KICK OUT THE JAMS

Thursday, January 29, 2004
Copyright © Las Vegas Mercury

Kick Out the Jams

Jonny Lang at the House of Blues, Jan. 22

What a funny world we live in.

Take, for example, Mandalay Bay. The south Strip megaresort is unique in the local music events scene because it's one of the few hotel-casinos that regularly brings in nationally acclaimed pop and rock acts in several different on-site venues. Usually, the House of Blues is home to the edgier rock, blues, and hip-hop acts, while the pop stuff and those who can draw an arena crowd play the larger Mandalay Bay Events Center. It makes for a nice mix.

But the injustices of the music world are presented clearly on the advertisements running on plasma screens throughout Mandalay's casino. Who's coming up in the big events center? John Mayer, king of the whitebread blues. And worse, Hilary Duff. That means thousands of humans will crowd into a mid-size arena to watch Hilary Duff sing.

On my way to see Jonny Lang in the House of Blues, the fact that Lizzie fucking McGuire could sell out the events center is very depressing. But Lang's music is probably better served in the cozy confines of the HOB, and after all, he does play the blues. A packed house of middle-aged drunk Caucasians came to watch him play.

Did I mention they were all drunk? Real drunk. It was the kind of drunk that inspired wild cheering and beer bottle salutes every time the 22-year-old North Dakota native stepped back and broke into a searing solo. I guess there's something about being drunk that makes a great guitar player seem even better.

Mayer's day of judgment will come soon enough. His December concert with Buddy Guy added to his already growing reputation as a live guitar virtuoso. But he'll have to blow the roof off the Mandalay Events Center to get anywhere near Lang in the badass white boy department. After being dubbed a prodigy at age 16--not to mention being compared with Stevie Ray Vaughan before he was even old enough to drink--Lang has grown into his own style, which mixes those blues standards with grooving rock and R&B. His new range is demonstrated in last year's release, Long Time Coming.

The kid also shows off an underrated, deeply soulful singing voice. He looks like a Mormon missionary but sounds like Otis Redding's offspring. Then he goes into a Joe Cockeresque conniption fit and stabs out some squealing high notes, and all the drunk people go insane.

The gauntlet has been thrown down, Mayer. Let's see what you can do.--Brock Radke