review of Johnny Winter @ Stanhope House 12/15/11 As the local opening act said their goodbyes to a, predominantly, local crowd, Lazlo and I were consumed by the warmth and charm of the atmosphere in The Stanhope House. Now, allow me to preface this show by mentioning that Johnny was the second act out of a bill of three. This could have been due to the fact that Johnny is older now and has had some health issues, and an early show would equate to an early departure of the bar crowd. However, I like to think that Johnny Winter is confident in his accomplishments and well beyond craving the ego stroking of being titled, “the headliner.” Johnny’s band took the stage a few moments before he did, and they were incredible. The lineup of Scott Spray (bass), Wayne June (drums), and Paul Nelson (guitar) were air-tight and seemed to improvise flawlessly without stepping on toes. Slowly but surely and not without assistance, Johnny made his way on-stage. The laws of logic would suggest that an image such as this would likely set the occasion for a corresponding performance. He sat front and center in his chair, picked up his guitar, and played his ass off. Contrary to any premature assumptions formulated by his entrance, Johnny Winter sounded youthful. In fact, the most memorable feature of this performance was that, if I had no idea who Johnny Winter was and could not see who was playing, I would have thought that I was listening to a gritty, soulful, 20-year old blues act. Unfortunately, the vocals were buried in the mix. This could have been Johnny’s preference, but I thought it was a product of a mediocre house system and/or room acoustics. Nonetheless, his vocal dynamics, delivery, and pitch were flawless. - Matt Colligan www.johnnywinter.net Photos by Lazlo (click on photo see full size)