When he slipped off stage in the middle of 鈥淗ard Times鈥 at the Rialto Theatre on Friday night, we had an inkling that blues guitar phenom was going to dramatically reappear.
We had seen it earlier in the evening, when the opening act, the impressive Tucson bluesman Freddy Jay Walker, disappeared from the expansive stage and reappeared from a side door still playing his guitar as he made his way through the packed theater.
Walker got a robust round of applause and more than a few whoop-whoops and whistles from the audience filling all but a small handful of the Rialto鈥檚 1,200 seats.
Ingram caused a near riot.
Bluesman Christone 鈥淜ingfish鈥 Ingram went into the audience during Friday鈥檚 concert at Rialto Theatre.
Nearly a dozen fans left their seats and stacked up in disorderly fashion behind the security guard planted in front of the Grammy-winning bluesman; a second guard had his back.
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Ingram was showing off some pretty fierce rock guitar chops when a woman worked her way past security and the knot of fans filming Ingram on their cell phones. Before the security detail could protest, she snuck in and snapped a selfie with the bluesman, who never missed a note.
Ingram performed from the audience a good 10 minutes, and aside from an unruly man who tried to push past security to get closer, it turned out to be a highlight of his nearly 90-minute show.
This was the first time the 26-year-old Ingram had played in Tucson, letting us in on the crazy good guitar skills that earned him a legion of fans in and around his native Mississippi and among some blues giants, including Buddy Guy.
His songs are modern takes on classic blues themes, from falling under the spell of a woman with 鈥淰oodoo Charm鈥 to the struggle to make ends meet when you fall on those 鈥淗ard Times.鈥
Blues guitarist Christone 鈥淜ingfish鈥 Ingram played his first Tucson show Friday at Rialto Theatre.
He took us to his hometown in the blistering rocker 鈥662鈥 and left us 鈥淔resh Out鈥 of excuses and love punctuated by a prolonged riff on the upper register of his guitar that was reminiscent of an operatic soprano holding that impossibly high note of a Mozart aria.
Ingram on Friday took his Tucson audience on a journey through wonderfully long-winded riffs that morphed into distinctive voices, soulfully whispering in our ears one moment, then screaming with passion and urgency the next as he dreamed aloud about getting 鈥淥utside of This Town.鈥 His blues softened on his self-penned 鈥淩ock & Roll,鈥 a pop-leaning homage to his late mother that reflected on the sacrifices she made 鈥渟o I could sell my soul to rock and roll.鈥
Ingram benefited from a stellar band that included the immensely talented keyboard player Deshawn 鈥淒鈥橵ibes鈥 Alexander. Alexander set up Ingram鈥檚 encore by playing 鈥淓leanor Rigby,鈥 eliciting a rousing applause.
Ingram鈥檚 show was the first of several heading our way, including blues harmonica great Mark Hummel headlining KXCI鈥檚 12th annual House Rockin鈥 Blues Review () at El Casino Ballroom on Aug. 1 and the legendary Buddy Guy at Fox Tucson Theatre ( on Aug. 8.
Tucson blues rock trio Mason is releasing its second album at a concert Friday, Sept. 9, at Hotel Congress
Contact reporter Cathalena E. Burch at cburch@tucson.com. On Bluesky @Starburch
Cathalena E. Burch
Reporter
