J. Geils Band

The legacy of the J. Geils Bands is a tattered one. While they are known for being one of the most exciting live bands of the 70’s and early 80s, they also had the misfortune of parting ways with lead singer Peter Wolf in 1983, which was right around the time of the bands commercial peak (the bands single, “Centerfold,” was a number 1 hit for the group the year before), so a serious case of “what would have happened if they continued” always lingers over the bands legacy.

While they have not recorded as a full unit since the original breakup (save for 1984’s post-Wolf effort “Your Getting Even, While I’m Getting Odd”), they did go out on a successful reunion jaunt in 1999 and have recently been prompted to do gigs here and there (including an one off doubly bill with Aerosmith at Boston’s Fenway Park in 2010), so it was not too unexpected that the band scheduled more reunion (thought the band is not calling this a “reunion”) shows in Boston at the Bank of America Pavilion on August 6, 2011.

With most of the original band (drummer Stephen Jo Bladd was the only original member absent) on hand, Geils opened with the intense double shot of “Just Can't Stop Me” and “Hard Drivin' Man” which was a battle cry for the whole night as the band rarely let down the extremity all night.

Playing a near flawless set, the on-again-off-again J. Geils ripped through the 70’s radio warhorses “Lookin for a Love,” “Ain't Nothin' But a House Party,” “Detroit Breakdown,” and Wammer Jammer, while peppering in their 80’s mainstream hits that were MTV-staples (“Centerfold,” “Freeze Frame,” “I Do”).

While all in their mid-60’s, time has been generous to the band and Wolf, always one of Rock’s iconic front-men one again presented that the rumors of his legacy are still intact.

While Wolf always gets the lion share of the attention, Magic Dick was in rare form, blasting away on his mouth organ solo on Wammer Jammer. Keyboardist Seth Justman can still pound out soulful licks (most evident on “Musta Got Lost” and “Just Can’t Wait”) and bassist Danny Klein, while widely underrated, has always been the backbone of Geils sound and a big partof the bands powerful live sound.

The bands shows in the 70’s and 80’s at the Boston Garden are the stuff of legend in Beantown –while it was great to see the band there back in the day, it was much sweeter to see them on outside with the Boston Harbor as a backdrop.

Age and breakups don’t matter -the band once again proved on Saturday that their reputation is fully deserved.

Opening act, the Chris Robinson Brotherhood, is the solo project of the Black Crowes lead singer. Their bland set proved they were not the Black Crowes in any way and one wonders why the Crowes weren’t the opening band. As a Black Crowes/J. Geils show would have been legendary!