Vaughan Trio Packs Kahilu with an Evening of Texas Blues
The Kahilu Theatre opened its 2019/2020 season with a nearly three-hour concert featuring the Jimmie Vaughan Trio. The show sold out weeks ahead, and when the house lights came on, you could see groups of people dancing in the corners, clapping along, and generally having a great time on a Saturday night in Waimea.
Jimmie Vaughan, the legendary blues guitarist, grew up in Dallas and is best known as Stevie Ray Vaughan's older brother. However, he’s also earned four Grammys and co-founded the Fabulous Thunderbirds with Kim Wilson. When he was just a teenager, he opened for Hendrix and even saved Jimi’s butt by lending him his effects pedal for the legendary guitarist’s part of the show.
Vaughan is on tour supporting his new release, Baby, Please Come Home, an 11-track album that features blues tunes from Antoine “Fats” Domino & Dave Bartholomew, T-Bone Walker, Chuck Willis, Jimmy Reed, Clarence “Gatemouth” Brown, and even country legend Lefty Frizzell. Usually, Vaughan tours with a horn section, but for the Hawaii leg of this tour, he scaled it down to a trio.
Hammond B-3 organ maestro Mike Flanigin held his own Saturday night, singing lead on a few tunes and making the beautiful instrument purr and growl to the crowd’s delight. I understand a Big Island couple loaned Flanigin their B-3, including the massive rotating speaker cabinet, for the show. They watched proudly from backstage as Flanigin performed several classic fat B-3 organ runs. Flanigin started out in a Holiday Inn house band and has since worked with Gary Clark Jr. and Billy Gibbons of ZZ Top.
Drummer extraordinaire Jason Corbiere is also a highly experienced blues musician. The Grammy-nominated drummer has performed with Roomful of Blues, the Vermont roots reggae band Conscious Roots, and you can find him on Greg Izor & The Box Kickers' new CD, Close To Home.
After an instrumental blues shuffle, Vaughan announced, “When we play as a trio, we like to think of ourselves as a dance band. If anyone wants to dance, please dance!” With that intro, Vaughan launched into a powerful cover of Junior Walker & The All Stars’ 1966 single “Cleo’s Mood.” I saw a young couple jump up and settle into a corner near stage left, where they grooved all evening to dance numbers like “The Crawl.”
Sharply dressed from his silver-toed black leather cowboy boots to his slicked-back hair, the self-taught guitarist played his white “Jimmie Vaughan Tex-Mex Stratocaster” with energy and accuracy. He’s not overly flashy but isn’t afraid to perform some T-Bone Walker-style “behind-the-head” guitar tricks made famous on the Chitlin’ Circuit, which still look pretty cool today. At one point, he kneeled to sing a romantic ballad.
Besides playing the blues, Vaughan also included some rockabilly and retro R&B in his 25-song set. And why not? The 68-year-old guitarist was influenced by these great tunes throughout his life. Organist Mike Flanigin shared a story about Vaughan’s younger days when he’d ride his bike to the Dairy Queen that had a jukebox. “Jimmie would bring a roll of nickels,” said Flanigan, “and play ‘You Can’t Sit Down’ over and over to the point where the waitresses with purple-tinted beehive hairdos threw him out.”
It probably would’ve been helpful to listen to the originals of some of these songs before attending the show. The Dovells performed the mentioned tune, and covers were played by The Nightcaps, Bruce Channel, and Rosco Junior. Vaughan played “Texas Flood” from his late brother’s debut album. Jimmie told the audience to check out the 1958 original by blues singer Larry Davis. The “Rome Inn Theme” was a nod to a small Austin, Texas, club where Vaughan and his brother performed early in their careers.
After the show, Vaughan and his band went to the lobby to meet fans and sign merch. One guy brought his guitar, which Vaughan graciously signed.
Vaughan and his band will perform a series of gigs with Eric Clapton starting September 11 in San Francisco. There’s also a recently released documentary film titled From Nowhere: The Story of the Vaughan Brothers. It features interviews with Billy Gibbons, Jackson Browne, and Nile Rodgers, along with never-before-seen photos and home movies.
Set I
Brooks | Cleo’s Mood | Come On Rock Little Girl | Frame for the Blues | Just a Little Bit | Dirty Work at the Crossroads | Hey! Baby | You Can’t Sit Down | Thunderbird | Rome Inn Theme | Honey What’s Wrong With You | Do The Mama Jama | Hold It |
Set II
Kiko | Silly Dilly Woman | I Ain’t Never | Baby, Please Come Home | Dimples | Shake For Me | Baby, Scratch My Back | Texas Flood | The Crawl | White Boots |
Encore
Motorhead | Raining in My Heart | Wine, Wine, Wine
Steve Roby is a music journalist and best-selling author, originally from San Francisco. He’s been featured in the NY Times, Rolling Stone, and Billboard Magazine. Roby is also the Managing Editor of Big Island Music Magazine.
Photos: Steve Roby
