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JOHNNY WINTER, THE ARK-ANN ARBOR, 12/27/07
My expectations were not high when I purchased my ticket, based upon the last time I saw Johnny five years ago. He had become ill after years of herion addiction, followed by alcoholism, and a broken hip. His already thin frame was then down to 100 pounds. The once powerful blues and rock vocalist and guitarist extraordinaire was reduced to being helped on stage, leaning up against a stool and playing motionless for an entire set. What were once clean, lightning fast, sharp blues lines were lost in a sea of distrortion. His gravelly and powerful voice reduced to an inaudible mumble. I was devastated, depressed for days seeing one of my all-time musical icons in that state.
I'd read a recent article referring to a resurgence by Johnny. Both his health and music making a recovery after years of suffering. His recent "Crossroads" appearance on TV had people talking about how good he was sounding. So I approached this set with higher expectations than I originally had. And in the intimate confines of the 400 seat Ark, a venue famous for it's presentation of folk music, there was the potential for a good show.
The concert was sold out and the vocal blues crowd was psyched. Johnny's band, with another guitarist, bass and drums hit the stage without the leader. After two short standards, the other guitarist left the stage and Johnny apperared. He was helped to the stage but not to the extent that he had recently. He walked reasonably well, hunched over a bit and took his chair (where he would remain seated) center stage. I was lucky enough to sit third row center and with a short stage, Johnny was seated directly in front of me, about eight feet away. In his black hat, white pony tail hanging down his back, black t-shirt, and black leather pants, Johnny still looked quite frail but much healthier than the last time I saw him.
His first few tunes were tentative. An instruental that featured him playing rather sloppy guitar riffs followed by a vocal that was weak and barely audible. He seemed to be struggling a bit. The classic tune "Miss Ann" in which Johnny once belted out the vocals and played some of the most extraordinary guitar work on, from his Second Winter record was next. The vocals were still weak but the guitar playing was becoming more crisp and energetic.
From that point on, for the next 90 minutes, Johnny caught fire in his subdued fashion. He began to belt out the vocals in the style that made him a legend. His guitar playing caught fire as he proceded to kick out some of his classic blues lines in rapid fire fashion, clean and crisp. There were moments of sheer joy, just like when our jazz artists play some intensely great lines and we shout out in joy, such was the case with Johnny tonight. Some of his runs and progressions were just superb and filled with an energy that we'd not heard from him since the early days. He saved his excellent slide guitar work for the encore where he played a tune resembling "Black Cat Bone" and finally the classic "Highway 61". Johnny was back! Still a shell of his former self and a bit sad for those of us who knew him in his prime, but definitely an energy filled, quality performance by an American music legend.
Pat Frisco
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