Johnny Winter, who played B.B. King's last night as part of his residency there, is 65 years old, needed assistance coming on and off the stage, and sat through his entire set. His ghostly white face was hidden underneath a big black hat, and he sounded like a shell of his fierce former self. But, make no mistake: Winter remains one of blues' baddest guitarists, staring straight ahead while shredding his Erlwine Lazer and Gibson Firebird like someone half his age. Frankly, it's too bad noone took me up on Saturday's trivia question, because you missed one of the most thunderous displays of guitar playing you're ever likely to see in NYC. It was the electric equivalent of a late-Horowitz piano recital, the mind and hands defying the rest of the body's decay.
Fortunately, for those with the cash, you still have one last chance to catch the Texas guitar great at B.B.'s next Monday. This is one Winter you won't need your muffler for. (More pics below.)
