Tedeschi Trucks Band proved the existence of lifeafter death June 20 in Ohio, as the 12-piece killed with song after song aftersong and the audience came back with increasing enthusiasm each time.
The 2019 edition of Tedeschi Trucks’ Wheels of Soultour rolled into Ohio and while there is no denying the value in this packednight of music - which ran from 7 to 11 p.m. on a steamy, Southwestern Ohionight - it was the headliners that slayed listeners time and time again.
From her exhortation to get your hands up inthe air on the opening “Laugh About It” to her ad-libbed youcan’t put babies in cages and think it’s OK on Bobby “Blue” Bland’s “IPity the Fool” late in the set, frontwoman Susan Tedeschi was a raspy storm offire throughout the one-hour, 45-minute performance. And when she took theoccasional guitar solo she was equally incendiary, demonstrating once againthat she’d be the best guitarist in any band that didn’t include her husband,the outwardly reserved but has-to-be-heard-to-be-believed slide guitarist DerekTrucks.
In fact, when Blackberry Smoke’s Charlie Starr, noslouch himself, joined TTB for its encore - more on that and Blackberry’s ownset later - he occasionally looked dumbfounded as Trucks whipped up his fellowmusicians and the nearly sold-out house with screaming line after screamingline.
In addition to Starr’s band, the evening alsofeatured Shovels & Rope in the opening slot. Shovels & Rope, which features thehusband-and-wife team of Michael Trent and Cary Ann Hearst sportingmatching By Blood Ts to promote their latest LP, were mostimpressive when each managed to play drums, harmonica and keys simultaneously.During their 45-minute middle-show set, Blackberry Smoke played tracks thatresembled Mick Taylor-era Rolling Stones whipped up with a bit of Gov’t Mule,offering a performance that was gaging and full of triple-guitar,double-drumming verve.
Still, there was no denying it was the TTB’s night. hetherTrucks was cuing solos from - and trading call-and-response lines with - hisband’s three-piece horn section on the jazzy jam inside Joe Tex’s "ShowMe” or Tedeschi was alternating lead vocals with its three-voice choir on“Signs/High Times,” TTB showed the value in cramming as many people as possibleon to a stage as two drummers, keys and bass teamed with the other eightmusicians to create a joyful sound that never came close to a wreck and alwaysachieved liftoff.
New keyboard player Gabe Dixon - who stepped in forthe late Kofi Burbridge - harmonized beautifully with Tedeschi on astripped-down (no singers, no horns) rendition of Willie Nelson’s “SomebodyPick up My Pieces” and the full band simply exploded as Trucks played theopening notes to Derek and the Dominos’ “Keep on Growing,” on which Tedeschiand the also-raspy (this is a good thing with these two) Mike Mattison had adelirious time singing their respective asses off.
The encore lasted 30 minutes and took off like ashot when Trucks played the opening notes to "Statesboro Blues,” the BlindWillie McTell number he played countless times in the Allman Brothers Band.Tedeschi sang it from the original male perspective and when she, Trucks andStarr began their guitar-based conversation, it seemed the set couldn’t get anybetter.
But then, more of the openers filtered on stage and the resulting two-keyboardist, three-drummer, quadruple-guitar threat launched in to a 20-minute workout of Sly & the Family Stone’s “Sing a Simple Song,” which segued into “I Want to Take You Higher.” With that, the Rose Music Center at the Heights achieved liftoff in one of those rare in-concert moments when everything - the heat and humidity, exhaustion, any worries about everyday life, even the audience and venue itself - melts away and it’s just the concertgoer and the music as one.
