Drive up & park for live blues by Montgomery and Marshall – Boston Herald

This weekend, the blues duo of James Montgomery and Bruce Marshall will be doing the one thing every musician in the area wishes they could do: playing a live show, with an audience, in the open air.

Three weeks ago, the Tupelo Music Hall became the first venue in America to experiment with drive-in concerts. Dover, N.H., native Tim Theriault was officially the first to play, followed by the first national name: prog-rock singer/bassist Kasim Sulton of Utopia, in a show that got some national coverage.

The experience is, of course, different from a pre-pandemic club show. Patrons are changed by the carful so you can get a bargain by packing your family in, but large RVs arent allowed. Drinking is also out since youre in a car, though the club will be selling food. Bands play outside the clubs entrance, and patrons either set up outside their cars or listen through their radio. And of course, theres no interacting with the band or the rest of the crowd and with a 6 p.m. start time, it ends well before pre-shutdown concerts usually began. But above all, its still live music, in as safe as a setting as it currently gets.

For singer/guitarist Marshall, the moment couldnt have come too soon. Ive literally been doing this as a pro for 46 years, and this is by far the longest I have ever gone without a show. James and I will be standing six feet apart but well be interacting; and Im going to have to watch out because hes got some serious lung power when he plays harmonica. But we wont be off in separate capsules. Ill have a mask on but Ill keep it around my neck when Im singing. Its a gigging mask, if you will.

Longtime mainstays of the local blues and roots scene, Montgomery and Marshall have already played every other kind of gig there is. They put their duo together 26 years ago, to fill space when their regular bands had a night off. Its a pretty high-energy duo; I like to tell people its an eight-piece R&B revue except that its only James and me. I used a looper on my acoustic guitar and he likes the big kicks and the long endings, so we do that. We play our originals and dip into our well of post-war blues, with Robert Johnson and Muddy Waters songs. I can see that for this show well have to animate a little more, maybe sell it a little harder. Its probably not the best time to pull off a crooning kind of ballad.

Marshall expects to play more drive-in shows over the summer as more venues start opening up. Ive talked to some people who are stick in the muds about it, theyll say I need that direct audience to musician connection and this just isnt for me. But look, this is what weve got right now. Its better than not playing at all, and things are going to get better. Im not saying this is the new normal because things will get back to the way they were. But I think this will translate well in the meantime.

James Montgomery and Bruce Marshall at the Tupelo Music Hall in Derry, N.H. Friday, at 6 p.m.; tickets $75 (per car) at tupelomusichall.com.

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Drive up & park for live blues by Montgomery and Marshall - Boston Herald