Buddy Guy: Still the King of the Blues

by Dave Parsons

The Capitol Theatre is a historic gem nestled in downtown Wheeling, WV.  On a warm Wednesday, July 16, 2025, it was packed tight and humming with excitement. The excitement started months earlier when it was announced that Buddy Guy’s Damn Right Encore! tour was coming to Wheeling. At 88 years old, Buddy Guy is a national treasure, and having one more chance to see him in concert before a well-earned retirement was a true dream come true.

The Capitol was less like a venue and more like a living room powered by electricity. Before the man himself could strike a chord, a 16-year-old phenom Australian guitarist named Taj Farrant was already sending shockwaves through the crowd.

Taj arrived, with his small backing band, and for 45 minutes he unleashed blistering solos.  Taking us through covers of Stevie Ray Vaughn, Prince, and adding some originals within his set, it was apparent why Taj Farrant is already being billed alongside legends.  Before the last song, he gave a shy grin and a quiet bow. With a mature tone that’s half legendary status, and half youthful swagger, Farrant didn’t just open the show… he announced himself.

As the show took a brief intermission, the house lights faded, the stage lights came alive, and the emcee announced: Please make welcome, the Legend….Buddy Guy!

George “Buddy” Guy has been injecting raw emotional electricity into the blues since the late 1950s. He was born in Lettsworth, Louisiana, in 1936, and found his way to Chicago and the legendary Chess Records.  He has been a mentor to Hendrix, Clapton, and countless guitar gods, and he was a Kennedy Center Honoree.  He has won eight Grammy awards, and he remains the living proof of Chicago Blues.

Yeah, he’s a legend.

Turning 89 years young two weeks from this show date, someone forgot to tell Buddy Guy he isn’t a raw young artist like Taj, trying to make a name for himself. He is midway through this second run of his farewell tour, and from the first note of Damn Right, I’ve Got the Blues, it’s clear this isn’t a farewell….It’s a celebration in grand style.

With his trademark Polka-dot Strat slung low, he followed up with I’m Your Hoochie Coochie Man, already pulling the audience into participating: I’m your…  and everyone answered in kind. Watching him interact with the band, you know there was probably a setlist taped to the stage, but Buddy was calling the show as it went. 2 songs finished, and we were 12 minutes into the set already. 

By the end of the next song, She’s Nineteen Years Old, the show was 20 minutes in, and no one in the theater probably noticed, or cared.  Buddy was in touch with the music, and the audience was in touch with Buddy.  Buddy paused between songs to talk of lost loves and smoky dives, and some jokes probably told every night since the early days of his career.  They still got a laugh, and Buddy clearly enjoyed telling them.

Remember I mentioned the living room earlier?  About 2/3 of the way through his set, Buddy walked down the steps from the stage, stepped into the audience, polka dot guitar in hand, and played up the aisle.  He made a left in the lobby and walked toward the concession stand.  Once out there, he let a security guard strum a few bars, and then had the yellow-shirted lad lead the parade back to the stage.  He literally turned the Capitol Theater into his own living room!!!

Suddenly, it went from Buddy and his road manager to a rather large group of folks following Buddy Guy back down the aisle at the Capitol Theater.  Buddy saw a young man around 10 years old on an aisle seat, and proceeded, mid-song, to show the kid how to strum a guitar, while Buddy did the fret work.  That young man will probably enjoy his good fortune more in the years to come. 

Buddy Guy didn’t just play the blues in Wheeling.  He made it breathe, sweat, and roar. You could feel the heartbreak every time he bent the strings.  On a steamy July night, Wheeling felt like the Chicago South Side. It was raw and rooted, and when Buddy finally left the stage, the grin intact, the audience knew they had seen a living legend, and the love didn’t stop.

It never will.