tune, the title track from his upcoming "Turn Around" CD (See Suite review here), were breath-takingly amazing. And I mean that literally; you don't realize you've been holding your breath until he lets up momentarily, just for a second, mind you, and you catch your breath. Oh yeah, I'm supposed to take air in.
Lang sizzled his way through old crowd-pleasers and soon-to-become favorites, including, among others, "Wander This World," the upbeat "Change the World" from the new CD, "Quitter Never Wins," "Red Light," "Give Me Up Again," "Livin' For the City," and again from the new one, "Thankful." And we ate 'em up, every song, and licked our chops clean, because there ain't nobody playing guitar like Jonny Lang, plain and simple. It's exhilarating to watch the Lord work in unexpected venues, cutting through every genre of music, and every expectation, to put His message out there to everyone who has ears. And it's all the more thrilling to watch it pour forth out of music of this exalted caliber. If you get any chance to catch Jonny Lang, jump a bus, fly a plane, or crawl on your knees if you must. But get there. And don't forget to breath.
