The closing act of ‘An Ode to the Blues’ at Counter Culture was Blackstratblues featuring Guitar Shorty (or was it the other way around????). Warren Mendosa played what I thought was an insane set because of the pressure of having to play alongside an experienced blues man in Guitar Shorty. Blackstratblues ran through some of their popular numbers including the crowd favourite Ode to a Sunny Day before Guitar Shorty joined them on stage.
Jai Row Kavi on drums was his usual power house self, but even he was unable to keep up with Warren Mendosa, who got carried away and started rushing through his leads. and needed to be reigned in.
Guitar Shorty made quite an entry, and joined the band on stage for the rest of the gig. I’ll be honest in saying that this was the first time I have heard him play and I was supremely impressed at how a man at the age of 74 was playing such fantastic leads. Thanks to some wireless tech, Shorty walked off the stage to mingle with the audience and continued to play guitar as he walked around the venue. That drove the crowd completely bonkers. Shorty and Blackstratblues brought the roof down with their renditions of Hey Joe and Born Under a Bad Sign. It was the most insane end to an evening of superb blues.
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| Mendosa from Blackstratblues |
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| Jai Row from Blackstratblues |
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| Guitar Shorty |
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| And the crowd goes wild.. |
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| Blackstratblues with Guitar Shorty |
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