Nick Moss Band – SPACE, Evanston, August 11, 2025
- chicagoblueseditor
- Sep 3
- 4 min read
Updated: Sep 4
Review & Photos: Jim Summaria
Nick Moss Band
at SPACE August 11, 2025
Review & Photos: By Jim Summaria
When Nick Moss took the stage, you couldn’t help but notice his physical presence. His broad physique was developed in high school where he played football and excelled as a wrestler. Due to a medical matter, he had to quit sports. While recuperating in a Chicago hospital, his brother Joe took him out for a bite to eat at a local blues club. Enthralled with the music he heard, Moss caught blues fever.
Moss already loved the music of Led Zeppelin, Free and Blind Faith but began listening to Peter Green's Fleetwood Mac, Buddy Guy and Freddie King for inspiration. By his late teens, he started his blues journey by playing bass with Scotty & the Rib Tips. While playing with Jimmy "Fast Fingers" Dawkins and Willie "Big Eyes" Smith, they encouraged him to switch to guitar. He furthered his blues education by playing with the legendary Jimmy Rogers.
Nick began his own band, Nick Moss and the Flip Tops in 1997 and later shortened the name to the Nick Moss Band in 2009. He's been leading the band ever since. In 2020, he won Blues Music Awards for Blues Band of the Year and his album Lucky Guy for Best Traditional Blues Album, a joint effort with harmonica virtuoso Dennis Gruenling.
The power trio that performed at SPACE in Evanston on August 11 included bassist Rodrigo Mantovani and drummer Pierce Downer. Brazilian born and bred Mantovani is considered one of the best blues bass players around. During the show he played stand up and electric bass. At only 23 years old, drummer Downer is the newest member of the Nick Moss Band. The pride of Willowbrook High School, Downer discovered his love of music while listening to and watching his father play in a popular local band, the Rhythm Rockets. The lessons Pierce took from local blues drummer Greg “Smokey” Campbell served him well when he went to audition for Nick Moss.
Like most blues artists the band winged it when it came to a set list; the Nick Moss Band played what they felt at the moment. The full house at SPACE was anticipating something terrific and that's what they got...and more.
The band kicked off the show with the jump blues instrumental "Okee Dokie Stomp" first recorded by Clarence “Gatemouth” Brown. Moss added an energetic guitar throughout with Mantovani and Downer supplying the swinging rhythm. They followed with a blistering boogie instrumental version of Tiny Grimes' "Frankie and Johnnie" featuring Mantovani and Downer showing their chops with solos.
The Delta Blues influenced "Don't Be Messin' With my Bread" by John Lee Hooker had Moss demonstrate his gritty vocals. The song has a hypnotic rhythm that had the audience grooving to the beat. The blues shuffle "Date Bait" by Blue Diamond Smitty featured Moss supplying a tasteful lead.
The band had fun with the Chicago-style blues tune titled "Howlin' For My Darlin" made famous by Howlin' Wolf. Moss delivered a growling vocal that recalled the gravelly voiced Wolf. Moss’s pleading vocals had the crowd feeling the blues with his rendition of Sonny Terry's tune "Had Blues All Around My Bed."
Surprise guest number one joined the trio for Magic Slim's blues shuffle "Living in my Neighborhood." Moss's wife Kate joined in the fun as she and her husband traded stellar guitar leads. It was obvious that the two had dueled before and Kate left the stage to a rousing ovation.
Nick then called up guitarist Willie Greesen to jam on the song "You Better Be Sure" complete with some Chuck Berry style riffs. Finally, SPACE co-owner and blues guitarist extraordinaire Dave Specter hopped onstage for a rousing version of Lefty Dizz's "Ain't It Nice To Be Loved." The two axmen took their time elevating this slow blues to an energetic crescendo.
Will Greeson & Nick Moss
With the band returning to its trio format, Moss brought out his slide and performed an impressive version of Elmore James "Done Somebody Wrong." But the group’s interpretation leaned more toward the Allman Brothers Band version on the album Live at the Fillmore East.
The three headed into another Sonny Terry ditty "Wine Headed Woman." Drummer Downer kept the song moving at a quick pace and Mantovani's aggressive bass pushed Moss along. All members again showed what they could do on their respective instruments by playing intriguing solos.
The band closed with a medley of two Hound Dog Taylor songs, "Give Me Back My Wig" and "Gonna Send You Back to Georgia." These infectious boogies had people stomping their feet and dancing in the venue’s open spaces.
The collective of Moss, Mantovani and Downer delivered the goods in a pure and honest way. Two guys from the Chicago suburbs and another from Brazil demonstrated that Chicago blues runs deep within their souls.
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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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