Monday, Aug. 15, 2005 | 9:37 a.m.
As ushers at Boulder Station's Railhead herded latecomers to their seats at Saturday's show by the Robert Cray Band, the night's headliner squinted toward the opened doors at the entrance of the small hall.
"Close the door," Cray said, having just performed "Poor Johnny," the first song of his latest album "Twenty." "We're going to have a lot of fun in here -- we want it to stay in here."
A cheer went up.
The line sounded fresh but probably wasn't -- Cray has spent much of his career fine-tuning his stage patter in intimate venues such as the Railhead, where a near-capacity crowd of around 600 fans tapped and clapped their way through Saturday night's 80-minute show.
Cray and crew were characteristically tight and efficient. Nearly 20 years after the release of the great "Strong Persuader," Cray has constructed a predictably solid stage act. He sings a few bars in his resonant, high-pitched voice, plays an engaging solo on a trusty Fender Stratocaster, accepts applause and sings some more.
Not one for elaborate choreography, Cray stood with his shoes seemingly nailed to the floor. To borrow a boxing term, he could have done the show in a phone booth, as he grimaced and curled tightly around his guitar.
A blues veteran by anyone's assessment, Cray has been recording and touring since vaulting from Eugene, Ore., in 1974. His best moment remains the Grammy-winning "Strong Persuader," but anyone hoping for a large complement of songs off that album came away disappointed. In fact, there were as many solos by keyboardist Jim Pugh (two) as songs from "Strong Persuader."
Cray played only "Right Next Door (Because of Me)" and "Smoking Gun" off that album; thus, the chance to hear such spirited lyrics as "Room 16 ain't got no view/But the hot plate's brand new" from "I Guess I Showed Her" and "Give me an hour alone in a bank/Tell me a boat full of lawyers just sank" from "Nothin' But a Woman" was lost.
But the 52-year-old Cray, looking fit in a sky-blue button-down shirt and black jeans, kept the pace brisk and seemed to enjoy the exuberance of the assembled fans, most of whom appeared to be in his in his age division. As someone from the nether regions shouted something unintelligible, he joked, "I don't know, maybe you should find a good support group."
Backing Cray were a trio of serviceable musicians: basist Carl Sevareid, drummer Kevin Hayes and Pugh, who also co-produced "Twenty."
Late in the show Cray performed the title track from his most recent album, a song about a disillusioned U.S. soldier who signed up for the military to retaliate against the attacks of 9/11 and was shipped to Iraq.
One line: "Was supposed to leave last week/ Promises they don't keep anymore/Got to fight the rich man's war."
So jarring is the song that during this tour fans have reportedly walked out of Cray's performances. But that was not the case Saturday. This crowd, Cray's crowd, eagerly took it all in.
archive
