Gary Clark Jr. is the Jim Brown of Rock and Roll

Watching the dynamic Gary Clark Jr. (website) from my favorite stage-left front-rail show spot at The Capital Theatre in Port Chester, NY was a big f*ck’n treat.

That man has a style all his own. Very hard to do for a blues guitar player from Austin with so many iconic axe men before him . The last time I saw Clark Jr. was five years ago at Mountain Jam (click here for that story)… he has grown considerably as a musician. Good for him, and great for us!

I have been to lots and lots of shows… and have never seen anybody like Clark Jr. I understand why John Varvatos wants him to represent their brand alongside Jimmy Page. Clark’s cool-guy act is very deliberate, but works as he is the real deal.

Like all his shows, Gary Clark Jr.’s 16 song set on Wednesday 11-3-21 started with a bold and booming “Bright Lights” that rumbled my organs and took all 1,500 attendees by storm. Coming off the heals of the spectacular Black Crowes performance last month (click here for that story), my interest in blues-roots based music has been renewed. Time to take a break from Jam bands and The Dead (see here for that story). Clark’s takes lots of risks with his music that have a huge upside (when it works, and it often does). My favorite song of the night was the slow building swampy orgasmic “I Got My Eyes on You” just before the break. This song is a great platform to show-off his skills and raw emotion.

What gets me the most about Gary Clark Jr. is his ability to sing and play so many different styles (reggae, soul, blues, classic rock, R&B, modern) of music without imitating anyone. If I had to pick one guy that he reminds me of, I’d say Doyle Bramhall III or Pete Townsend… pretty good company!

Seeing Clark’s laser light show up-close often made me feel me like I was in Close Encounters of the Third Kind witnessing a rock and roll spaceship landing. Other times, the show’s visuals and vibe were early Pink Floyd-like. Big colors (yellow hat, red sunglasses) and big sounds made for a big performance. Clark has an oddly confident cool strut that one dude next to me said, Clark is alien-cool, not human. I would say he is truly the “Jim Brown” (famous Cleveland Browns badass) of Rock and Roll today.