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Gary Clark Jr brings the Hyperwave to Detroit. 2024.
Hot off the release of his latest record, “JPEG RAW” Austin’s Golden God, Gary Clark Jr rolled into town with his band of monster musicians and gave Detroit a two hour clinic of soul scorching, six string sorcery.
This was the third time I’ve been privileged to catch Gary, seeing him open for Outkast in Milwaukee back in 2014, and a headlining gig of his own at The State Theater in 15/16? He is by far he of the best live acts you can catch these days. In my humble opinion he is in the Top Five Live performers of this dispensation.
The night started with fellow Texan Abraham Alexander. A guitar slinging singer songwriter that set a nice tone for the evening ahead. Taking the crowd through a calming and entertaining set of his material to brace the crowd for the storm ahead. In true blues man fashion Abraham gave plenty of anecdotes between songs. I was unfamiliar with his body of work but was quite impressed with what I heard. Alexander told us about how he met Gary, a meeting set up between mutual friend Leon Bridges. When they got together he walked into a room and Gary, Leon, Jon Batiste, and I believe George Clinton were sitting around. What I would give to be a fly on the wall for that get together. An all star lineup of Big Dick Swingers. Lord only knows what kind of magic came out of that rendezvous. I’m going to dig more into his material. His vocals and fret work were quite impressive. I ran into him after the set and was able to shake his hand and let him know what a bang up job he did. I should have moseyed to the merch table to grab his stuff, but Pabst Blue was hollering at me from behind the bar.
The band started to take their places and the house lights went down. The show opened with a sinister, extended intro to Lead track off the new album ‘Maktub’ before diving headfirst into the rollicking rager that it is. The floor was moving and the band was grooving, letting down any guards as they set the tone for the night ahead.
They when straight into ‘When my Train Pulls in’ one of the highlights of Gary’s repertoire, a mind bending jam that takes you into the soul of his guitar. I know it was a great sign what’s to come. If he’s pulling out fire like this early on, it’s going to be a perpetual heater tonight. And it certainly was.
They ran through all but two tracks off of JPEG. He’s got such an incredible band to compliment his playing. A cohesive unrelenting groove machine to bring such a big sound to his studio work. King Zapata on Rhythm guitar, JJ Johnson on the skins, Elijah Ford on the low end and the Leader of Best Damn band in the land, Kill Tony’s John Deas on the keys.
It was a twofer for me, Getting to see John Deas live was a fun fanboy treat, being a big fan of the number one live podcast in the world Kill Tony, getting to see John Deas in his element was magical. The guy knows how to work the keys.
After blistering versions of ‘Hyperwave’ ‘JPEG Raw’ and ‘This is wh we are’ they dove into the catalog for ‘The Healing’ another live classic from the “Sonny Boy Slim” record that is just a fucking delight live.
He kept the banter short between songs but expressed plenty of gratitude between tracks. More cuts from the new record, just sending myself into a trance as the music just catapults your body into a whole other realm. ‘Our Love’ and ‘Triumph’ lead into the never gets old ‘Bright Lights’ which was executed with ball dropping precision, just full on transcendent power.
After a quick break the band came back on to wrap up the show, pulling out the funky groover ‘Funk Witch U’ the only thing missing was a George Clinton cameo.
Abraham came out to play ‘Stay’ before closing the show with the album closing ‘Habits’ a journey into the toolbox of Gary’s arsenal. A killer end to a set that was a nonstop train of uplifting destruction.
You have to got to witness the magic of a Gary show for yourself. It’s without a doubt one of the best decisions you can make and will leave you with lasting unforgettable memories.
Be sure to give his catalog a deep dive if you haven’t yet. He is one of the premier power players of our time. A true artist that is full of soul and passion to create incredible art.
You can find it on Spotify. Follow him on Instagram and do not let your ears go unsullied with his magnificence any longer. You will be glad that you did.