We Went There: Black Joe Lewis at the Turf Club
Nostalgia is a powerful drug, but what about nostalgia for something that was already dripping in nostalgia? That was the dizzying effect Wednesday night at the Turf Club when Austin blues-rock band Black Joe Lewis and The Honeybears came to town to celebrate the 10th Anniversary of their LP Tell’m What Your Name Is!, an album about as seeped in blues/funk/rock nostalgia as one can be.
A mostly full Turf Club, with the age skewing closer towards retirement than beer pong, didn’t mind the looking back. In fact, they seemed to like it pretty well, whooping and hollering throughout the 75-minute set. Black Joe Lewis was the center of the action, with his cowboy hat and telecaster, but he brought a five-piece version of the Honeybears with him for the show, consisting of another guitar, bass, drums and a duel horn section. Their sound was loose but not sloppy, capturing the spirit of the music without taking themselves too seriously.
The set was a swampy batch of blue rock and greasy soul, leaning heavily on the album this tour is honoring with a few other select tracks sprinkled in. It didn’t attempt to reinvent the wheel, but with their trusty wheels rolling, Black Joe Lewis and the Honeybears provided a good time by all.
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