photo credit: Steve Rood

Like so many tours scheduled for 2020, Blackberry Smoke’s triple-bill production, Spirit of the South, celebrating the illustrious music of the lower eastern U.S., had to wait a year to get rolling.  Initially designed as a three-band showcase, with Smoke as the headliner, and featuring the support of The Allman Betts Band and The Wild Feathers, the outdoor shed run was also promising a late-show jam to conclude each performance, including appearances throughout the trek by The Allman Brothers Band’s famed drummer, Jaimoe.  The year-delay nixed Jaimoe’s participation, unfortunately, but not this trio of hard-charging ensembles, nor the encore extravaganza, which opened a month of mid-summer dates with a night-one stop at the newly-christened Hartford HealthCare Amphitheater in Bridgeport, Connecticut.

For the venue, it’s worth noting, this was but the second concert in its own history; freshly converted from a minor league baseball stadium, the high-tented, 5,700-seat space tucked between I-95, a commuter rail line, and the harbor of Bridgeport was nothing short of a fabulous host- with open-air breezes and terrific sightlines- holding the potential for many memorable nights of music.

Certainly these three were ready to make memories.  After a sturdy, though brief and early (six-o’clock sharp) opening set from rising Nashville country rockers, The Wild Feathers, next arrived The Allman Betts Band backlit in fading twilight.  The seven-piece group launched its hour onstage with the unfurling instrumental, “Savannah’s Dream,” off of 2020’s Bless Your Heart, announcing an assured improvisational penchant bolstered by the three-guitar armada of Devon Allman, Duane Betts, and Johnny Stachela, and equaled by John Ginty’s deft keyboard work, dual drummers, and the unfailing bass of Berry Duane Oakley.  A pair of entries echoed the familiarity of the three surnames, as Allman, Betts, and Oakley powered confidently through renditions of their patriarchs’ past; busting out the Allman Brothers’ classics, “Blue Sky,” and a closing “Dreams.”  Not to mention a nod to the Grateful Dead, dusting off an Oakley-led “Shakedown Street.”

For its spot in prime time, Blackberry Smoke delighted its northeast contingent with two-and-a-half hours of Southern-certified goodness.  Circled around the creative hub of singer/songwriter and guitarist Charlie Starr, the veteran outfit sprinkled plenty of favorites in and around supporting its latest, You Hear Georgia.  Starr is as likeable as they come, with an inviting charisma, perfectly weathered and technically proficient voice, and a knack for supplying a new crop of hip-swiveling songs- “Hey Delilah” and “Old Scarecrow,” to name two- deliciously ripe in the sweet summer air. 

The culminating encore jam escorted various players from The Wild Feathers and Allman Betts into the Blackberry fold, paying tribute to, among others, Charlie Daniels, Wet Willie, and Lynyrd Skynyrd, including a raucous “Workin’ For MCA,” as well as a timely homage to the recently-departed Dusty Hill on ZZ Top’s “Jesus Just Left Chicago.”  Then, as the five hours of music neared its conclusion, there was but one last “Midnight Rider.” An appropriate choice- The Allman Brothers Band nugget- as these three modern reps of Southern music history attested, despite a year-long pandemic delay: the road goes on forever.