On Friday night, Dave and I saw the legendary Buddy Guy live on stage at the Montreal International Jazz Festival during one of his Canadian stops on his The Damn Right Farewell Tour.

Let me first state on record, that Buddy Guy is the coolest performer on stage right now. There are some artists that have mindblowing light shows, fancy backup dancers, aerobatics, and elaborate sound effects and gimmicks.

Buddy has a wailing guitar, a distinctive blues voice, and a presence that commands the entire audience. He has soul.

He walked out on stage wearing a black and white polka-dotted shirt with grey overalls, sneakers and a ball cap looking like a hip train engineer. He was dapper, self-deprecating, humble and very, very funny. He was the definition of cool. When he was telling stories of what it was like playing with other blues greats, you could hear a pin drop in the audience.

Born in 1936 in Lettsworth, Louisiana, Buddy made his own guitar at age 13 and learned to play by trying to reproduce the sounds of bluesmen he heard on the radio. 

He told stories of coming to Montreal as a young musician and playing at a blues club on St. Catherine Street with Mama Cass, BB King and other greats.

In true Buddy Guy fashion, he let his guitar do the talkin’. He wailed through riffs and licks, making his guitar sing and scream the blues. His vocals were as strong as ever, but I was struck by how much he played the crowd as he played his instruments. He had both of us in the palm of his hands.

This is Buddy’s last tour and you could tell he was a bit nostalgic and reflective. He talked about how you don’t hear blues music on the radio anymore and how all his old friends and fellow blues musicians tasked him with keeping the blues alive. He’s made that his life’s passion. He also adjured us to make this world a bit better and love one another.

You can still catch Buddy on tour, but most of his tour dates now are in the US and Europe.

It was an unforgettable evening and I just want to say, thanks, Buddy, for keeping the blues alive.

The blues don’t lie. Damn right.