Samantha Fish

The River Kittens, the duo of Mattie Schell and Allie Vogler from St. Louis warmed up the audience with their mandolin and acoustic guitar renditions of some traditional bluegrass and folk songs.

They were talented and lighthearted and provided a smooth start to the night. I especially liked the humorous “Dressing on the Side.” It was a great ending to their set.

After the River Kittens performed the lights dimmed and the crowd began to hum with anticipation. Samantha Fish blasted off her set by rocking the house with the heavy driving sound of well-played guitar with the backing of a world class band.

During the set Fish was accompanied by Jimmy Hall on Vocals and Harmonica. Sarah Tomek was on drums, Ron Johnson played bass and Matt Wade on the keyboard rocked the house with “Twisted” and “Loud”, two songs off her newly released album “Faster.”

Fish went on play the always popular “Chills & Fever” a song that just gets better every time you see her perform.

Samantha is on the ‘Top 10 Best Blues Guitarists in the World’ of Guitar World Magazine’s list who has also topped the Billboard Blues Charts numerous times.

During the night Fish changed up many songs by masterfully switching up guitars and the sound each produced as easily as she does genres. She switched from crooning blues to a rocking hard driving sound. The audience cheered her on as she did way more than warm the band up for her nights co performers The Devon Allman Project, she was scorching the place.

She finished her set with the four-string cigar box guitar and left the audience wanting more. The crowd responded with a standing ovation and calls for more. As always Samantha Fish gives her all in a show and she is one blues artist not to miss.

After the intermission and The Devon Allman Project did their set Samantha Fish retook the stage along with the Allman, Hall, MacCray and the River Kittens and the stage was filled with great artists to finish off the night with a tribute to Fleetwood Mac’s “Dreams” and Wet Willie’s “Keep on Smilin”.

Samantha Fish

Review by Donna Erichsen
Photos by George Bekris

Setlist:

Bulletproof
Loud
Twisted Ambition
Chills and Fever
No Angels
Kill or Be Kind
Watch It Die