Lil’ Ed Williams, the leader of Lil’ Ed & The Blues Imperials, may be lil’ in stature but he is a powerfully large ball of energy when he performs. When I saw him on the schedule at Regattabar, I knew I would be in the audience.

Lil’ Ed

This was my first time seeing him live, and all I knew was to expect to hear Chicago blues.

Lil’ Ed

The band came to the stage right on time (and possibly a little early), plugged in and launched into some hard-driving blues.

Lil’ Ed & The Blues Imperials

Williams – and really, the entire band – is a force of nature. They are without pretense; they are excellent musicians who want to share their music.

Lil’ Ed

Williams plays mostly (if not exclusively – I was on the wrong side of the stage to see his hands during most of the show) slide guitar and he is masterful. Not only does he play guitar, he wrote most of their catalog and does all the lead singing.

Lil’ Ed

The Blues Imperials are excellent musicians as well, and include Michael Garrett on guitar, James “Pookie” Young on bass, and Kelly Littleton on drums. Young was not feeling up to par this night, but played through whatever was ailing him to deliver a fine performance. I especially enjoyed Garrett’s guitar playing and his shark skin suit!

Michael Garrett

Kelly Littleton

James ‘Pookie’ Young

The set list included numbers spanning his entire nearly thirty year discography; as he said, for part of the set they went ‘old school.’

Lil’ Ed

Most of the audience knew his music well and applauded when they recognized songs, which was pretty much every song! You can see the joy in their (the audience and Williams) faces in the following photo.

Lil’ Ed

Before I knew it, the set was finished and I was heading home. The time went too quickly and I look forward to seeing this band again.

Ticket courtesy of Regattabar; all opinions are my own.