Blues Inferno – Des Plaines Theater, Des Plaines, June 7, 2025
- chicagoblueseditor
- 5 days ago
- 5 min read
Updated: 4 days ago
Review & Photos: Jim Summaria
Blues Inferno Tour with Chris Duarte, Alastair Greene & Kris Lager
at Des Plaines Theater in Des Plaines, IL,
June 7, 2025
Review & Photos: By Jim Summaria
The Blues Inferno tour blazed into the Des Plaines Theatre on June 7th with three red-hot blues rock guitarists igniting the stage. Chris Duarte, Alastair Greene and Kris Lager had different approaches to their playing but each delivered with burning passion.
Chris Duarte
Duarte was born and raised in Texas and was influenced by another Texan, the legendary Stevie Ray Vaughan. But his ferocious style is nothing like Vaughan. He plays with reckless abandon by combining blues, rock, punk, a little jazz and even some metal shredding. He escapes into improvised guitar solos like another one of his heroes, jazz saxophone genius John Coltrane. During his performance, he told the audience that he 'doodles' when taking a solo to see where the journey takes him.
His career received a kick start back in 1995 when he was named “Best New Talent” in Guitar Player magazines readers’ poll. That same year the magazine placed him fourth in the “Best Blues Guitarist” category. He's recorded fifteen albums, the latest released in 2023.
Duarte's headlining portion of the show was a frantically paced 90 minutes. Throughout his performance, his fingers flew up and down the guitar neck with blazing speed producing sounds of six string ecstasy. His raspy vocals complimented his virtuosity.
He kicked off his set with an unnamed instrumental that hinted at the high energy performance to follow. His rhythm section was setup in the background, putting the spotlight on Duarte’s showmanship. Their mission was following the guitar slinger wherever he took them musically.
The native Texan played several songs from his latest album Ain't Giving Up: the country rock sounding "Bye, Bye, Bye," the crunching "Lies, Lies, Lies" and the heavy "Come My Way."
"Angry Man" from his Lucky 13 album - a song reminiscent of Ten Years After - was a highlight, as was a beautiful acoustic version of the Beatles "For No One."
Duarte also played many songs from his vast catalog including a Hendrix influenced "Scrawl," the blues shuffle "Make Me Feel So Right," and three Texas flavored blues rockers "Letter to My Girlfriend," "Big Legged Woman," (a Freddie King favorite) and "My Way Down" which had Duarte adding a nod of gratitude to Stevie Ray Vaughan.
One number that stood apart was a lengthy version of "5 AM in Los Angeles." Duarte's rap vocal was accompanied by haunting psychedelic music could have been a song written and performed by Jim Morrison and the Doors.
Alastair Green
Austin, Texas resident Alastair Green preceded Duarte’s performance. He grew up in a musical family in California. His grandfather played in Stan Kenton's band, who inspired young Alastair to make music his career. He took to rock music and especially blues players like Duane Allman, B.B. King and Johnny Winter.
He briefly attended Berklee College of Music, but quit to hit-the-road with his newly formed band. He has eleven solo albums with his latest Standing Out Loud released in 2024. He's also a touring guitarist with the band Starship featuring Mickey Thomas and has toured as a member of the Alan Parsons Project -- impressive credentials.
Greene's style differed from Duarte’s by embracing a more melodic style of blues guitar that blended with his soulful voice. He tended to play within the confines of each song with more controlled solos… stretching out just enough and then pulling back in a manner that left the listener wanting more -- a very tasty display of musicianship.
Greene quietly took the stage and blasted into a Texas style instrumental titled "Back at the Poor House" from his The New World Blues album. The song was highlighted by an amazing wah-wah solo. The song’s rhythm was contagious.
Greene played several songs from his Standing Out Loud album. The country rocker "Temptation" had the crowd dancing and the title song "Standing Out Loud" made me think of British guitar great Robin Trower. The slow blues "Rusty Dagger" featured a soaring solo. He then played stirring slide guitar on "Slow Burn."
He honored the great Rory Gallagher by playing a raging rendition of the late Irish guitarist’s song “Bullfrog Blues." His joy was on full display as he exchanged smiles with his band mates and did Gallagher proud with his slide work.
Other songs from his album The New World Blues were the rocking "Living Today" and the Delta blues "Bayou Mile." His singing on the latter shined.
He went all out on the electric blues song "Love Too Strong" starting with a great blues guitar run and then screaming out the opening lyric: "Hey baby, you throw your love on me way too strong." His voice pleaded and his guitar wept. He also added an instrumental song that he described as an all-out boogie extravaganza -- a self-described work in progress that has yet to be titled.
Green’s "The Sweetest Honey" was a heavy rocker that started out like a Van Halen tune, but Greene saved the best for last. As a tribute to his idol Johnny Winter, he rocked the house with an extended version of Winter’s "Mean Town Blues." Greene was “in the zone” as he disappeared into his guitar solo, as did the audience as they shouted their approval.
Kris Lager
Kris Lager opened the show with a short set and put on a terrific performance playing songs from his new album Black Dirt Troubadour as well as others from several self-released albums.
Lager was raised in Lincoln, Nebraska and still resides there. His music is blues based with touches of soul, funk, country and some zydeco to add flavor. He knows how to embrace an audience by his fun-loving humor and upbeat personality.
All three guitarists came together for an encore and traded riffs on the old blues tune "Hey Lawdy Mama." It was a long night of rock and blues with incredible guitar work. I would be remiss if I didn't offer kudos to the musicians who provided superb backup to each of the guitar front men.
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Jim Summaria began professionally photographing rock concerts in 1973 at the age of 19 when he became the staff photographer for the Chicago rock concert promoter Flip Side Productions. Jim's photos have been published in numerous books, magazines and CDs. His rock ‘n’ roll photos have been viewed at the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, the Illinois Rock & Roll Museum and Hall of Fame on Rt.66 and the Grammy Awards. Jim and writer Mark Plotnick co-authored the books Classic Rock: Photographs From Yesterday & Today and the October 2024 release ‘70s Chicagoland Rock Concerts. Jim and Mark also co-host the radio podcast That Rock Show on the Illinois Rock & Roll Museum platform.
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