Music: Tedeschi Trucks Band And Raye Zaragoza At The Orpheum Theater

Last night I reentered the world of live music after a nearly four years hiatus.  The last concert I'd gone to was the Little River Band in May 2018.  COVID is still rampant but, being all vaxxed and boosted up, I masked up and enjoyed the show.

Raye Zaragoza warmed up the full
Orpheum Theater.

The warm up was Raye Zaragoza, a singer/songwriter with a very nice voice.

Raye sings from her life and heart.  Her songs varied from the stories of her Japanese mother to others about her Native American father.  Her songs have a social justice side such as the one about the dakota access pipeline.

I generally liked her music though some of her lyrics need a little polishing.  The crowd liked her, she had a great screen presence, and interacted with the audience.

Derek Trucks and Susan Tedeschi.

Raye left the stage and the Tedeschi Trucks Band took the stage and lit the orpheum on fire.  The bluesy voice of Susan Tedeschi and the bluesy rock of Derek Trucks meshed together to really transcend.

The best examples are their rendition of "Midnight in Harlem" and "Angle of Montgomery" - Susan Tedeschi's version rivals Bonnie Raitt.  The great songs just kept coming all night.  Sometimes I just closed my eyes and let the music wash over me.

The band was bigger than I expected - Twelve members, three brass players, three backup singers, two drummers, a keyboard player, a bass player, Trucks, and Tedeschi.  With all these people on stage they managed to give everyone their own solo and you haven't lived until you hear a bluesy trombone solo.  Totally amazing.

The Tedeschi Trucks Band.

It was a good musical start to the year ahead.  Next up on the schedule, Enter the Haggis in March.   Can't wait since the only thing better than a trombone solo is a bagpipe solo (yes ... I'm totally serious).