Opening for Clark Jr. for the second time in a matter of months are the Murlocs, the grimy garage blues group from Geelong who seem to be attaining quite a bit of buzz around Melbourne and look set to sink their claws into national audiences soon.
Opening with chugging blues number “Dead Regrets”, frontman Ambrose Kenny Smith’s drawling cat-on-a-hot-tin-roof and falsetto vocal stylings begin to draw in a somewhat hesitant older audience.
As the rest of the group continue to groove through their set, Kenny Smith bops and pops around the stage, buckling at the knees as he pumps out screeches from his harmonica.
While many of the group’s songs sound familiar, even on a night with a less than enthusiastic audience the group are able to pull off each tune through their confident performance.
By the end of the set some members are looking as red in the face as elderly alcoholics, but the effort would likely be deemed a worthy one as they leave the stage to warm applause.
After a short wait, a low ringing slowly emanates from being the Corner’s red curtain, the audience hushing as it builds.
The curtains open, the crowd erupts, and Gary Clark Jr. and band launch into “When My Train Pulls In”, a blues rock track with sinewy lead guitar and a Led Zeppelin-esque thump.
Moving into the more traditional sounding “Don’t Owe You A Thang”, it’s a rollicking hoedown complete with lightning speed finger picking, and the three piece band backing Clark Jr. (consisting of guitar, bass, and drums) don’t miss a beat.
One of the highlights of the set is the band’s third tune, the beautifully soulful “Please Come Home”.
While the song itself sticks to a decades old soul-ballad formula, Clark Jr.’s flawless, pure falsetto carries the song to another level.
It’s clear by this point Clark Jr. has some serious chops as a live performer. His show is a dirty, sweaty, heaving affair, overflowing with magnetic energy.
It’s disappointing his major label debut – sounding far too clean and polished for a blues record – didn’t have the same level of raw power exhibited tonight. Hopefully he’ll be able to convince Warner to hire someone like Dan Auerbach to produce his next effort rather than guys who work with the likes of Maroon 5 and Josh Groban.
As the Texan reaches the middle of his set he throws in a few covers, including an extended version of Hendrix’s “Third Stone From The Sun” and Albert Collins’ “If You Love Me Like You Say”.
While all of Clark Jr.’s solos are terrific, some of the songs around this part of the set don’t quite hit the mark in the same way the openers did.
Despite this, Clark Jr. closes out the evening with expert precision. Even without the horns featured on the album version “Ain’t Messin ‘Round” sounds thick and full; “Numb” is as vicious and bluesy as it could possibly be (after the track the audience is so quiet Clark Jr. is humbly surprised), and a mellow, stripped back version of “Blak and Blu” segues into the crowd favourite “Bright Lights”.
Returning to the stage alone, the guitarist shows he can do it solo too, first performing a touching cover of Leroy Carr’s “In The Evening (When The Sun Goes Down)”, followed by another display of that lightning speed fingerpicking on Elizabeth Cotton’s “Freight Train”.
He’s again joined by his band for a beefier version of the blues stomper “Next Door Blues” before launching into the thick, all-encompassing “You Saved Me”, featuring a lengthy, face-melting solo.
Closing his set with the boogie blues of Gary Moore’s “Oh, Pretty Woman”, Clark Jr. has clearly demonstrated his strength and versatility with the rock and blues genre.
Forget John Mayer, or anyone else masquerading as the saviour of the guitar; if it’s going to be anyone, it’ll be Gary Clark Jr.
