John
Hiatt knows how to show an audience a good time, as evidenced by an evening he
christened “Summerfest Indoors” to an enthusiastic Pabst Theater crowd Friday.
“Hello,
young people,” Hiatt said as a greeting to his mostly older but jubilant fans.
“Your mayor said this week is all about fellowship, beer and entertainment, and
that’s what we’re about tonight.”
The
entertainment part, which kicked off at 9 p.m., lasted about 2 hours and went a
long way toward creating fellowship between the audience and Hiatt’s band, The
Ageless Beauties, with or without the beer. The quartet ran through a dozen or
so Hiatt hits, leaving everyone exhausted and satisfied.
Hiatt
has always been a genre-straddling American original, his raw-throated,
honey-coated yowl flowing with worldly wisdom. Friday’s song selection proved
his work to be as timeless as the “beauties” in his band were ageless.
The
Beauties, in fact, provided a solid blues-rock backbone that complemented
Hiatt’s skills, with drummer Kenneth Blevins and bassist Patrick O’Hearn
filling the hall with rhythmic sound. The evening’s real musical star was
guitarist Doug Rancio, who coaxed some remarkable tones out of a variety of
instruments, including his six-string Fender, a dobro and a mandolin.
Starting
with “Perfectly Good Guitar,” Hiatt spun through a variety of audience
favorites, including “Cry Love,” “Slow Turning,” “Tennessee Plates,” “Feels
Like Rain” and “Memphis in the Meantime,” done as an audience sing-along. The
group closed with a two-number encore, “The Tiki Bar is Open” and “Thing Called
Love,” the Hiatt-penned hit for singer Bonnie Raitt.
Hiatt
also peppered his set with a number of tunes from Same Old Man, his 19th and most recent album of what he described
as “some more goofy love songs.” Numbers like “Cherry Red” and “What Love Can
Do” proved his maturing work anything but goofy.
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