Blues Traveler at Center Stage

Jam masters Blues Traveler brought their style of southern rock-blues to the Center Stage Theater in Atlanta starting and ending with an appropriate tip of the harmonica to Georgia fans.

Blues Traveler opened their 90+ minute set with a few bars of the southern anthem “The Devil Went Down to Georgia” which segued into an 18 song set list of the bands commercial hits, fan favorites, and deeper album cuts. The no frills stage and subdued lighting was an ideal platform from which vocalist and harmonica wielding John Popper eloquently traded vocal lines and harmonica leads center stage. Guitarist Chandler Kinchla and keyboardist Ben Wilson carried the rhythm on stage left while bassist Tad Kinchla and drummer Ben Hill laid down some serious backbeat on stage right. The artists stayed relatively fixed in position throughout the night while the loyal general admission crowd embellished the performance and the spirits throughout the venue.

Their mainstream hits “Hook” and “Run-Around” were nicely executed, though hard core fans have come to appreciate the bands live show for their impromptu sets which change night to night. The setlist pulled from 20+ years of music encompassing 8 albums and 4 live albums including “How You Remember It”, “But Anyway”, “Felicia”, “Crash Burn” and again closing out the set with “The Devil Went Down to Georgia”.

In this assumed unrehearsed format each night, the band demonstrates not only their diverse playing capabilities but their love for the live show and the “jam”. While somewhat removed from popular mainstream, the live experience of Blues Traveler is what the band embraces this day. It is a format that satisfies committed fans awhile making new fans night after night by introducing their music the way it was meant to be done – live, real, and off the cuff.

Allen Ross Thomas

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