Featuring Sturgill Simpson and Opening Act Fantastic Negrito
By Jennifer Lamontagne | Observer Contributor
A smoky boat fire clouded the Harbor air before Sturgill Simpson took to the stage and fired up his special brand of alternative country music Saturday night at the Blue Hills Pavilion in Boston. Simpson rocked the house with his Kentucky swagger and heartfelt lyrics.
Fantastic Negrito, touring in support of “Last Days of Oakland” opened the show. The band performed a forty-minute set of heavy bluesy roots rock, which included “An Honest Man” and “In the Pines”. The band’s funky/jazzy beats were upbeat and energizing and the lead singer Xavier Dphrepaulezz sure knows how to work a crowd by weaving in his past as a person and performer in-between songs.
Simpson Kicked off the show with “It Ain’t All Flowers”, followed by “Breakers Roar”, it was immediately clear the songs would receive chunkier, rocking arrangements that were heavy on guitar shredding, and blistering jams that tested his rhythm section
Simpson sprinkled in several slower songs as well, performing “The Promise”, “Oh Sarah” and “Turtles All the Way Down”. About two thirds of the way through the set, the band left the stage for a series of acoustic solo numbers by Simpson that included “All Around You”, a chugging “Long White Line” and the passionate “Just Let Go”. The band then rejoined Simpson for a red-hot cover of Freddie King’s blues-rock classic “Going Down”, before closing the show with a blazing “Call to Arms”.
Simpson on more than one occasion during the show stated he had a sore throat and because of that, his vocals were hard to make out. The crowd seemed to know the songs well enough to step in at times. In light of it all, he still kept his fans engaged.
Simpson has produced his latest Album “Sailors Guide to Earth” and was nominated album of the year. The album was written for his infant son at the time and Simpson “wanted it to be something that when my son is older and maybe I’m gone, he can listen to is and get a sense of who I was” Simpson states on his web site. Simpson struggles with being a musician constantly on the road and being home with his family.
“There Will Be Nights That Go On Forever” are lyrics from the song All Around you. Judging from the 4,000 plus people in that pavilion, they too wished the night would go on forever.
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