The Blues Brothers Band live in Athens July 2010

I am sure that you are all familiar with the Blues Brothers from the 1980 movie with John Belushi and Dan Aykroyd. They had however begun in 1978 as a sketch on Saturday Night Live and had already released an album before making the movie (and later released another one, apart from the soundtrack). The two brothers were John Belushi and Dan Aykroyd and their band consisted of well-established musicians (Steve Cropper, Lou Marini, Donald "Duck" Dunn, Matt "Guitar" Murphy among others). John Belushi sadly left us early in 1982. Nevertheless, the band reformed in 1988 and have been on the road since then, with different lineups, without of course John Belushi but neither with Dan Aykroyd who had already had a successful acting career. A sequel to the film was released in 1998, Blues Brothers 2000 with Dan Aykroyd reprising his role and John Goodman replacing John Belushi. They came back to Greece once again and on Wednesday 21, July 2010 they performed at the Lycabettus Theatre. (They were also due to appear in Salonica two days before that, but unfortunately their gig was cancelled because it was raining). In Athens the opening act was Matt O'Ree with a very good set. We love him because he's from New Jersey like The Boss. He even contacted me on my YouTube page where I had posted a video from that night to make sure that I made it clear that they were playing in Athens, Greece and not in Athens, Georgia! 

 

One hour later The Blues Brothers Band came on stage. From the original lineup Steve Cropper, Lou Marini and Alan Rubin were there. They started with a couple of instrumentals (Green Onions, Peter Gunn Theme) until the two singers (Jonny Rosch and Bobby Garden) gradually appeared. Highlights included my personal favourite She Caught The Katy (the song playing on the opening titles of the movie), Minnie The Moocher and of course Sweet Home Chicago.

They even brought a couple of kids onto the stage whom they awarded the honorary title of "Little Blues Brothers"! The best songs were left for the encore: 634-5789, Soul Man, I Can't Turn You Loose, and even Knock On Wood!

Setlist:
01. Green Onions
02. Peter Gunn Theme
03. Soulfinger
04. Going Back To Miami
05. Groove Me
06. She Caught The Katy
07. Messin' With The Kid
08. Shotgun Blues
09. Hey Bartender
10. Flip, Flop & Fly
11. Minnie The Moocher
12. (I Got Everything I Need) Almost
13. Sweet Home Chicago / I Can't Turn You Loose
Encore:
14. "B" Movie Boxcar Blues
15. 634-5789
16. Knock On Wood
17. Soul Man / I Can't Turn You Loose