B.B. King and Buddy Guy paid Clearwater’s Ruth Eckerd Hall a visit this past Friday night and put on an epic performance for an audience of fans ranging in age from 9 to 90, all waiting in eager anticipation for the legendary blues artists to take the stage. [All photos by Fernando Garcia.]

Buddy Guy made his entrance in a shiny track suit, sneakers and leather Newsboy cap, and instantly began wailing on his electric guitar. His four-piece band backed him up on piano, drums, guitar and bass, moved side to side in unison as Guy moved and gyrated with every note played. He was extremely keyed into the crowd and their participation in and appreciation of the tunes. He was also an incredible showman, playing guitar backwards, on his shoulder, positioning it just right to hit notes with certain key body movements, and even plucked the strings with his teeth at one point.

The music was constant and fluid, like one big blues jam session. In the midst of all that crazy musicianship, he still took the time to tell a few stories, discuss a few songs and make a few jokes. He claimed blues musicians weren’t allowed to be profane until the invention of hip-hop. He also said there was no British invasion, "We had it all the time, we just didn’t know what we had.” He followed this claim with a tribute and comparison of Johnny Hooker and Cream.

Guy brought much soulful emotion to his vocals, and encouraged the audience sing to sing along to numbers like “I Just Wanna Make Love to You,” among many other. He segued smoothly from one song into the next, making it feel like one long number, seeming never really finishing any single song until he performed the title track of his last album, “Skin Deep,” seemingly one of the only songs he completed from start to finish.

Buddy Guy is a true bluesman and his set was amazing. He performed all his solos with incredible precision, demonstrated great control of his voice, closed everything out with a big finale, and got the crowed amped up and ready for more blues from co-headliner B.B King. [More pics + photo gallery after the jump.]

This article appears in Feb 3-9, 2010.