Richard Smart

News Editor

Every now and then, there is an opening act whose performance captivates the audience so much that it seems they may overshadow the big name performer. Such was the case Saturday night at the State Theater when Grace Potter and the Nocturnals took the stage. The band took the stage at 8:30-the show was supposed to start at 7-and Potter said with a big smile, “We tricked you!” to those who thought they were showing up fashionably late to see Robert Cray were right on time for the Nocturnals.

The band launched into their set, with Potter jingling her tambourine and belting out lyrics in a way that was reminiscent of Janis Joplin without the Southern Comfort and cigarette smoke. For the next hour the band delivered a blend of blues, gospel and rock that had the audience captivated, and cheering them on every step of the way, as the kick-bass thumped along like a ferry on the Mississippi and the harmonica wailed like a train whistle.

If Robert Cray and his band were worried about having to follow an act that had so thoroughly arrested the audience, he didn’t show it. Cray sauntered out onto stage with his guitar slung over his shoulder, and did as he has done for more than 20 years: hypnotizing the audience with his blend of R&B vocals, clean guitar playing and most of all, experience.

Cray’s style, if anything, is relaxed. He hunches over the microphone and sings down to it like he would a child, or lover, drifting off to sleep. His guitar solos are smooth, pure blues, but instead of a flurry of notes he plays unhurriedly with long pauses between his phrases. It’s like a conversation; he takes the time to listen as well as speak.

His voice is also unlike most blues front men. Instead of being harsh, gravelly and tortured, Cray is smooth and soulful. It’s the kind of voice that is as comfortable in a church choir as it is in a smoky bar. Cray’s voice is as much as an instrument as a means of telling the stories of his songs.

The title song off his new album, “Twenty,” is a good example of this. The song is about a young man who joins the military after 9/11, ends up in Iraq and is eventually killed. Beyond the strength of the words, Cray’s voice has the emotional depth to make the feelings of disillusionment and loneliness resonate with his audience.

While Cray is identified as a blues musician, his music is not traditional 12-bar blues stuff. It falls more into the soul or R&B category that happens to have blues guitar mixed in with it. While being comprised of so much traditional music, his music manages to be unlike other artists of his time. Each of his songs are like a progression through a range of genres, a mixture of being absorbed in soul lyrics about relationships and then engulfed in blues lead guitar. The effect can be somewhat jolting, and the pieces sometimes feel like they don’t always quite fit, but overall the effect is pleasing and even a little exotic.

The band performed with a cohesion that only comes with years of experience, something younger artists lack. The songs were played very much as they sound on the albums, which is both a strength and a weakness. A live performance should be looser than on the album, more off-the-cuff, and offering something that the audience doesn’t get from listening at home. It is an opportunity for the band to show off and relate to its audience.

At one point early in the show Jim Pugh, Cray’s keyboard player, launched into a blistering solo that had the audience screaming in appreciation well before it was over. Sadly, it was the only time of the night Pugh had the spotlight. The other members of the band never took a moment to step forward. If there was anything the show suffered from it was not having a feeling of spontaneity. As long as these guys have been playing, they should have been able to get together on the stage and jam for a little while, not knowing where they’re going, but making the best of what happens.

Richard Smart can be contacted at freepress@usm.maine.edu