Peter Case wowed ‘em at the Bean - were you there?

  Everyone who showed up at The Sentient Bean Coffeehouse on Forsyth Park last night to catch legendary folk-rock-power-pop-country-blues singer/songwriter Peter Case was treated to an intense solo show that more than lived up to expectations.

After a solid, impressive opening set by the flat-out fantastic emale North Carolina string band/quartet The Near Misses, Peter took the stage for an extended headlining set that found him featuring songs from his brand-new release Let Us Now Praise Sleepy John, as well as nuggets from his back catalog (he opened with the standout track from his second solo LP, “Put Down The Gun”), as well as covers of tunes by Blind Willie McTell, Sleepy John Estes, Blind Lemon Jefferson, The Beatles and Jimi Hendrix (an wild and affecting acoustic version of “Waterfall”).

In between songs he bantered with the mostly respectful and quiet crowd (many of whom were intimately familiar with his ouvre) and spoke fondly of his formative years as a musician playing in garage bands in Buffalo, NY and later in Los Angeles at the dawn of the L.A. punk and new-wave movements.

Kudos to The Bean for bringing in such an esteemed artist. It was a shame there weren’t more people there - especially high-schoolers, as this is one of the only places to see top-quality live music in town that is open to ALL-AGES.

Where are all the kids who dig live music? Where are all the college freshmen who aren’t old enough to get into bars? Why aren’t they showing up to these inexpensive, intimate shows and soaking up all this great talent, history, enthusiasm and art?

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