JimmyT & Jeff Plumday LIVE Dual Set with Special Guest Hogan Baily @ Temptation Falls - 31/05/2022

As a Kickoff to Summer, Temptation Falls' Ms browneyes Magic wanted to do something extra special, and set up a Dual Artist, 2 hour long set featuring Jimmyt49 Dukes and Jeff Plumday. Jimmy & Jeff have been jamming and preparing for something like this for some time now, and I was very excited to get word that it would go ahead. MsB also wanted to turn this into an event that included a warm-up by Potlatch Foggarty and a set by Special Guests, Hogan Baily & The High Steppers.

Potlatch Foggarty was on stage when I got there around 3:30 and I was quite happy to listen to his laid back summer tunes. About the only time I get to hear them anymore is on the radio and they always bring back those warm, sunny memories. He does a great job performing these classics. Thanks Potlatch! it was a great set and I really enjoyed it!

4:00pm - HOGAN BAILY & His High Steppers

When you hear that "Peter Gunn" intro... you know that Hogan Baily is in the house and about to get going on a non-stop, high energy set of hits that could include just about anything and today was no exception.

Hogan plowed right into Lynyrd Skynyrd's "I Ain't the One" and stayed faithful to the original with a bit of that Hogan spin on it. He followed up with another Skynyrd classic, "Curtis Lowe", one of my all time favorites. This is great stuff and I haven't heard it in awhile. Up next was a new one for me, The Avett Brothers' "Ain’t No Man". And then another familiar tune to pretty much everyone: The Doobie Brothers with "Black Water." A great rendition of "Cheeseburger in Paradise" by Jimmy Buffet was next, and then into an R&B dance tune called "Back In Love Again" released in 1997 by L.T.D.

This first part of the set was an eclectic mix but surprisingly, it fit together well with similar beats and tempo and all are great dance tunes. Hogan then got into some great older hits with "Is She Really Going Out With Him" by Joe Jackson and Rick Springfield's "Jesse". Hogan's vocals are perfect and he throws just enough between-song-banter to keep things interesting and great fun for the audience.

I think I have to say that Hogan Baily is the KING of POP in SL. He can do it ALL (almost.... with over 1200 tunes in his repertoire, and counting). He's a great entertainer and has a level of excellent performance that's tough to beat.

The time just flew by through tunes like "10th Avenue Freezeout" by Springsteen and "When You Are In Love With A Beautiful Woman" by Dr. Hook ala Hogan.

Although I am a HUGE Blues fan, I loved every minute of this set. There were no overlong pauses... touches of Hogan-nuttiness and exuberance and great banter that sometimes will single out members of the audience (obviously regular fans that know and love Hogan and his professional delivery and good natured teasing.)

There was a great treat for me as he shifted gears and brought us a great version of "Hoochie Coochie Man" by my top Bluesman, Muddy Waters. He did it well and found a great bluesy groove that had me singing along, and whoever was doing that lead solo needs a medal! Wow! When Hogan finished that, there were 57 people on the sim for his final tune, "Mississippi Queen" my fave by Mountain. It gave me that tingle up the back of the neck and goosebumps on my arms that indicate to me a great presentation of impeccable music.

AWESOME SET HOGAN! and a big Thanks for one of the best hours I have spent in SL for awhile!

5:00pm - JimmyT & Jeff:

In the short time that Hogan finished his set, and J&J took the stage, the crowd swelled to 73 people. We had all been waiting for this moment and looking forward to it since hearing the first whispers of this union of like-minded blues/rock musicians.

And it started off with a bang, with the unmistakable four bars of five chords and into the screaming lead passage of "Day of The Eagle" by Robin Trower, and by the end there were 82 people to catch Trower's "Bridge of Sighs" (the song that may have started all of this when Jimmy heard Jeff do the tune in their early days in SL (see my promo interview preceding this blog). "Bridge" is haunting and deliberate and defines the term " H E A V Y ! " for me. They stayed very true to the original and pulled off a flawless performance.

Then they gave us great rendition of "Stormy Monday" in the Allman Brothers' style, with a definite J&J spin. The guitar work was outstanding! leaving me and 87 others panting for more!

And more we got!...with Ed Sheeran's "Make It Rain" and an unlikely follow-up with Hendrix's VooDoo Chile. Due to "wah wah" comments and knowing that Hendrix was a major influence to Jeff's style and tone, I would venture to guess that Jeff assumed the lead for this one and Holy Moly "CHOPS AHOY!" It was AMAZING!!... and... "three kinds of fun!" at the least!

With 98 people in the house B. B. King's "The Thrill Is Gone" and an awesome rendition of "You Upset Me Baby" got us through the halfway point and into a maximum audience count of 100...

Stevie Ray Vaughan's "Riviera Paradise" was just perfect, and came at the perfect time, letting us catch our collective breath.

There were a couple of small glitches that resulted in restarts, but even those were handled effortlessly and with professionalism that really earns my description of Jeff & Jimmy as "Guitar Gods". Nothing seems to faze these men nor stops them from giving you the very best they've got.

They continued with "Dreams I'll Never See" by Molly Hatchet, always, always good, Then the upbeat "You're Gonna Miss Me Baby" by Stevie Ray Vaughan.

Then another Trower piece, "Lady Love"

(...all these Robin Trower numbers I have listened to countless times since they were "new" vinyl albums in my collection... and there has been the odd deviation from "album version" but not a lot and not often... and with the complexity of the tunes and attempting to figure them out unsuccessfully myself, this was no small feat! WELL DONE!

Next was a Kenny Wayne Sheperd offering I hadn't heard yet called "DejaVuVoodoo"... a very pleasant surprise and then into another JimmyT set-favorite of mine, "Tin Pan Alley", with Jimmy's vocals right on the money, as they were all during the set.

They finished off with Joe Bonamassa's Blues Delux.... with the best licks of the day, although it's hard to say "best" with these two virtuosos. It's ALL BEST!

Jimmy and Jeff: Thank You so much for putting this together and for giving us one of the best sets I have seen yet in SL... Simply OUTSTANDING!! BRAVO!!!

And a Very Special THANK YOU to Ms browneyes Magic and Mr. Gib Dix at Temptation Falls for the perfect venue and their ongoing love of live music in Second Life. It just would not be the same without you!