Dream Bill Creates Blues Nightmare

The show at the Music Machine on Saturday could have been a buoyant celebration of the Chicago blues tradition. In the past, Pinetop Perkins, Jimmy Rogers and Hubert Sumlin all played important supporting roles to the premier Chicago artists--pianist Perkins and guitarist Rogers with Muddy Waters, guitarist Sumlin with Howlin’ Wolf.

But the trio’s hourlong second set turned into the blues nightmare: half-hearted, under-rehearsed performances of overdone blues standards. Rogers and Perkins were only on stage for three songs apiece, and the pedestrian support by the New York-based Little Mike & the Tornadoes contributed to the soporific pace. An extended encore featuring Perkins and Sumlin was the only occasion when the musicians sounded as if they were doing more than going through the motions.