I saw The Robert Cray band for the first time Wednesday night at The State Theater in Kalamazoo Michigan. To be honest, I have never explored Cray’s music much in the past. I knew his hits, but that was about it. A friend of mine talked me into going to the show and I am glad I did. The venue holds 1500 and I would say it was probably about 75% full. Cray’s style of blues rock is molded in a layer of soul. Cray’s guitar work is never flashy, but the dude can play. At several points in Wednesday’s show, Cray brought his guitar down to a whisper, so low that you could hear a pin drop in the room. He could also wail when he wanted to, but those solos were less emphasized over the course of the show. Cray is in his late 60’s and his velvety voice has held up quite well. He can still sing as well as ever and sounded great. Cray’s band were all top notch with keyboards, bass and drums filling out his sound. My only complaint was that the show was a bit on the short side. He played a little over an hour before leaving the stage and coming back for a 2-song encore. In all the show was less than 90 minutes and I think he could have stretched it out a bit. Cray’s setlist was all over the place, but he avoided playing some of his hits other than “Right Next Door (Because Of Me)”. His biggest hit “Smoking Gun” was not played. Overall, I was very glad that I went to this show and enjoyed it a lot. Here is the set list:
PHONE BOOTH
POOR JOHNNY
YOU CAN’T MAKE ME CHANGE
TO BE WITH YOU
I DON’T CARE
HOT
THE THINGS YOU DO TO ME
GREAT BIG OLD HOUSE
I SHIVER
FIX THIS
I CAN’T FALL
RIGHT NEXT DOOR (BECAUSE OF ME)
THE FORECAST CALLS FOR PAIN
ENCORE:
ANYHING YOU WANT
TIME MAKES TWO
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