Jeff Gutt Debut Shines Bright
Detroit, MI - Saturday May 3rd, 2014 marked the debut of Jeffrey Adam Gutt’s post XFactor career and Dr2 was in the house to witness all the glory that comes along with such a momentous occasion! With all the fanfare usually reserved for the established artist, Gutt’s team successfully pulled off an amazing feat that had JAG fans flying in from around the world to pay homage to Detroit’s latest star on the national scene. In fact the deluge of fans waiting outside prompted the folks of the Masonic Temple to open the doors 30 minutes early, thrusting the venue into a near “Black Friday” mob scene as the #JAGarmy swarmed the JAG merch booth!
The night started off with a surprise bang with Gutt’s handpicked opener, Justin Alexander, who dedicated his opening song, of which he told the crowd “Jeff personally asked me to play this one, Happy Birthday Jeff” ripping into the Who’s Babba O’Reilly, complete with Pete Townsend like shredding…….all on an Acoustic guitar! From there it was pure bliss as the crowd roared their approval to his original song’s like Scared To Live and Ghost of the Night that had us wondering why this kid hasn’t been on more of Detroit’s stages until now. But it was his set ending tune, Back in Detroit that sent the crowd to its feet with a thunderous standing ovation that even had Jeff himself coming out onto the stage to embrace this young new star as they walked off the stage together.
Detroit is no stranger to huge shows coming to town, but when it’s one of their own, the shows take on a life of their own. Yes, Jeffrey Adam Gutt has been up and he’s been down, but tonight left no doubt that JAG is ready to rock the world and Detroit was ready (as well as the aforementioned world travelers) to help send him on his way. From the moment the house lights went down, the packed house inside the Jack White Theatre jumped to their feet and never sat down, dancing and fist pumping to every note along the way. From an Ode to his past, Gutt and band tore through songs from BWNN like Burn, and It’s Over, to songs from Xfactor like Creep, to a nod to the future with some of his new songs like Sugar Pill, as well as Shadows and Light, Gutt gave his fans exactly what they came for, a full on rock & roll show Detroit Style. Midway through, Gutt picked up his acoustic and took to the stage by himself sending shivers through our spine as he absolutely nailed Amazing Grace, before the band returned to help him finish his mind blowing version of Hallelujah. While the night appeared to stand still, everyone totally mesmerized by the fantastic lighting and amazing stage setting, Gutt came out one last time to close out the night with another Xfactor jam, Dream On, which brought back some distant memories to this writer as I was lucky enough to see Aerosmith perform that very song inside this very building decades ago. It was obvious this was Jeff’s night, Jeff’s crowd, and his fans made it clear that they were behind him, sending him off with an ovation that didn’t let up till the lights came on!
As Kid Rock likes to proclaim, There Ain’t no Party Like a Detroit Party, Cus a Detroit Party Don’t Stop, and that very statement held true tonight or is it tomorrow already……. Great job guys, let’s do it again soon, real soon! Before you go check out the photos from the show in the Dr2 Photo Gallery! DetroitReview.com ~ The Only Place for Local Music News & Reviews! Rock On!
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