Photos by Takesi Ken Akamatsu

Friday, June 16, Reverend Freakchild returned to Darwin’s as the opening act before The Mike Lowry Band. My husband and I got to talk to him before after his performance and it was like re-uniting with an old friend, even though we only met him once before, at the former Darwin’s location last year. There were not a lot of people at his performance, as I think many people did not realize there was an opening act. But those who were there really appreciated his renditions of traditional blues songs, including numbers from Howlin’ Wolf, Skip James and others. Of course, for the Reverend there had to be a little Dylan creeping into “See That My Grave Is Kept Clean.” Who knew “It’s Alright Ma (I’m Only Bleeding”) was such a natural fit? And the Reverend Billy Gibbons and his band provided “Jesus Just Left Chicago.” Then there was his own best-known song, “All We Got Is Now.” As always, Reverend Freakchild was relaxed, philosophical, and a great acoustic performer.

Then the Mike Lowry Band took the stage. Their act mixed country, blues and rock, starting out with a hard country song,Grandpa,” which really riveted our attention.  Their act also included some great renditions of Beatles songs like “Come Together.” along with some original tunes. They were tight and their act is bound to appeal to a wide range of ages and musical tastes.

It was another magical musical night at Darwin’s where there’s always interesting stuff going on!