Ravinia

Steve Miller came to Ravinia for an XRT Show on a Friday evening in Highland Park when the crisp chardonnay for your lawn picnic needed no chilling. Despite the weather, a near capacity crowd enjoyed a generous set heavy with hits, FM classics and a few tasty album cuts. Songs from the multi platinum albums Fly Like an Eagle and Book of Dreams dominated the show, with the title cut from the former getting a nice psychedelic space blues workout. Mr. Miller looked trim and fit with a blazer over jeans and accessories that included a Fender Strat, a Gibson Flying V that he said he won from the Iceman Albert Collins and a Les Paul named after his tutor and mentor who encouraged him as a young lad in Wisconsin. Steve used his pleasant but limited voice to good effect and his guitar playing, honed in the blues clubs of Chicago, cut through the damp July air like a laser beam. He got help from longtime associate Norton Buffalo on harmonica, who set the fashion tone for the evening with a tie dye tunic. Former Checkmates Ltd. singer Sonny Charles, who joined the band last year, danced and sang a few songs including a soulful version  of Bo Diddley’s “Pretty Thing.”