With many concerts scheduled during the 2024 Summer Tour, Gary Clark Jr. was at the MGM Music Hall at Fenway on Friday June 7, 2024. The sold-out show was a moment of joy and jubilation to thousands of fans who attended the event. The concert started with Free Nationals, an American R&B band formed in Los Angeles. The group consists of José Rios (lead guitar, backing vocals), Ron “Ti Nava” Avant (keyboard, rhythm guitar, backing vocals), Kelsey Gonzales (bass guitar, bass synth) and Callum Connor (drums, percussion, backing vocals), played a musical style based on R&B, funk, and progressive soul.
The band released their debut single “Beauty & Essex” featuring Daniel Caesar and Unknown Mortal Orchestra on October 9, 2018. Their second single “Time” featuring Mac Miller and Kali Uchis, released on June 12, 2019, was the first official posthumous song from Miller since his death in September 2018. On December 13, 2019, they released their self-titled debut album through OBE and Empire Distribution. It was nominated for Best Progressive R&B album at the 63rd Annual Grammy Awards.
GARY CLARK JR BACKGROUND
Clark achieved global impact following his first Grammy Award in 2014. He won Best Traditional R&B Performance for the track “Please Come Home” from his Warner Records debut album Black and Blu. In 2015, with The Story of Sonny Boy, Clark won international acclaim, followed by more success after the release of This Land in 2019, his third full-length studio album. It reached #6 on the Billboard 200 chart, making his third consecutive Top 10 debut.
The release of This Land attracted acclaim from the New York Times, The Washington Post, The Los Angeles Times, Rolling Stone, Pitchfork, and more. He has performed on Saturday Night Live, The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, The Ellen DeGeneres Show, The Tonight Show by Jimmy Fallon, The Late Late Show with James Corden, Jimmy Kimmel Live! and more.
THE HEADLINING PERFORMANCE
At 9:15 p.m., Gary Clark Jr. and his band entered the stage. Many in the audience still remembered five years ago, when Clark played at Gillette Stadium with the Rolling Stones. A winner of Grammys in three different genres (rock/blues/R&B), he is recognized as an accomplished musician who has placed several albums in the top ten. During his career, Clark has shared the stage with acts like Eric Clapton, Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, B.B. King and more.
Leading a group of musicians full of talent, including his three sisters on backing vocals, Gary Clark Jr. was phenomenal during the two-and-a-half-hour concert. Not only did he play those Southern Blues like no one else, but he blew the public away during the concert by playing different styles of music such as folk, jazz, soul, and more. “He is the best”, said a man leaving the venue. Gary Clark Jr. gave an incredible performance at MGM Music Hall at Fenway. The way he involved the crowd when he played there was phenomenal.
SETLIST
Maktub
When My Train Pulls In
Hyperwave
JPEG Raw
This Is Who We Are
The Healing
Alone Together
Feed The Babies
What About The Children
Triumph
Our Love
Black and Blu
Bright Lights
Habits
You Saved me
Funk Witch U
KEEPING UP WITH GARY CLARK JR
Gary Clark Jr. is currently touring across 10 countries, and has 34 upcoming concerts. Their next tour is on June 11 at Radio City Music Hall in New York (NYC), then on June 12 at Stone Pony Summer Stage in Asbury Park. He will be heading overseas in July, starting with Paris, France on July 2, 2024. He’ll be stopping in Italy, Switzerland, Germany and more before wrapping things up in Ostrava, Czech Republic. This will be for the Colours of Ostrava 2024 taking place July 17-20, 2024. Photographs and recap provided by Joanna Gleason and Jean Senat Fleury.
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MGM MUSIC HALL AT FENWAY – WEBSITE – FACEBOOK – INSTAGRAM – X
JOANNA GLEASON – INSTAGRAM
DANCE YOUR FACE OFF – WEBSITE – INSTAGRAM – FACEBOOK – X – YOUTUBE
