After successful Damn Right tour in 2024, blues legend Buddy Guy announced an extended tour with new dates and cities, aptly title Damn Right Encore. Fans in Buffalo were lucky enough to be the first stop on this extension, as Seneca Niagara Casino welcomed the 88-year-old on June 6th.

After nearly seven decades of touring, Guy has been taking the leap towards a version of retirement with his farewell tour, launched in 2023 and postponed into 2024, now extended in 2025. Is this the end of touring for the “Cheaper To Keep Her” icon or just a brake check as he approaches the 90s? We won’t know for sure for a bit, but we do know that Buddy Guy is a living legend, who loves being on stage and telling stories.

At Seneca Niagara, with every passing minute leading up to the eight o’clock start time, fans flooded to their seats donning both new and old Buddy Guy swag, fedoras, or even some disco ball-esq sparkly suits. Drip, swag, threads, however you want to look at it, fans were dressed to impress as Buddy finally walked on stage at about 8:10, with his famed polka dotted Fender.

With no designated photo pit, I meandered in the middle third of stage front, watching as guitarist Ric Jaz along with Guy took turn seemingly showboating their skills. At one point during “Damn Right I Got The Blues” Guy got his guitar into a tune, hands out to the side and hip thrusted in unison to the beat of the drums. An un-official trademark, for sure.

Between songs and banter with fans, there is always story time from Guy, which act as segways to next song. One of the first ones, he mentioned to the crowd that he was asked who he thought was the greatest guitar player to ever pick up a guitar. Being the humble talent he is, he shrugged off those who were screaming his name. You could hear names being called out such as Hendrix, Clapton, and Vaughn. Giving credit where credit is due, Buddy proclaims “This is best guitarist to ever play” as he began to play BB King’s “The Thrill is Gone”.

With the rise of younger blues talent, Guy talks about how there are only three old school blues muscians left: himself, Bobby Rush, and Willie Nelson. All of which are right around the 90 years old mark. Something all three surely take pride in.

Nearing the end of the set, Guy talks about his son Greg. As a child, Greg would play records in the front porch with friends, but would never let them play his fathers records. No reason, it just wasn’t allowed by Greg. On his 21st birthday, he ventured into a bar where his father was playing to check him out and finally discovered how good his father, and the level of talent he showed on stage. From that point on, Greg aspired to play just like his old man, and that he did. Buddy finished off the night playing with his son by his side, and as he exited the stage, Greg continued on with the raw and classic blues sounds that his father had inspired over the years.

With so many options out there for music, the raw and unfiltered sound of blues is something that cannot be outdone, especially on a warm spring night in Western, NY. For the older generations, this is something that they were raised on, but for the younger kids out there, the blues need to be found and experienced, even if it’s from the likes of Lisa Simpson.

Buddy Guy continues his farewell tour (again) through August 16. Go experience the blues jedi before he leaves the stage for the last time.