I love a good blues rock show, even if only 15 people show up.
The Todd Wolfe band started right on time at the Slice, Aug. 16, but I only caught the end of his long first set as Wolfe, who used to play with Sheryl Crow, struggled to make his beautiful old resonator sing the blues with some sinister slide. He succeeded. The show was full of big riffs and Wolfe gave his wah wah pedal a workout, especially in his second set.
A lot of the second set featured extended jams on tracks from his latest CD “ The Todd Wolfe Band Live.” But he began with a slide powered version of Mountain’s “Mississippi Queen” which inadvertently sounded inspired by “Travelin’ Riverside Blues.”
Some of the cuts including “Crowded In my Soul,” “Beg Forgiveness.” A sweet version of the Rolling Stones’ “All over Now,” meandered into the drop D tuned, country tinged “Tripping through the Gates of Heaven,” included a few bars of “One Way Out,” were among the highlights.
The latter segued into a big, loud version of Neil Young’s Cinnamon Girl.” He didn’t talk much between songs, preferring to let his guitar do the talking. His crack rhythm section, drummer Roger Voss and bassist Justine Gardener easily kept step with all of his time changes and extended solos.
