These Cats are Crazy! Legendary R&B Revue

at the State Theatre, Falls Church, Virginia, February 3

Recommended beverage
to go with this show:
Jack & Coke is what the Cats drink

Four blues masters from all corners of the country came together for a four-hour raucous blues jam on Saturday night to close out their tour. DC’s Deanna Bogart, California’s Tommy Castro, Massachusetts man Magic Dick, and Chicago’s Ronnie Baker Brooks played before a packed house to thunderous applause. Backed by Castro’s band, each of the four led the band for a half-hour set and later in the night they all jammed together.

Casto strutted his stuff on guitar and vocals, blending blues, rock, and soul, with no shortage of charisma. Bogart, glad to be home, impressed the crowd with her boogie-woogie piano and vocals, and also played saxophone on a couple of tunes.

Then came my cousin Magic Dick who, admittedly, had too much Jack before the show and was quite the comedian between songs. The harmonica master performed several songs from the 1994 album he recorded with Jay Geils and their band Bluestime, including his cover of T-Bone Walker’s “No Sleepingest Woman.” He also played the stunning instrumental, Wammer Jammer, from the J. Geils Band days.

The final artist was guitarist/singer Ronnie Baker Brooks who gave us a taste of some Chicago blues with some mean blues hooks. The wild man then traveled through the crowd playing guitar with everything from a beer bottle to his tongue. And, then, he made his way to the bar where he managed to make himself a rum and coke with his one free hand and then gulped it through a straw.

The blues jam that closed the show was just brilliant as the musicians worked off each other in what looked not only effortless, but as though they genuinely were having fun. One of the most enjoyable numbers in that jam was “Sex Machine,” their tribute to the late James Brown. Everybody did “get on up” in what was an exhilarating night of blues and soul.