Fish started the fireworks with “Road Runner,” playing a burning slide guitar that rode on the rumbling rhythm provided by Go Go Ray on Drums and Chris Alexander on bass. Fish started the show with the sort of intensity that many acts end on, and she kept building on that foundation.
From there the band launched into “Blame it on The Moon,” proving that this was not going to be a quiet night of introspection. The title track, “Wild Heart” followed. Then, after another song, a slow blues rock ballad with a distinctly southern feel, Fish switched to acoustic guitar for “Lost Myself.”
Fish played electric, slide, acoustic, and cigar box guitar, demonstrating her superb fretwork and reveling in the exemplary musicianship of her bandmates. At times she swaggered across the stage like a badass bluesman, at other times she danced around like a whirling dervish, caught up in feverish intensity of the material.
“Black Wind Howling” was all furious attack and sonic squall, a storm of solos set against a thundering front provided by her accomplices. There were a couple of covers thrown in, but the night belonged to Fish’s own compositions. One of the best songs of the night was “Go Home,” a country soul ballad on acoustic guitar. The night closed with “Bitch on the Run,” leaving the audience with a profound sense of joy and awe at the energy and authority with which Fish and her compadres ruled the Birchmere stage.
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Photo courtesy of Steve Hefter @ www.rrb-live.com
