Boz Scaggs could've sashayed on to the Bass Hall stage Monday night, run through his hits from the '70s for the capacity crowd and called it a night. Instead, the singer-guitarist -- who burst onto the scene with The Steve Miller Band before launching a solo career in the late '60s -- offered a satisfying tour through his bluesy musical roots with only perfunctory nods to his breakthrough 1976 pop album Silk Degrees.
The Bay Area-based Scaggs, who spent much of his youth in North Texas, signaled what was to come when he kicked off his 105-minute set with the swinging Runnin' Blue from the early '70s. In fact, he didn't play any material from Silk Degrees until 40 minutes in and that was a tepid, if still sweetly soulful, take on Lowdown.
While it was great to hear the hits -- What Can I Say, Lido Shuffle and Jojo among them -- he and his crack band (especially guitarist Drew Zingg) really came alive on such lesser-known tracks as Loan Me a Dime and Some Change that showed off Scaggs' appreciation for the blues.
One small complaint: With no opening act, Scaggs really should've given the appreciative crowd its money's worth and played at least two hours. He has almost 50 years of material to choose from and he can't play everything, but the absence of the likes of We're All Alone, Harbor Lights, It's Over, Dinah Flo, We Were Always Sweethearts, You Make It So Hard (To Say No), and Slow Dancer from the set list verged on the criminal.
Cary Darling, 817-390-7571
