PHOTOS: Anders Osborne Solo and Keb’ Mo’ @ House of Blues – 1/29/12

Keb' Mo' @ House of Blues - 1/29/12 || Photo © Jimmy Grotting

Continue below for a photo gallery from the show and videos from Anders’ entire set || All photos by Jimmy Grotting. All Anders videos by Chris “Shaggy” Davis

Local guitar hero and songwriter Anders Osborne has been out on the road with GRAMMY-winning blues guitarist Keb’ Mo’ for a two-week winter run, ending (for Osborne) in his howetown for a Sunday night set at House of Blues. There’s something about a Sunday night in the French Quarter that is qualitatively different from other nights as the city takes a rare, collective deep breath from the events of the weekend. Wrapping a busy weekend of live music on Decatur with this 18th Anniversary accented both a great tour for the artists, and a solid weekend before the madness of Carnival season begins to take hold this weekend.

In keeping with his 2011 appearances in the Big Easy, Osborne once again appeared in a different light from shows prior, this time performing in the simplest, most bare bones manner possible. Osborne’s delivered a brief, seven song solo acoustic set and took the opportunity to debut some excellent new material to his loyal hometown fans, songs that will likely appear on his forthcoming LP (release date and title unconfirmed at this point). Playing mostly “songs about my addiction“, as Osborne remarked midway through the set, the singer bared his soul on the well-lit stage to the attentive crowd, opening with the powerful and introspective “Tracking My Roots“, a tune indicative in both gravemen and subject matter of the new material performed on Sunday night.

Anders Osborne @ House of Blues - 1/29/12 || Photo © Jimmy Grotting

After a short break, Keb’ Mo’ appeared on stage to the applause of the mostly middle-aged crowd and swooned the female contingent with every schwervin’ verse, wink to the crowd and mellifluous melody. Needless to say, if you came to the show with a date, chances are the night ended well for you. The band kept the grooves fairly mid-tempo throughout, stickin’ tight to in the milieu of jovial, old-fashioned country delta blues with an updated, contemporary tilt. The crowd (particularly female contingent) lapped it Keb’ Mo’s good-natured demeanor and mannered style, responding to the on-stage performance with an teen-idol’d attentiveness throughout.

Keb’ Mo’ – Soon As I Get Paid

Anders Osborne – Tracking My Roots

Anders Osborne – Black Tar

Anders Osborne – Mind of a Junkie

Anders Osborne – Bring Us Back Again

Anders Osborne – Back On Dumaine

Anders Osborne – Me & Lola

Anders Osborne – Coming Down

About the author

Wesley grew up in coastal Georgia and is a former resident of The Music City and The Big Easy where he helped get LMB NOLA off-the-ground after launching in January 2011. Over the past few years, he has also contributed steadily to JamBase and Relix Magazine. Recently, Hodges moved on to L.A. where Abita Beer is hard to find, costs about $6 if located and impromptu parading in the streets will most likely get you arrested on the spot.

 

Tags: Anders Osborne, House of Blues, Keb' Mo'