JJ Grey & Mofro

Wednesday March 18th. Islington Academy. JJ Grey and MOFRO. It’s the three amigos tonight at the @O2islington. It’s a good sized venue with a high stage offering good sightlines, but get there early as it soon fills up and it’s a real struggle to move from the door into the middle of the venue if you don’t.

@JJGREYandMOFRO are a southern country, blues, soul, R n B band. Mr Grey is blessed with one of those great throaty southern soul voices with a great range from a deep baritone to a balls out top of the scale yell touching all points in between.
Over these shores to promote the new album Ol’ Glory which is a little more measured than some of their previous releases they storm right in to a wail of guitar and thunder through the first song. JJ is a fine guitarist although he shares the duties tonight with his right hand man.

The band is tight with an impressive drummer, bass, horn section and a superb organist who raises the bar on every song. From the off they are out to have fun and JJ encourages them all to give a little bit more on their solos throughout the night. A broken string means an impromptu shuffle of the set list but who cares when the music is this good.
The new tracks stand out well and as is often the case given that added energy from being performed live. Early on in the evening what could be described as their holy trinity of standout songs, ‘99 Shades of Crazy’, the elongated sing-along ‘Brighter Days’ and the groove heavy ‘Country Ghetto’ threaten to peak too soon but we needn’t have worried as they keep the momentum going.

The band clearly love playing together and are often indulged into solos encouraged by their enthusiastic front man with maybe one too many bass solos for me. There are many crowd participation moments who are completely engaged and rapt by the show.
They close with the title track of the new album and it’s all over for a highly energetic, musically satisfying gig

Saturday night shows typically start late, end later, and this was no exception. JJ Grey and Mofro didn't start playing until 10:30pm, so I was a bit agitated and I suppose I am showing my age by wanting an earlier show.

Opener Luther Dickinson was boffo, with a surprise appearance by Amy Helm. It was just Luther and a drummer, who also played the guitar while sitting at his drumkit. He is a great showman, and he brought his A-game, slide guitar, vocals, the man is great.

JJ Grey's voice is amazing, and he was in top form. I was surprised to see that guitarist Trube was not on stage, I later learned that he left Mofro to pursue his own band. The replacement was good, and I was surprised to see JJ play many guitar solos himself!

There were a few extended jam sessions, which surprised me but it in no way disappointed me. His record tracks are short and sweet. I LOVED "Ho Cake", each band member took turns soloing. And wow! Just wow!

The Capitol Theater is a great venue, all in all a wonderful Saturday night show!

Another incendiary performance from the swamp funk rock god , JJ Grey! Seems like he just gets better w age, if that's possible! Had two friends with me that had never seen him & they were floored. Fantastic outdoor downtown park venue let the full sound of mofro come thru better than any indoor venue where I'd seen them before. He went through almost all of his hits with a lot of singalongs from the crowd. Smoking rendition of Orange Blossom brought down the house. He's always been great at giving plenty of exposure to his band & this night was no exception. Each musician shined individually & collectively were as tight as any band anywhere. Coming off a 2 week break from touring Grey was energetic from beginning to end , stomping & storming his way through a full 2 hour show. Coming back for a encore of This River , Grey had kind words for the crowd & left them wanting more! This a man & his band at peak form & is a can't miss show in my book!

JJ Grey & Mofro's blend of soulful, bluesy, swampy, funky, down and dirty rock n roll is unmatched by anyone. Seeing them live is an abSOULute treat. JJ's voice is one of the greatest soulful, deep and raspy voices of all time. It grabs you and holds you with every well written song they so. His passion, love for what he does and fun he has on stage makes you feel like you are a friend of the band. Their songs are simply outstanding whether they are a tender soulful ballad, bluesy funky tune or rocking tune. Amazing. Anthony Farrell on keys and Andrew Trube on guitar and an incredible dynamic to this band as they are outstanding musicians withers the same passion and commitment to their craft as JJ. This is one of my favorite bands that is outstanding live every time I see them. Can't wait til the next show!

Wilmington loves JJ and JJ love Wilmington. It is amazing how the greenfield venue lends itself to creating a wonderful and warm feeling between the artists and the guests. JJ is such a great entertainer and his band is just down right great.
The song list bounced back and forth from sing alongs that everyone knew and more obscure material where the band was loose to jam... and let's face it , its all about the jam. You don't go to concerts to here bands regurgitate the material that we could sit at home and hear on our own sound system. JJ Grey and Mofro did not disappoint , right down to the drummer who has only been with the band for 2 sessions prior to the show last night. I will end this review by saying EVERYONE WAS DANCING.....

JJ Grey & Mofro's performance at the Pensacola Seafood Festival was fantastic. It was the first time I had ever seen them in concert since learning of the band. They all seemed to be in a great mood and really had fun on stage. At one point in the middle of 'Sweetest Thing' the power went out to the whole stage area. So the band started playing as best they could with no power, and the audience sang the words. It was awesome. We have all seen and heard about bands getting upset and throwing a fit or leaving if something like this were to happen. Not these guys. They played on without power, they kicked back in when the power came back on like nothing happened. Class act.

JJ and the boys brought their usual energy and the crowd was very enthusiastic and engaged. Other than some technical difficulties with the main speakers above stage right (for the performers/left for crowd), it was another solid performance. A good mix of old tunes and new tunes from Ol' Glory. A few folks were disappointed to not hear Sweetest Thing, Florabama or Orange Blossoms and I was hoping to hear some Tic Tac Toe, Everything is a Song from the new album. Love Hurricane too, but can see that not being a concert regular.

Throw in a very solid performance by the very talented Maggie Koerner and it was a great night at The Vinyl.

I haven't seen JJ Grey & Mofro in 12 or 13 years, and they have only gotten better with age! JJs voice is so strong and rich, and the band play as a cohesive unit. The jamming was great fun without going on forever.

The only thing the concert lacked was more time!!! They were a great opening act, but Chicago needs to see them headline!!!!

I didn't know how well known they would be known here in Chicago, but the crowd was on its feet singing along; I'd say that they could fill a theater for more than one night.

Please come back to Chicago, JJ & Mofro!!!!!

Another fantastic JJ Grey & Mofro experience! JJ brought his typical enthusiastic, energetic presence to the stage. All the guys were dressed sharp and ready to play in this fairly new, unique venue. Acoustics were good, lighting was good. Great Lochloosa, Brighter Days and Sun is Shining (Glory, Glory, Hallelujah). Added a cover of Seminole Wind on the sitdown guitar....very enjoyable. Also added a cover of Hey Jude....got the crowd involved. I have always enjoyed seeing him live and love having the ability to do so in small, personal venues.
Thanks JJ!

Great experience! Please don't miss this!

Marc Broussard kicked the gig off and he did not need more than half an hour to get the crowd grooving.

Once JJ Grey entered the stage a two and a half hour long lasting roller coster ride was started. Every song is an experience of its own. JJ is interacting perfectly with his band and the audience, taking everybody to a better place...

Go for it, as long as they are playing in smaller venues. Once they will be playing in bigger places you may not be able to get so close to the eye of the hurricane...