Jimi Hendrix, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Lynrd Skynrd move over, your heir-apparent is here!
The Kenny Wayne Shepherd Band brought their blistering blues style to Lockport this week and warmed up an already hot summer night crowd.
I stayed up front close to the stage for this one. I couldn’t have moved if I wanted to, there were so many music fans packed in front of the stage to see the self-taught, Louisiana guitar prodigy Kenny Wayne Shepherd.
Front man, Noah Hunt, sang and got the crowd into it and the rest of the band was top-notch too, but the highlight was guitarist Shepherd. They put on a show that would have been huge in any of the area venues right here in Lockport. I couldn’t judge the crowd pinned to the front of the stage area, but I must have been the biggest so far.
See all the photos from last night.
The openers didn’t disappoint either.
Opening act, The Brotherhood, kicked things off with their solid sound. Somewhere between a blues-influenced country sound and Dave Matthews-style jam-pop, they were the sleeper act of the night. I hadn’t heard of them until this concert series was announced, but they are off and running in high gear with a song of theirs, Shift, being picked up by ESPN for a NASCAR commercial! If you missed their show at the Canal Concert, get out to see them. They’ve got a few local shows coming up starting with on next week after the Canal Concert at Gonzo’s. Catch them now, they’ll be playing bigger scenes soon!
In the middle slot, was another Lockport band, Wanted By The FBI. This journeyman band has been around a while, but has kept getting better. I hadn’t seen them in a couple years and was impressed. A solid blues group with great original lyrics, they put on a show worthy of opening for a name act. A regular name on the local blues band scene, you can see them if you missed last night at Attitudes on August 8th.
I think this was the season’s best show so far, not that there aren’t more great ones coming up. Finally, we got a headliner that is on the upward slope of their career, not in the cash-in-on-the-name oldies tour. The openers not only showed up, but their style fit in with the headline act, making it a stellar show for the fans.
