Diablos Legion MC Summertime Bluesfest - 14/08/2021
On Friday Virgil dropped an Invitation to Diablos Legion MC annual Summertime Bluesfest for Saturday afternoon and featuring DJ TC Foden to start things off followed by Virgil, Kendall Jigsaw and JimmyT49 Dukes who would each play an hour set. I was excited to attend this "Premiere Blues Event of the Summer". I made sure all my pencils were sharp and that I had a full pad of paper for notes and arrived at the DLMC region with lots of time for my setup and to have a listen to DJ TC Foden, who was spinning some great music and getting the crowd excited about the upcoming LIve performers. If you haven't seen him yet, he's well worth a listen! And bring your requests!
AT THE APPOINTED HOUR, VIRGIL set up his stage and called for anyone who would like to come up and take over the "drum prop." He had a taker in Jiммiє Jàχ, the owner of JJ Cycles (awesome motorcycles!) and an original founder of Diablos Legion Motorcycle Club (DLMC).
Virgil started his set with the familiar chording of crowd-favorite "Cocaine" (J.J. Cale) and when Virgil's vocal began the goosebumps traveled up and down my arms and I knew we were in for a treat this afternoon! Virgil is a great guitar player and he can always be counted on to get the job done and let those Blues loose! Jiммiє Jàχ did a fine job on the drums *wink* as Virgil pounded out a great solo. I think Clapton & Cale would have been proud of the rendition Virgil has made his own. He then cruised on into "Sweet Home Chicago", a popular blues standard in the twelve bar form. It was first recorded and is credited to have been written by Robert Johnson, but Virgil got us all dancing and singing along with his take on this classic which ended to a roar of audience approval.
A short break followed to remind us, if one can, to support the venues for live music in SL. Without them, none of this great music is possible, and the venues run only on the donations from us, the fans and audience. The owners of venues do this as a labor of love for the music and those that play it. These "free" shows we are treated to are not free for them. So, if you can, please show your thanks and support for the venues with a few lindens. Find those venue tip jars scattered all over and let's fill 'em up as a group!
Next up for Virgil was "Undercover Agent for the Blues" by Tony Joe White, a great tune that not many others cover and I absolutely loved it. That led to ZZ Top's "Fool For Your Stockings" and Virgil welcoming Ms. Cinnamon Foggarty to take the stage as "Go-Go Dancer" for the set.
As Virgil progressed through his set with Bonamassa's "You Upset Me Baby", Pink Floyd's "Comfortably Numb", the banter and play between audience members was comical and entertaining. When he slid into The Zombies "She's Not There" Virgil kicked it up a notch with a speedy little solo that was tight, confident and very well done, and led us right into "Runnin' Down a Dream" by Tom Petty. Virgil was hot today and he set the bar high for Kendall and JimmyT to follow and continued his "retro set" with "You Really Got Me" by the Kinks and then switched it back to more Bonamassa with a very good rendition of "Sloe Gin". His final number is one I rarely hear on SL: The Rolling Stones' "Sympathy for the Devil" but one that I just have to sing along to when the "Woo Woo's" start. I love this track and he nails it with a great, all-his-own solo to close out the set.
WELL DONE VIRGIL! THANKS FOR A GREAT SET! YOU MADE THE OTHERS WORK FOR IT!
KENDALL JIGSAW WAS UP NEXT!
Kendall wasted no time setting up as Virgil cleared his equipment and, right on time, he launched into Joe Satriani's "Flying In A Blue Dream", faithful to the original and with one of the longest held notes I have heard in awhile... well... since last time I saw Kendall :)
He then took a minute to switch over to a Gibson guitar to get his tone and effects right and took us into "Outside of This Town" by Christone (Kingfish) Ingram, This is a signature piece for Kendall and one I have loved from the minute I first heard it. It starts off with a great dance beat and changes to a real bluesey riff and Kendall WAILS! Then through an outstanding version of Gary Moore's "Still got the Blues", before he gives us some breathing room and coasts into "Gravity" by John Mayer, then, with wind back in our lungs we could bop along to a rockin' little fun tune: "Smoke 2 Joints" by Sublime and then into ZZ's "Fool for Your Stockings". Even though both Virgil and Kendall did this song this afternoon, their approaches are different and their solos are original with their own interpretations of the notes.
Then Kendall slowed down to do "Blue Jean Blues" (also by ZZ Top), but he had me back to panting with what I think turned out to be the fastest solo of the day... he just slammed it.
His final tune was "Blue on Black" with a little different rendition as done by 5 Finger Death Punch. It suits Kendall's vocal range better and he nailed it and made this one his very own. I just loved the way you did this track, Kendall!
!WOW! YOU MADE ME CHEER RIGHT OUT LOUD HERE BROTHER!
JIMMYT49 DUKES is THE Premier Singer /Player /Songwriter of the BLUES in Second Life. He just IS... and he stepped up last of the day, but by no means least and showed us why I say that. He ROCKED it right out of the gate with "Superstitious", and this guy does NOT slow down in the corners... he runs full out... with a punch and drive and style all his own. He will turn your head like whiplash and you'll be smiling like a blues blogger when you hear your first set with JimmyT.
He continued with a with "A Taste of Love" and then into Muddy Waters' "Champagne & Reefer" pounding it out, shifting gears in the middle and did an old style call-and -answer of "I wanna get high" and cranks it and wrings it out till you FEEL high, just on the music. He followed with Bonamassa's "Sloe Gin," a crowd favorite, and one of mine too. I get lost in the music and I was just "there" as Jimmy took us into his Kenny G instrumental, a relatively new love song track for Jimmy and today's offering was an exceptional take.
John Mayer's "Gravity" took us to another level and my thoughts automatically turned to Roxie as the tune played out.
Bad Company's "Bad Company", from their debut album, "Bad Company" is a tune that Jimmy seems particularly suited for and he does it hard and heavy, slamming it against your eardrums as he wrenches those vocals out with the pitch, clarity and power to smack you and then picks you back up and then another WHAM! as he solos through to the end... it is almost indescribable but suffice it to say, he stays true to the original and I am always smiling at the end of this one.
"Dust Bowl" by Bonamassa has such a great groove, and it starts laying it on and piling it up. Jimmy does this so well I will venture to say it is perfectly executed... despite Jimmy's humble claims to the contrary.
Jimmy had a great set... pulling us up and then leading us down just to pull us back up again until we were left smiling... satisfied and buzzin'. He just DOES it and, in MY humble opinion, as he does so, he claims his rightful title of "King of the Blues In SL"!
THANK YOU JIMMYT!
WITH SPECIAL THANKS TO DIABLOS LEGION MC FOR SUCH AN OUTSTANDING EVENT!
I CAN'T WAIT FOR NEXT YEAR!
