Gary Clark Jr. Showcases His Range at Seminole Hard Rock Tampa
It has been six years since Gary Clark Jr’s last performance in Tampa Bay. Headlining 2019’s Gasparilla Music Festival, the Austin native showcased more than just his Texas Blues prowess. Only months after the release of his album “This Land”, Clark brought new sounds and new messages to the Tampa festival crowd. The 2019 album was a turning point in the artist’s songwriting, adding synthesizer basslines and beats to his distorted guitar licks, and focusing on more personal topics like fatherhood, racism in the south, and relationship struggles through a demanding tour schedule.
Last Thursday, Gary Clark Jr. returned to Tampa on his JPEG RAW tour. The album of the same name continues branching out beyond the blues, exploring the genres of hip-hop, funk, and soul. Several tracks on JPEG RAW feature the very artists that have influenced Clark over the years, such as Stevie Wonder and George Clinton.
The call for social justice also continues throughout Clark’s newest album. The chorus of “Maktub”—the opening song of both JPEG RAW and Thursday’s Hard Rock show—finds the artist insisting it’s “time for a new revolution”. The older, mostly Caucasian, Florida Casino crowd seemed a little thrown off by the aggressive rumble and fast rhymes of the “blues” performer’s introduction. Clark’s next song, “This Is Who We Are”, seemed to be a fitting follow up. With lyrics stating, “I think I’m not who you think you thought I was” and “a little bird told me I’m too loud, a little bird better shut their mouth”, the tone for the rest of the concert was set.
“When My Train Pulls In” followed next, offering blues fans the Stevie-Ray-rhythm many of them may have expected. Clark continued skimming through his earlier albums, bending his strings into a higher pitched squeal on “The Healing” and “Feed the Babies” before settling into the solemn acoustic cry of “Church”. Between songs, Gary mentioned to the crowd that he thought he “looked cute tonight” in his stylish jacket and wide-brimmed hat reminiscent of Clint Eastwood’s “Man with no name” but admitted the outfit might have been a mistake in the Tampa humidity. Continuing the recent intimacy, the set pivoted back to the artist’s latest album with the jazzy R&B tune “Alone Together”, in which Clark finds himself bargaining with a fading romance.
“What About The Children”, originally recorded with Stevie Wonder, then lightened the mood with its soulful clavinet-heavy groove. Despite its uplifting delivery, the song continues the pattern of questioning racial inequality in America, asking “what about that good man, locked up from the streets, trying to make a dollar, to put shoes on his baby’s feet?”. “Blak and Blu” and “Bright Lights” then brought the show back to more familiar early tracks, with the ladder’s opening riff pulling most of the seated audience to their feet to sing along with “you’re gonna know my name by the end of the night”.
The show began winding down with another introspective R&B tune from JPEG RAW, “Habits”, in which Clark acknowledges his own errors in a relationship while pleading for another chance, claiming “I’ve got everything I need, more than I wanted, but it means nothin’ when you’re gone”. Gary Clark Jr. finished the concert with one last hip-shaking, guitar-roaring boogie- “Don’t Owe You a Thang”, leaving fans and many of the newcomers alike satisfied with the high-energy blues-rock climax from the skinny cowboy silhouette on stage.
