As blues chronology goes, it may not have been all that long ago that Jonny Lang was hailed as a teen wunderkind. But his 1997 breakthrough album, Lie To Me, was released about as many years ago as Lang was old when it came out. Lang’s performance Saturday night at Potawatomi Hotel & Casino’s Northern Lights Theater evidenced that the singing guitarist possesses at least as much hunger and fire in him nowadays as he did when he astounded people with his mature vocalizing and playing as a teenager.
He and his four bandmates bounded on stage with an opening brace of shorter numbers mostly from his 2013 effort Fight For My Soul before turning to the title track of his preceding studio project from seven years earlier, Turn Around. The song reflective of his 2000 Christian conversion was turned intro a three-part suite of its original bluesy rock, a funk interlude and a more expansive sort of jamming that was turned back around to a rocking vibe. The rest of the nearly two-hour show followed from there into generally longer pieces.
The breadth Lang allowed himself and his ensemble worked mostly to the advantage of their material. Occasionally, it sounded as if all that room he and his players allowed themselves became a place where they may have nearly gotten lost, such as a fervid take on Stevie Wonder’s “Living For The City.” Even then, Lang’s dueling solos with keyboardist Dwan Hill and rhythm/second lead guitarist Zane Carney proved compelling showcases for their respective virtuosity. The loud, dirty tone of Lang’s axe on many of his solos likewise commanded attention and provided contrast to his impassioned tenor singing, sometimes stretched to an almost angelic falsetto.
News of B.B. King’s passing the day before prompted Lang to dedicate the evening’s show to his late stylistic forebear. He joked that every concert he ever plays should be dedicated to King. Instead of drawing from the late star’s own voluminous catalog to pay tribute, Lang offered his own redemption song, “That Great Day,” to pay tribute. Fittingly, Lang went for a cleaner instrumental sound, less laden with feedback for this solemn ode.
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Elsewhere, the seemingly cathartic intensity Lang brought to his playing, amplified by facial expressions apparently evidencing the depths of the wellspring of feeling from which he draws, elicited standing ovations from some throughout the evening. One of his heartiest rounds of applause, however, was reserved for his encore. A rendition of his first big radio hit, “Lie To Me,” led off with Lang going solo on acoustic guitar before being joined by the rest of his band.
The camaraderie the players showed on stage and the enthusiastic appreciation of a nearly packed house for a night of blues culminated in a well-deserved bow from Lang and his accompanists before the bandleader offered a benediction to his appreciative throng.
