Louisiana-born Tab Benoit has been playing his distinctive blend of Cajun-infused blues for more than 35 years. He released his debut album, Nice and Warm, in 1992, then released sixteen more albums through 2011. Though he hasn’t released a new studio album in more than thirteen years, Benoit remains one of the most popular blues musicians in the country, largely due to his relentless tour schedule.
Benoit’s style is to keep it simple. He tours/plays as a trio – just guitar, bass, and drums. His own rig is minimalist, consisting of his trademark, stock 1972 Thinline Telecaster, a pair of amplifiers, and no pedals. The varying sounds he manages to produce are simply the product of his skilled musicianship and effort. He’ll tell you straight up that he “likes it raw.”
That authenticity is a big part of the Benoit appeal. That, and the fact that he dedicates an enormous amount of time to being on the road, performing for an amazingly loyal fan base. He’s known to play up to 250 shows a year, year after year. He has a particular affinity for Colorado, and specifically the Denver area. As he noted between songs last night, “Denver’s been my stomping ground for about 35 years”.
Last night’s show at the Ogden Theatre featured a 12-song, hour and forty-five-minute set. Benoit’s sets often feature fewer songs than other artists, allowing both him and his rhythm section the license to extend each song beyond what you hear on the studio versions. Whether it’s a sweet and tender love song like “Nothing Takes The Place Of You,” a straight up blues rocker like “Night Train,” or a rollicking, Cajun flavored butt shaker like “We Make A Good Gumbo,” you’re going to get more than your money’s worth when you hear it played live.
Backed by longtime bandmate Corey Duplechin on bass and Chip Vayenas on drums Benoit took the stage at 9:50 pm. That late start time was due to there being not one, but two opening acts. Blues legend Larry McCray opened with a terrific acoustic set, followed by Sierra Green and the Giants, who played a lively, extended set.
Benoit opened his set with “Muddy Bottom Blues,” a classic blues rock tune that tells a disturbing story of being stuck in the swamp with a hungry gator taking aim at you. Kind of grisly, kind of funny, and a great song to open with. From there he moved into another classic, the gorgeous “Nothing Takes The Place Of You.” Although that tune is a cover from Toussaint McCall, it’s become such a staple of Benoit live performances that it’s pretty much become his own.
The remainder of the set alternated between Benoit originals and other covers that Benoit plays on a regular basis. Most of these were Benoit live show standards, but on this night, he did break form to dig deep on a couple of tracks I haven’t heard him perform live before. “What I Have To Do,” from the 2003 album The Sea Saint Sessions was the fifth song of the set. The sixth was a “When a Cajun Man Gets the Blues,” from the 2002 Wetland album. For that song Duplechin and Vayenas left the stage, leaving Benoit, bathed in cool, blue lights, to perform solo electric.
Other Benoit originals included “Shelter Me,” “Medicine,” “Standing On The Bank,” and “Night Train.” More on those last two songs in a minute.
Covers included the rousing “We Make A Good Gumbo” (Chubby Carrier & The Bayou Swamp Band), “Too Many Dirty Dishes” (Albert Collins), and an all-time crowd pleaser “For What It’s Worth” (Buffalo Springfield).
The ten-song main set closed with “Medicine,” after which the band took the obligatory two-minute off-stage break before returning for the encore. To the delight of the crowd, the band that returned was now a quartet, with opener Larry McCray joining (this time) on electric guitar. The nearly twenty-minute encore was comprised of the previously mentioned pair of Benoit originals, “Standing On The Bank,” and “Night Train.” That latter song has been the standard closer of Benoit shows for as long as I can remember, and there wasn’t a hard-core Benoit fan in the house who was going to leave before it was played. On this night, the song was supercharged by the presence of McCray on second-lead guitar, sparing back and forth with Benoit, bringing the house down.
Duplechin and Vayenas were exceptional all night long. Rhythm sections are frequently overlooked, but anybody who knows anything about how bands work knows that they are the glue that holds everything together. As masterful as Benoit is, he needs an equally masterful rhythm section behind him, to allow him to do what he does. Duplechin has been playing with Benoit for so long that knowledgeable members of the crowd hold him in (nearly) the same esteem as they do Benoit himself.
And Benoit was… well, he was absolutely extraordinary. The range he gets from that trusty Telecaster is stunning. He makes that thing sing. And then you add in his own singing – that distinctive, soulful voice that is frequently described as being reminiscent of Otis Redding. (If you’re going to be compared to anyone, that’s about as good as it gets.) But talent aside, what really grabs you, when you see him perform live, is the enthusiasm, exuberance, and seemingly endless energy his puts out. It’s clear that when he steps on stage, he fully intends to give everything he has to the night’s performance. And for the rowdy, amped up crowd that packed the Ogden last night, that was all they could ask for, and then some.
Story and photos by Rick Witt www.rickwittphotography.com
