I saw Blues Traveler at Mohegan Sun. They’re a force of nature live
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On Friday, July 31, Blues Traveler headlined at Uncasville, CT’s 10,000-seat Mohegan Sun Arena and full-on blew the roof off the sucker.
The rapturous four-hour (!) show, just one of many as part of their nationwide, summer tour with special guests Spin Doctors and Gin Blossoms , felt like a near-religious, communal experience.
Although John Popper’s group surely could coast on the goodwill they garnered in the ’90s, the ensemble refuses to phone a single note in and delivers muscly, gutsy jamming where songs bleed effortlessly into one another (reaching a euphoria-inducing fever pitch the second time they cover The Charlie Daniels Band’s “The Devil Went Down To Georgia” but more on that later) and switches genres at the drop of a hat.
Their live show — which is equal parts southern-fried, freaky, psychedelic, prog, funky, jazzy and, yes, bluesy — is not just impressive. It’s inspired.
They’re far from done, too. Popper and co. have shows all over North America scheduled from August through October this year. That includes stops at Canandaigua, NY’s Constellation Brands Performing Arts Center on Sunday, Aug. 9, New York City’s Capital One City Parks Foundation Stage on on Saturday, Aug. 15 and Hamburg, NY’s Erie County Fair on Tuesday, Aug. 18.
Should you attend, prepare for a marathon that also happens to be an alt-’90s dream come true.
Spin Doctors gets the Herculean show underway with a quick seven-song set made up of unimpeachable hits like “Two Princes” and “Little Miss Can’t Be Wrong” along with a rousing cover of Prince’s “Purple Rain” and fan favorites “Jimmy Olsen’s Blues,” “Margarita,” “Rock ‘N’ Roll Heaven” and “Still A Gorilla.”
Shortly after, Gin Blossoms takes the stage and expertly straddle the line between sensitive and powerful or folk and rock. The hurt in Robin Wilson’s voice that makes his music so powerful is still intact and helps songs like “Hands Are Tied” explode and build to a sensory overload crescendo live.
Toward the end of their performance, Wilson, 61, announced “Now, we’re gonna play the rest of the hits,” which promptly got the crowd on their feet.
Phones came out for their note perfect “Found Out About You,” which sounds just like the record except you’re hearing Wilson sing with a backing band made up of thousands of fans. It’s sweet as is the fact that Wilson’s son joined his pops onstage to shred.
Arizona’s favorite sons closed their set on a high note. For my money, “Allison Road” never hit so hard. Live, it’s epic arena rock with a call and response clap built in. Same for “Hey Jealousy” and the wall of sound-like “‘Til I Hear It From You.” Sure, the crowd drowned out the chorus but who cares? You can listen to the record 1000x and it’ll never sound like that.
Plus, let’s be real. We all came to belt our heart out and reinforce the truism that timeless music doesn’t age. It only gets better with every listen.
Finally, following a brief intermission, it was Blues Traveler time.
Let’s get one more thing out of the way.
Popper still has the buttery pipes (and the hat he’s been rocking for over 30 years now). The indefatigable frontman hits the highest notes you’ve ever heard and gives his whole soul the millionth time he’s wailed “Hook.” His passion is truly something to behold. As is his downright nasty harmonica playing. The siren is intact!
His tight yet groovy band is something else, too.
Jumping from the increasingly freaky “Things Are Looking Up” to the iconic “The Devil Went Down To Georgia” to the unbelievably catchy “Run-Around” and then back to “The Devil Went Down To Georgia” is like a sugar rush for the ears. So many tempo changes, so many surprises, so much fun.
Everything segues without a second to slow down; no breaks necessary here.
Heck, at one point, a big fella sitting next to me got up and jigged. That was the energy in the room. Blues Traveler’s twangy funk can’t help but make you move your dang feet.
Later in the set, one could make the argument that their Frampton-esque droning gives Emerson, Lake And Palmer and RUSH a run (“run-around” if you will) for their prog money and they wouldn’t be wrong.
You could also compare their feel-good classic rock “Champipple” (with Spin Doctors’ Chris Barron) to throwback Doobie Brothers .
Bringing measured jazz to the table next had me wondering “what can’t this band do?” They’d make Vince Guaraldi proud with their nimble noodling and next-level scat flow.
Closing the whole bloody affair with a bit making fun of encores and an extended cover of Tom Petty’s “Breakdown” was a cherry on top.
Wasn’t necessary, though. All my expectations had already been far exceeded.
Final verdict: We aren’t talking about Blues Traveler enough. They delivered what might be the most cohesive and musically diverse show as I’ve seen in years. Heck, I’d call it a masterclass. To reduce the group to a legacy act that had a few hits before the turn of the century is blasphemy. They just might be one of the most essential live bands around.
I’m calling it- Blues Traveler, Gin Blossoms and Spin Doctors just might have been one of the best concerts I’ve ever been to.
A complete calendar including all North American tour dates, venues, when special guests aren’t appearing and links to buy tickets can be found below.
Set List FM reported these were the songs they took to the stage on July 31 at the Mohegan Sun Arena.
02.) “The Devil Went Down to Georgia” (The Charlie Daniels Band cover)
05.) “Champipple” (John Popper & The Duskray Troubadours cover)
09.) “Breakdown” (Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers cover)
Based on our findings at Set List FM , here’s what the ’90s icons delivered on July 31.
Here are all…
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