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When is a show not a show at all, but simply ‘entertainment’? NRBQ have been walking this fine line for over thirty years, and I’d expect by now that they’d have the differentiation down pat, but it seems that this is one band that will always play within the circumstances offered. Manhattan’s ‘Blues Cruise’ is a simple enough idea. A boat leaves the dock from the South Street Seaport area, cruises aimlessly around lower Brooklyn and the Battery area of Manhattan, and sells beer and liquor while a band provides entertainment. NRBQ, who are arguably one of the best bar bands of their generation, fit the bill quite nicely, too.
With a song list/repertoire that reads as long some phone books, NRBQ are capable of just about anything on any given night, so the length, breadth and energy expended by the band is more or less determined by the venue. This is not a band that travels with a light show; I’d be surprised if they even have their own lights. They aren’t ‘showmen’ by the contemporary definition of the word, either; they don’t have arranged stage patter, and they don’t (thank God) have dance routines (although I wouldn’t put it past them, if they were in a coy mood). They are a bar band. They play, people clap. If they play great, then people go crazy.
On the Blues Cruise, the atmosphere isn’t conducive to things getting too crazy. First of all, the whole ‘on a boat’ thing more or less forces the crowd to take some care with their behavior, so the mood remained somewhat subdued for most of the show. Also, the length of performance is determined by the length of the cruise, so any lagniappe or encore just isn’t possible, since the boat needs to dock, and a new crowd needs to board according to the pre-arranged timetable. So, NRBQ played well, but they were limited by their surroundings.
Their set touched on the usual smattering of rock and roll classic oldies and a few shoulda-been hits written by bass player Joey Spampinato, but it never took off to where it felt transcendent. This is a band is capable of burning down the house and rocking the night away, and I know from where I speak. A few years back, in the Big Al Anderson years (their previous guitarist), I saw these guys play at a small roadhouse bar in New Orleans called Jimmy's. My God, that was a night to remember. Even longtime fans were commenting about the show, and I left that night convinced that I had seen one of the flat-out best shows I had ever seen, bar none. That night, they played for over three hours and touched on things that I never dreamed they were even capable of. Well, coincidentally, a conversation was struck up with some people whom I had just met on the Blues Cruise about ‘classic’ NRBQ performances, and wouldn’t you know it, this other guy mentioned the ’91 show at Jimmy’s as the best ever. It’s telling that we both agreed on how incredible that show was, and it’s also telling that we spent part of this performance discussing other performances. These guys are really, really good, but if I may, I’d suggest you see ‘em in a place where there’s sawdust on the floor, not salt spray.
 
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