By Pete Mauch //
B.B. King with Tedeschi Trucks Band //
Hollywood Bowl – Los Angeles
September 5th, 2012 //
Walking into the Hollywood Bowl armed with two bottles of wine, a six pack of beer, dinner and your lady by your side is guaranteed a good time. Now Throw in one of the all time great Blues guitarists, B.B. King, and powerhouse Jazz and Blues Rockers Tedeschi Trucks Band and a great night out on a Wednesday evening in Hollywood, California seems inevitable.
As we ventured to our seats we were greeted with a beautiful cover of “The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down” originally from The Band. I really enjoyed the Tedeschi Trucks take on the song, especially Derek Trucks’ blistering lead solo after the final verse. The highlight of the set for me was the powerful cover of George Harrisons “Wah-Wah.” This was where Susan Tedeschi’s voice truly shined and was complimented well with Trucks’ finger picking greatness. You can tell that Susan Tedeschi and Derek Trucks are husband and wife – they seem so relaxed on stage and I truly believe it lets the music play itself. I highly recommend the Tedeschi Trucks Band to all music lovers.
B.B King’s set started off with his band jamming and switching off leads for a solid fifteen minutes, and it got the crowd roaring with anticipation. When B.B. finally took the stage, the 86 year old man was cracking jokes with the crowd and his band before they finally dove into some classic blues standards. It is really hard for me to write anything bad about B.B. King, but I must say it felt like he and his band were just trading off solos and not really playing full songs. The only true song that i remember him doing was “The Thrill is Gone,” and it was impeccable. I find myself asking why they didn’t play more songs, and for that I was left a little unsatisfied with B.B Kings set.
The highlight for a lot of the crowd was the last song when Trucks, Tedeschi, and John Mayer joined B.B. for yet another solo oriented jam that had no real meat to it, except for Derek Trucks solo which was truly face melting. I witnessed two of America’s greatest guitarists jam together, and for that I am grateful. B.B. King is a true American legend, and Derek Trucks is following in B.B’s footsteps. He began as guitar prodigy coming up with the Allman Brothers, and he is clearly one of the greatest guitarists. I look forward to following his career for a very long time.
BB, Trucks, and Mayer on the same stage? Every woman in the audience must have spontaneously combusted