Shakey Graves with Preservation Hall Jazz Band and Wild Child at Canalside

Photographs by Janine Van Oostrom.

On the hot and sticky evening of Thursday July 14th the summer sun began to set as a crowd gathered along Buffalo’s canal for another instalment of the canalside free summer concert series. The stellar lineup for the evening included Wild Child, Preservation Jazz Hall Band, and the one and only Shakey Graves. 

The evening was kicked off by the indie-pop band, Wild Child. Through both their music and energy they created a happy feel good vibe among the crowd. With tapping toes and swaying hips the crowd soaked up the lively tunes and seemed to love listening to the music just as much as Wild Child loved playing it (which is a lot). They had an infectious energy up on that stage, one that quickly spread through the summer breeze and out into the growing crowd. You could not ask for a better band to start off the show and set the tone for the rest of the evening. 

Next to take the stage was the legendary Preservation Jazz Hall Band, a notorious New Orleans based band that is known for their southern style jazz and for the fact that they have been playing music for over 50 years. From the very first song they had the crowd dancing in a true jazz style with waving hands, tapping feet, and romantic twirls. By listening to the music and watching the crowd dance along one could easily imagine that they were down in New Orleans back in the 1960’s. Even those who weren’t there for the jazz couldn’t help but dance as the energy that the band brought with them was unbeatable. While although both of the opening bands were very different from one another together they perfectly represented what was to come when Shakey Graves took to the stage with his unique mix of jazz, folk, and rock. 

Finally as the sun was setting over the horizon and the crowd was all warmed up Shakey Graves walked upon the stage wearing a buffalo chicken wing on his head. He snidely remarked that “it’s not everyday I get to wear my favorite food on my head” and surprisingly he managed to keep it on for the entire first song ‘Roll Your Bones”. Yet even with the giant chicken wing as a distraction you couldn’t help but be pulled into his music from the very first notes. For the first two songs (and a few more times throughout the night) Shakey played solo on the stage using nothing but his guitar and a hand-made suitcase shaped kick drum. Throughout his set he pulled a stop and go show almost in the fashion of a roller coaster. He would build up the energy with a more spirited song such as “Dearly Departed” and then slow it right back down with something like “Only Son”. Yet if anything by doing this he added to the liveliness of the show opposed to taking anything away from it, and was able to keep the crowd intrigued and excited to see what was coming next. 

Now when it comes to listening to Shakey Graves not a single person can deny the raw talent that he posses. Whether it is the fact that he effortlessly pulls off being a one man band for the majority of his show or his rustic voice that has a way of carrying through a crowd. Of course you could see just by looking at the crowd the amount of admiration they had for him, with people literally bowing down to him in between songs. Not only does he posses an immense amount of musical talent but he also has a way of owning the stage and interacting with the crowd that makes it impossible to look away. Whether he was cracking a joke or giving a heartwarming speech about all of the misery in the world he always had the attention of the audience. Just by watching him play you could feel the passion he has for the music and just how humbled he was to be up on the stage playing. With his music being a mix of everything from jazz to rock and good old indie thrown in between he was able to capture the hearts of any type of music lover in the crowd, whether they were the die hard fans or the locals just out for a night of free music by the water.