A Night to Remember - Kingfish and Mathias Lattin Live!!

Photo by Paul Busby

Last weekend, my brother and I were able to catch a couple of young blues stars in action at a venue 25 miles away.  I haven't gotten to see a lot of live shows in the last ten years due to events that unavoidable, but things have gotten better in recent years.  There have been some great shows at the MSU Riley Center in Meridian, MS, which is about thirty miles from home, and the Ellis Theater in Philadelphia, MS, which is about 25 miles away.

The Ellis was opened in 1926 as a movie theatre until the late 50's and later repurposed for live performances.  It was revitalized and reopened in 2022 as part of Philadelphia native Marty Stuart's Congress of Country Music.  It has hosted a variety of live acts during that time in the country and blues genres....one of the first acts to play the Ellis was the North Mississippi Allstars and my wife and I saw Dorothy Moore there a couple of years ago.

Last weekend the Ellis hosted Christone "Kingfish" Ingram, one of the rising stars of the blues.  About 12-15 years ago, my good friend Joe (who wrote a few posts here in the blog's early years) sent me a video one Monday morning.  He had traveled up to Clarksdale and had checked out the blues at Ground Zero.  The email said, "This guy is supposed to be 13 years old......unbelievable!!  They call him Kingfish."  The video, which I can't find now, just blew me away.  I mean, he looked like a pre-teenager up there, but he was playing guitar like a seasoned vet.

It's been really neat to watch this young man develop and show  up on television and videos across YouTube.  His albums for Alligator were great, especially the Live in London release in 2023, mainly because it showed him in his natural element, live performance.  In September of last year, he released Hard Road on his own Red Zero label (FBF reviewed it last fall) and I think it was his best studio release yet.

So, yeah, I was a little excited for the opportunity to see Kingfish in a live setting.  I've heard so many stories about him over the years that I grabbed up tickets the day that they went on sale back in January.  At the time, I didn't realize he would have anyone opening for him.  Last week, they announced that Mathias Lattin would be opening, which excited me even more.

(Note:  While I do take photos....all of the ones below......I don't usually record the music to share because #1 the sound is usually distorted, so you can't really hear it, #2 I'd rather hear it and experience it first-hand instead of playing it back later, and #3 because I feel kind of guilty doing it..... I guess that goes back to the What's Happening TV episode where Rerun tried to illegally record the Doobie Brothers' concert 😉)

The Houston-born Lattin won the 2023 International Blues Challenge and Best Guitarist.  He was 20 YEARS OLD, the youngest to ever win both awards.  He began playing around Houston when he was 12 and joined The Keeshea Pratt Band, who won the IBC in 2018.  He released Up Next not long after he won the IBC and it was one of my 20 favorite albums that year, along with Kingfish's Live in London.  Lattin, now 23 years old, was recently signed to Red Zero Records, so hopefully, we will be seeing a new release from him soon.

The theatre was packed when Lattin took the stage, backed by his longtime bassist and drummer.  They turned in an excellent 45 minute show, playing five or six songs.  Lattin is a triple threat as a songwriter, vocalist, and guitarist.  He played some great guitar that reminded me a lot of other Texas guitarists I'd heard over the years, but with his own distinctive touch.  He's also a great vocalist and the audience really enjoyed his back-and-forth with them.  He was certainly comfortable on stage and confident as a performer and my brother and I both figured he would be a hard act to follow.  He and his band did a marvelous job.

Kingfish followed after a short break and it was an incredible show.  He performed several songs from his Alligator releases and a few from Hard Road and it was pretty amazing.  His band also did a fine job....their bass player was relatively new to the band and he was an absolute monster.  Their regular keyboardist didn't make the show, so Buddy Guy's regular keyboardist Dan Souvigny sat in.  

Kingfish's music has continued to evolve over the years and while most of the guitar clips you've heard from him over the years are of him just shredding, you really need to check out his recordings for the big picture.  He's been incorporating different musical styles into his blues beyond rock, such as funk and soul on all his albums, but it's really evident on Hard Road.  All of those styles were present during his show.  His playing has such feel..... it's so far beyond that shredding that some people associate with him.  His guitar playing is like an extension of his soul and serves as his voice as much as his own voice does.  He left it all on the stage.....well, except for that 10-15 minute segment where he walked out and played in the audience, stopping about five feet from where we were standing.  

Mathias Lattin came out and joined Kingfish for the encore and they had a playful headcutting contest that was a lot of fun, not just for them but for the audience who stuck around.  I'm really excited about the future releases on Red Zero from both of them, and singer Dylan Triplett, another Red Zero signee.  

All in all, the show was one that I won't soon forget, actually one of the best I've seen in a long time, and I hope that I get the chance to see them again soon.