On this date in history, 1989, I witnessed a gem of a club show featuring Jon Butcher and Flesh & Blood at The Vogue. I had discovered Butcher a few years prior to the show through the Indianapolis radio station, WFBQ. At that time he called his band The Jon Butcher Axis.

An African American guitarist using the name Axis drew obvious comparisons to Jimi Hendrix, and although Butcher had his own style and sound, it was enough to pull me into his orbit.

By the time of this 1989 show he had dropped the Axis and had released 2 amazing albums, Wishes and Pictures At The Front. Most of the songs in his set were from those discs. The tital song of Wishes is a brilliant homage to Hendrix cuts like Little Wing and Castles Made Of Sand, and it was my personal highlight of the whole night. It made such an impression on me that I learned to play it and have continued to play it ever since! Good stuff if you can find it.

Jon Butcher – Wishes

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UcqX-e9cOSs

The opening band, Flesh & Blood, was quite interesting, too They combined a blend of Depeche Mode and The Cure filtered through an L.A. hair band sensibility. I bought their cd from their merch table and still listen to a few of the tracks on it occasionally. The songs “Fate” and “Hey, Daddy, Have You Ever Been Arrested?” were definite standouts. This was one of those shows that was relatively low-profile and turned out to be a fantastic “experience”…hey, there’s that Hendrix influence again!

Written By Braddon S. Williams AKA The Concert Critic