August 30, 2009
JIMMY THACKERY electrifies at 2nd Story Blues
By Dave Howell Special to The Morning Call
Thank God the lights came back on!
It looked like a power outage in Southside Bethlehem might cancel the Jimmy Thackery and the Drivers concert at 2nd Story Blues. Luckily the electricity came back on, and the band instantly began its 3-hour show. If the band could have been hooked up to the power supply, it could have provided enough energy to light up the whole city.
2nd Story blues is noisy, as blues clubs tend to be. But when Thackery played, there was little movement or talking. His effortless guitar work mesmerized the audience of about 150 with nearly every style of American music.
Thackery is known as a bluesman, but blues was only a small part of his varied show. He included country, surf, swing, rock and roll, jazz, Tex-Mex, rock, and even a piece that could have been the theme to a spaghetti Western film.
There is no doubt these guys enjoy themselves. Mark "Bumpy Rhodes" Bumgarner was constantly in motion on bass, pointing to the sky or otherwise reacting to the music. Russ Wilson took more vocals than Thackery, standing out with his soaring take on the ballad "Please Accept My Love". The pleasantly hammy Wilson took a long drum solo in the second set, leaving his seat to play the front of the bass drum and the mike stand, and then moved into the crowd to rapidly tap on glasses, tables, and anything else with reach, even standing on a chair to use the steel rafters for percussion.
The first set was largely dedicated to a wide variety of lengthy instrumentals. Thackery took time to make these tunes dramatic with a variety of understated guitar effects, and changing the dynamics and speed of his fretwork. There was just a bit of singing on "It's My Own Fault," which featured his lightning blues riffs.
The second set had more vocals, featuring songs Thackery wrote from his latest CD, "Inside Tracks". There were also Chuck Berry songs and a tribute to Jimi Hendrix with "The Star Spangled Banner" and "Red House" that even included a bit of feedback.
There is no doubt these guys enjoy themselves. Mark "Bumpy Rhodes" Bumgarner was constantly in motion on bass, pointing to the sky or otherwise reacting to the music. Russ Wilson took more vocals than Thackery, standing out with his soaring take on the ballad "Please Accept My Love". The pleasantly hammy Wilson took a long drum solo in the second set, leaving his seat to play the front of the bass drum and the mike stand, and then moved into the crowd to rapidly tap on glasses, tables, and anything else with reach, even standing on a chair to use the steel rafters for percussion. The first set was largely dedicated to a wide variety of lengthy instrumentals. Thackery took time to make these tunes dramatic with a variety of understated guitar effects, and changing the dynamics and speed of his fretwork. There was just a bit of singing on "It's My Own Fault," which featured his lightning blues riffs.
The second set had more vocals, featuring songs Thackery wrote from his latest CD, "Inside Tracks". There were also Chuck Berry songs and a tribute to Jimi Hendrix with "The Star Spangled Banner" and "Red House" that even included a bit of feedback.
Thackery has been in the Lehigh Valley often, but this was the first time in many years. Hopefully he'll be back soon.