Bonnie Raitt

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... .....June//02 Oakland

Official Music Publication on The Web Representing The Bay Area

Best Seen with "Explorer"

Bonnie Raitt
"Rocking The Blues Away"

..Four decades into her career, Raitt is making some of her most daring music and also some of her friskiest. Her knee-buckling slide-guitar show on "Gnawin' on It," in tandem with longtime Hooker producer Roy Rogers, is the stuff that first made her the toast of the ,folk-blues scene in the early '70s.
.... The sultry- of "No Getting' Over You," in which Raitt's bottleneck excursions do some dirty dancing with Jon Cleary's Professor Longhair-flavored piano. Raitt flourishes with the blues and her band, some of whom have played with her for more than 20 years of consistent touring, was solid in Funk, folk, Mississippi blues and moments of African-inspired blues.
.......Touring in support of her 2002 release, "Silver Lining," Raitt's 16th album, Raitt was in her usual laid-back mood, laying out sobering remarks to the audience as if she were talking to old friends. Which she was. Raitt let it be known that she recorded "Silver Lining" with her road-tested band, something that wasn't necessarily evident in the recording but made her proud nonetheless. James "Hutch" Hutchinson - her veteran bassist - and guitarist George Marinelli packed personality into the live sets and helped make even the new material sound different from its recorded form.
...... Raitt started her set with "Love Letter" from 1989's "Nick of Time," the CD that most have credited with bringing Raitt's career back from the dead. At the Paramount Theater her color scheme was one of the most striking in recent memory: a loose Blue shirt played off her rusty hair, all of which was backed up by droning orange lights that blend. The first song off her new disc, "Fool's Game," followed with Raitt turning her twang up to a 10. "It feels good to pack this joint," the eight-time Grammy winner said to the capacity crowd before embarking on the lyrical journey of "I Can't Help You Now," another new song that fits so tightly in the Raitt mold that it seems like one of her older tunes.
.....More known for her ability to compile other people's material on an album than for her own songwriting capabilities, Raitt modestly paid due notice to the songwriters responsible for her repertoire, often thanking them for their contribution. One of the most compelling collaborations both on disc and in performance is the African gospel version of "Hear Me Lord." Raitt crossed cultures and took a subtle approach to the gentle songwriting and the driving beats, and it was one of the more powerful moments of the concert, getting the entire crowd on its feet and clapping for the first time.
....The end of her set gave the audience "Something to Talk About," one of Raitt's most successful commercial draws from 1991's "Luck of the Draw." And her encore brought on the love with "I Can't Make You Love Me," with Raitt standing solo centerstage . She used to not sing that song reminding her of sad relationships, but now she draws the love she feels from her fans.

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