LIVE: BLACKBERRY SMOKE wsg NICK PERRI & THE UNDERGROUND THIEVES – February 27, 2021

Venue: Jannus Live

City: St. Petersburg, FL

Date: February 27, 2021

Review and Photographs by: Todd “Toddstar” Jolicoeur (www.toddstarphotography.com)

Photo credit: Todd Jolicoeur – Toddstar Photo

Live music was alive and well in St Petersburg, FL on a warm Saturday evening.  Nick Perri & The Underground Thieves kicked off the final show of a short run supporting Blackberry Smoke at Jannus Live.  Nick was flanked tonight by The Underground Thieves rhythm section of bassist and longtime bandmate Brian Weaver and drummer Zil Fessler.  The show was in support of the band’s latest effort, the 2020 release Sun Via.  Armed with a setlist of great rockers from the disc, the trio took charge right away and won the crowd over quickly with the opening one-two punch of “Let You Know” and my personal favorite from the collection “Feeling Good.”  The crowd was drawn in instantly thanks to the contagious vibe of the songs and overall rocking fun vibe of the tracks.  Perri did what he always does — played the hell out of his guitars and left everything he had on the stage.  The guy has energy for days and seems to expel every bit of it on stage.  If you have seen him perform live before with other bands, you know exactly what I mean, except this time he bares all and his vocals emotionally delivered the lyrics with precision.  “I Want You” had a slightly different feel to it in a live scenario, but the bass of Weaver was exactly what each arrangement called for.  He played with purpose while keeping everything simple to compliment the stripped back vibe of the trio setting.  With each track the band worked through tonight, you could see more and more of the crowd getting into the show and doing their best to sing along.  After a medley of “Everybody Wants One” and “Sunshine Of Your Love,” another cool track from the disc landed in the set when “Excess” was played.  The guitars were pristine and Perri’s vocals we spot on, but the timekeeping of Fessler helped guide this track through the musical curves and composition.  After a cool cover of Neil Young’s “My My Hey Hey,” the crowd was treated to a brand-new track to close out the show, ”Morning Light,” that was as good as any played tonight.

Photo credit: Todd Jolicoeur – Toddstar Photo

After a swift stage change, the members of Blackberry Smoke took their places on the stage to the cheers of the capacity crowd (as restricted by local authorities due to the pandemic).  Front man Charlie Starr took control of the show quickly as the band launched their portion of the evening with “Payback’s a Bitch,” setting the bar for their set high.  The crowd was into the set form the first note and enjoyed their rock Southern fried this evening.  Songs like “Six Ways to Sunday” and “Like I Am” benefitted from a triple guitar attack from Starr and Paul Jackson as well as a third supporting six-string on stage.  The band knew what the crowd was looking for and they delivered song after song, with the energy flowing from the stage to the audience and back again.  Another fan favorite “Good One Comin’ On” hit the setlist and the cadence and overall groove of the track was perfectly anchored by drummer Brit Turner, bassist Richard Turner, and keyboardist Brandon Still.  A song that struck me and stuck with me the next day is “Rock and Roll Again.”  The contagious groove and the lyrics that hit home help the track crawl into your head.  The swirl of guitars, vocal, and rhythm section add punch to the track and make this a fun one for the band and crowd when played live.  Later in the set new track “You Hear Georgia” was a nice addition to the evening, giving the fans a taste of new material coming out late May.  There were other high points in the show sonically, like the harmonies that dance across songs like “Pretty Little Lie” and the Countrified Blues riffs in “Ain’t Got The Blues” and “The Whippoorwill.”  It is obvious as the songs transition, there is purpose in the song selections to keep not only the fans happy, but to keep it fun for the guys on stage. Rolling through their set, they closed out the night with a cool rendition of “Hey Delilah” that was chock full of slide guitar, plenty of guitar riffs, keyboards, and percussion aplenty, and solid bottom end.  The song built slowly until the vocals kicked in and all the parts came together, and they finished with “Ain’t Much Left of Me.”  This was a cool night of rock and roll, from the straight at you variety to Southern Rock that swirled equal parts rock, blues, country, and fun.

Blackberry Smoke Setlist: Payback’s a Bitch – Six Ways to Sunday – Like I Am – Good One Comin’ On – Rock and Roll Again – Waiting for the Thunder – Pretty Little Lie – Believe You Me – Medicate My Mind – Sleeping Dogs / You Don’t Know How It Feels / Sleeping Dogs – Ain’t Gonna Wait – Rollin and Tumblin/Sanctified Woman – The Whippoorwill – Ain’t Got The Blues – Run Away From It All – One Horse Town – You Hear Georgia – I’ll Keep Ramblin’ – Hey Delilah – Ain’t Much Left of Me / Three Little Birds / Ain’t Much Left of Me

Nick Perri & The Underground Thieves Setlist: Let You Know – Feeling Good – I Want You – Everybody Wants One / Sunshine Of Your Love – Excess – My My Hey Hey – Morning Light

[Show as slideshow]

FULL SET OF BLACKBERRY SMOKE SHOW PHOTOS HERE

BLACKBERRY SMOKE LINKS:

OFFICIAL SITE

FACEBOOK

TWITTER

[Show as slideshow]

FULL SET OF NICK PERRI & THE UNDERGROUND THEIVES SHOW PHOTOS HERE

NICK PERRI & THE UNDERGROUND THIEVES LINKS:

OFFICIAL SITE

FACEBOOK

TWITTER

Category: Live Reviews