Samantha Fish & Jesse Dayton - The Death Wish Tour
The Hall, Little Rock Arkansas, February 21, 2024
Smoking hot with a Grammy Award Nomination for Best Contemporary Blues Album, Death Wish Blues (Rounder Records, 2023), Samantha Fish and Jesse Dayton continue their tour in support of their recording, returning to central Arkansas after last playing in the state at TempleLive, Fort Smith on July 21, 2023. Fish continues to be a reliable draw on the blues-rock circuit, a status enhanced by the presence of Beaumont, TX native Dayton, who possesses a similarly impressive career.
The show offered no surprises, sporting the identical set list from the July performance in Fort Smith. So, what were Fish and Dayton doing before this collaboration? Fish’s most recent recording before Death Wish was 2021’s Faster, her second recording for Rounder Records. Fish has been pushing her material toward a more crossover/mainstream acceptable product. As has been true for many similar artists, Fish has been emphasizing the rock side of blues-rock as can be heard in Faster’s title song, which also contains phrasing and lyrics, not a little like Carrie Underwood (“Before He Cheats”). “Hypnotic” recalls a southern-fried Prince filtered through Muscle Shoals. Fish shares “Loud” with rapper TechN9ne in a driving multipiece rock anthem. The singer nicks the edges of contemporary rhythm and blues on “Like A Classic” and "All The Words.”
Beaumont native Jesse Dayton should be a household word if his extensive discography is considered. Delving into his recent discography the artist revealed has a much more Texas Red Dirt flavor than his contributions to Death Wish. The live recording On Fire In Nashville (Blue Elan Records, 2019) shows a wicked songwriter and guitar player. “Daddy Was A Badass,” “Hurtin’ Behind The Pine Curtain,” and “Take Out The Trash” show a diamond-hard sense of humor and drama. I recommend starting there to get to know this fine artist better.
Whether Samantha Fish and Jesse Dayton veered from their concert roadmap or not, they provided the environment for friends to get together and celebrate. I need to add all of my friends to my gratitude list, I am fortunate to have a good many of them.
Setlist: Kick Out the Jams (MC5 cover); Deathwish; Feels So Good (Junior Parker cover); Hello Stranger; (Barbara Lewis cover) Brand New Cadillac (Vince Taylor & The Playboys cover); Settle for Less; Bulletproof (Samanthaha Fish cover); Down in the Mud; No Apology; Trauma; I'll Be Here in the Morning (Townes van Zandt cover); Baby's Long Gone (Jesse Dayton cover); Lover on the Side; Dangerous People; Supadupabad; Flooded Love; Rippin' and Runnin'; I Put a Spell on You (Screamin’ Jay Hawkins cover); 7 and 7 Is (Love cover); Riders. Encore: Know My Heart; Goin' Down South.
Musicians: Samantha Fish: guitars, lead vocals; Jesse Dayton: guitars, lead vocals; Ron Johnson: bass; Jamie Douglas; Mickey Finn: keyboards.