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WARREN -- Southside Johnny & the Asbury Jukes brought the party to the Robins Theatre on Friday. Admittedly, it took a while for the party to get started.
The band needed a couple of songs to get in sync -- either the drums were a little fast or the band was a little behind -- and the mix initially made the horn section sound shrill.
It took the crowd some time to warm up, too. Frontman Southside Johnny Lyon wasn't getting the audience participation he was used to after many, many Mahoning Valley shows and chided the crowd for not singing.
Then there was the piercing, high-pitched squeal that interrupted "Hearts of Stone." The problem was coming from, of all places, a bass cabinet).
If anything, that issue seemed to make everything coalesce. Instead of starting "The Fever" with a stripped down arrangement, the band attacked the song full bore to drown out the whine and kept up the pace, closing the main set with "This Time It's for Real" and "I Don't Want to Go Home," and starting the encore with Bruce Springsteen's "Sherry Darling."
Lyon did slow it down on Sam Cooke's "A Change Is Gonna Come" -- one of his strongest vocals of the night -- before closing with Cooke's "Havin' a Party," which needed no encouragement to get everyone singing and dancing.
Lyon always has been a great frontman because he's equal parts singer and entertainer. Forty-seven years after the release of the Jukes' debut album, he's leaning more on the entertainer half of the equation.
Lyon and piano player Jeff Kazee did a few vocal duets, especially early in the show when the band played some Sam & Dave numbers ("You Don't Know Like I Know," "Broke Down Piece of Man," snippets of "Hold On, I'm Coming" and "When Something Is Wrong with My Baby") because Lyon said he has to present an award next week to Sam Moore and is nervous about it.
Kazee also doubled Lyons' vocals on a few songs, taking the higher notes. Lyon finessed his way through others.
None of the musicians except for Lyon date back to the original incarnation of the band, but the show still has a band vibe. It doesn't feel like Lyon and a bunch of supporting players. Saxophone player John Isley and horn players Neal Pawleyon trombone, and Chris Anderson on trumpet, got plenty of moments in the spotlight along with lead guitar player Glenn Alexander.
It wasn't always perfect, but it was a loose, fun set filled with Jukes' favorites -- "Hard to Find," "Trapped Again," "Love on the Wrong Side of Town," "Stagger Lee," "Walk Away Renee" and "Talk to Me."
The Weight Band opened the show with a 45-minute set that mixed favorites by The Band, originals from its album "Shines Like Gold" and covers of the Grateful Dead ("Dead") and Allman Brothers Band ("Come and Go Blues").
"Remedy," one of the songs guitar player Jim Weider co-wrote during his 15 years as a member of The Band, got the set off to a rousing start and keyboard player Brian Mitchell brought a Dr. John vibe to "Ophelia." Not surprisingly, the band closed with "The Weight," and the only complaint is that the set was too short to include "Up on Cripple Creek" and some more Band songs.
agray@tribtoday.com