Originally billed as An Evening with Sturgill Simpson, a concert at Forest Hills Stadium got turned all around when it sneakily became apparent to the attendees that Simpson was performing under his new alias, Johnny Blue Skies. How many fans knew this before entering the venue? Fans at the souvenir stand were confused when they saw merchandise under the artist’s new name. No matter what your concert ticket read, call him whatever you like, the Why Not? tour was now officially billed as a “Johnny Blue Skies” show.
Authoritative information about the name change is sketchy. In recent times, the artist stated in interviews that he planned to shift in a different direction after recording a maximum of five studio albums. With the release of Passage du Desir (French for “Passage of Desire”), released on July 12, he adopted the alter ego Johnny Blue Skies. Perhaps the reinvention was a cathartic release from the outlaw country artist’s public prison or a personal rebellion against the music industry’s convention that artists must remain in a marketable box to sustain an audience. Regardless of the reasoning for the new name, this album and tour (and merchandise) launched a new chapter in the career of the 46-year-old Kentucky native.
If there was ever a time to reinvent himself, perhaps this was the right time. Lyrics like “A Good Look” from Simpson’s 2019’s Sound & Fury album relayed his love for playing music. The lyrics also announced his disdain for the mechanisms that control and power the economy of the music industry. He sounded like he might be taking a hiatus. “Well then, how’re you gonna eat when you’re bitin’ the hand?. Well, you know they don’t like it when you take a stand, so enjoy it while you can, and say hi to all the boys in the band. ‘Cause it’s all over now, just a flash in the pan.”
The artist suffered from road fatigue and a vocal injury during and after a concert tour in 2020 that was abbreviated due to the worldwide pandemic. He has revealed in recent interviews that he needed a reclusive break to resolve mental health and substance abuse issues. He rallied new wind this past January as he prepared to participate in a Grateful Dead tribute concert. He wanted a fresh start.
Upon recording his new songs under the Johnny Blue Skies moniker, he reassembled his classic road band. Miles Miller remained his stalwart drummer. Blue Skies recruited guitarist and pedal steel player Laur Joamets and bassist Kevin Black, both of whom departed his band in the mid-2010s. Newcomer Robbie Crowell would add keyboards and saxophone. Together, they rehearsed songs from the entire Simpson catalog, the new Blue Skies songs, and a collection of classic rock covers.
Perhaps the Ramones’ “Rockaway Beach,” which blasted through the public address system as Blue Skies and his band assumed their stations on stage at Forest Hills Stadium, was a reverent ode to the punk rock band’s neighborhood of origin. It might also have been a signal that Blue Skies’ reformed band was about to rock more intensely than at any time in its history. Indeed, the performance rocked so hard that many of the extended interludes clashed with recollections of Simpson as an outlaw country artist.
In past performances, Simpson played mostly acoustic guitar while Joamets played tasteful leads on electric guitar. In the new Johnny Blue Skies presentation, the two roared extensively on electric guitars, with Joamets only occasionally moving to pedal steel guitar. With this new arrangement, Blue Skies was blatantly storming out of the limiting confines of country music. The raspy Waylon Jennings-style vocals still made every song sound robust with southern sweetness, while the Neil Young-style guitar jams did the screaming. Crowell’s rolling organ and soft saxophone fills tenderized the sound at mellower moments.
For three non-stop hours, Blue Skies seldom spoke to his audience. Instead, he and his band glided through 32 songs, frequently merging them into medleys. He did not divorce himself from his previous identity, however; they drew 19 songs from the Simpson catalog, six songs from the new album, and seven songs from classic rock playlists. The choices that the musicians selected as covers looked like a rear-view mirror at the musicians’ broad-ranging sources of inspiration. Their muscular goose-bump inducing remakes of Procol Harum’s “A White Shade of Pale,” Prince’s “Purple Rain,” the Doors’ “L.A. Woman,” and the Allman Brothers’ “Midnight Rider” were among the concert’s summits.
While Sturgill Simpson may remain the better-known name for a while, Johnny Blue Skies has given the artist the freedom to be exactly who he feels he wants to be at this moment. At Forest Hills Stadium, the audience was privileged to enjoy both facets of a highly talented singer, musician, songwriter, and band leader. An Evening with Sturgill Simpson, or however it will be remembered, was one of New York City’s best concerts of 2024.
Durand Jones opened the Johnny Blue Skies concert with an energized half hour of original rhythm and blues tunes. A fellow southerner, the 34-year-old Louisiana native and former leader of Durand Jones & the Indications soulfully sang introspective songs of love and loss with the support of his retro-rocking quartet. A passionate singer with catchy songs and a magnetic stage presence, Jones increasingly won over the audience, song after song.
Setlist
- I Don’t Mind (Sturgill Simpson song)
- Brace for Impact (Live a Little) (Sturgill Simpson song)
- You Don’t Miss Your Water (William Bell cover)
- Railroad of Sin (Sturgill Simpson song)
- The Promise (When in Rome cover)
- A Whiter Shade of Pale (Procol Harum cover)
- Right Kind of Dream
- All Said and Done (Sturgill Simpson song)
- Long White Line (Moore & Napier cover)
- Water in a Well (Sturgill Simpson song)
- Juanita (Sturgill Simpson song)
- Mint Tea
- Some Days (Sturgill Simpson song)
- Turtles All the Way Down (Sturgill Simpson song)
- One for the Road
- Purple Rain (Prince cover)
- Just Let Go (Sturgill Simpson song)
- A Good Look (Sturgill Simpson song)
- L.A. Woman (The Doors cover)
- All Around You (Sturgill Simpson song)
- Living the Dream (Sturgill Simpson song)
- If the Sun Never Rises Again
- Scooter Blues
- Midnight Rider (The Allman Brothers Band cover)
- Voices (Sturgill Simpson song)
- Jupiter’s Faerie
- Welcome to Earth (Pollywog) (Sturgill Simpson song)
- It Ain’t All Flowers (Sturgill Simpson song)
- Best Clockmaker on Mars (Sturgill Simpson song)
- Fastest Horse in Town (Sturgill Simpson song)
- Life of Sin (Sturgill Simpson song)
- Call to Arms (Sturgill Simpson song)
