Eric Bibb

A Man, A Hat, And A Guitar

Concert Review by: Joe Montague

Venue: Theatre Junction at the Grand (Calgary, Alberta, Canada)

April 21, 2007 - Attending an Eric Bibb concert is a lot like sitting down with an old friend and having coffee. The blues singer / guitar virtuoso’s performance is anything but high powered, as he opts instead to create a warm, friendly ambiance. On April 21, Bibb played two forty-five minute sets at Calgary’s Theatre Junction at the Grand.

The night consisted of Bibb performing songs from most of his albums including 1998’s Good Stuff and the CD Diamond Days released earlier this year. The blues man served up a potpourri of blues standards such as “Stagger Lee,” humorous ditties such as “Champagne Habits,” and soulful gospel tunes like “A Ship Called Love,” from the 2005 CD of the same name.

Bibb appeared comfortable with talking to his audience and in the intimate setting, you could often hear a fan call out a suggestion or make a comment. Bibb dialoged with his audience and in fact in one instance asked the fan to repeat what he had said.

The audience was well steeped in Eric Bibb’s music often recognizing the tunes as the first few notes arose from his acoustic guitar. For his part, Bibb approached his music much like a boy still enthralled with a new toy. One never got the impression that playing a gig has become just routine, for a man who long ago escaped the shadow of his legendary roots artist father Leon Bibb.

There are not many artists who can stand alone on a stage with just a guitar, no backup singers, or other instrumentalists, yet hold an audience’s attention.  However there stood Eric Bibb, with his trademark hat, this time white, dark slacks, a striped shirt, gently swaying and foot tapping to his music while he finger picked his guitar.  

Bibb’s best performances on this evening came with the songs, “Diamond Days,” the title track from this year’s album, the soulful spiritual “I Heard The Angels Singing,” (Livin’ Lovin’ & Doin’-2006) and his two gospel encore songs, “Needed Time,” (Friends-2004) as well as “I Want Jesus To Walk With Me,” (Spirit And The Blues-1999).

Theatre Junction at the Grand provided the perfect ambiance for a man singing about the blues. It is a recently renovated and historic building in downtown Calgary, with rustic brick interior, artsy, funk wall décor and modern hip lounge with a dinner menu. The Audience Services Manager Karling Brotzell and her staff should be commended for their courtesy and making this an enjoyable evening for patrons.

Photo by: © Joe Montague

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