Kurt
Allen Band
Live at the Flatted Fifth –
Aug. 4, 2023
Bellevue, Iowa
By Phillip Smith; August 5, 2023
Original source : phillycheezeblues.blogspot.com
It
was great to finally catch up with Kurt Allen Band on their current
tour. I had reviewed this Kansas City artist’s
Whiskey, Women & Trouble album in 2020, and been wanting to see him
play live since. His guitar prowess and whiskey-soaked
vocals make for a spectacular combination onstage and in studio. Backed by Josh Wright on bass guitar and
Greg Schaberg on drums, Allen kept his fans fully entertained for
two extraordinary sets.
The first set opened with a super-funky cover of Anthony Gomes’ “High Calorie Woman” before tearing into a tuneful, rocking original “Sweet T”. Schaberg delivered a second-line backbeat as I got caught up in the groove on “Cry Mercy”. The vocal harmony between Allen and Wright sounded terrific on their cover of Cream’s “Sunshine of Your Love”. A smokin’ performance of “Hoochi Choochi Man” led into a glorious cover of “Soulshine” by the Allman Brothers. That was followed by a blissful one-of-a-kind take on Pink Floyd’s “Comfortably Numb” which brought the first set to an outstanding finish.
The second set began with a personal favorite “Graveyard Blues”. The slide-work on this was amazing. “How Long”, Allan’s homage to Led Zeppelin drew me right in. I loved the cover of the George Harrison song “My Guitar Gently Weeps”. Allen took this to places I never imagined it could go. It was great to hear the swinging rockabilly original “Whiskey, Woman & Trouble”. Ending the set with bow in hand, Allen reminded me of Jimmy Page as he brought the sounds of the cosmos to the Flatted Fifth while Wright keep the thunder rolling on bass for their intro to “Better Think Twice”. I was so captivated, grabbing a photo at the time never crossed my mind. The demand for an encore was so great, the band blessed us with a performance of Alvin Lee’s “Slow Blues in C”. It was fantastic.
Kurt Allen Band keeps the energy high and focused on the music, making for a very enjoyable listening experience. The band is certainly on my watchlist for when they swing by this area again.
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Set
1
High
Calorie Woman (Anthony Gomes)
Sweet
T
Cry
Mercy
Sunshine
of your Love (Cream)
Watch
Your Step (Willie Cobb)
Hoochi
Coochi Man (Muddy Waters)
Soulshine
(Allman Brothers)
Comfortably
Numb (Pink Floyd)
Set
2
Graveyard
Blues
Funky
Bitch
RoadRunner
How
Long
My
Guitar Gently Weeps (George Harrison)
Bad
Love
Voodoo
Queen
Whisky,
Women & Trouble
Better
Think Twice
Slow
Blues in C (Alvin Lee)
*Photos by Phillip Smith
