Ike's now 70 and if you were expecting some decrepit old man reliving his glory days, well you better think again! He may not have the stamina of his younger days but over the course of two shows at Rochester's Montage Grill he brought the house down.

 Backed by a eight piece band complete with a swinging horn section and a pair of keyboard players, Ike rolled through a high energy set of classics and material off his new record. As he did in the old days, Ike kept his guitar in his lap as he played piano and switched between the two effortlessly. Special mention needs to go to pianist Ernest Lane, a childhood friend of Ike's and a legend in his own right, who laid down some romping piano work belying the fact that he recently turned 72.

 Ike tackled many of the songs you would expect including rocking reprises of old classics like "Tore Up" and of course a stomping "Rocket 88." In the old days Ike left the singing to others but took all the vocals this time around proving himself a surprisingly effective singer. He also drew from his new record tackling the the funky "I Need A-Nuddin'" and blasting instrumentals like "Baby's Got It" and and some whammy bar drenched stratocaster on "Ike's Theme." As impressive as Ike's boogie-woogie piano work was (he learned first hand from Pinetop Perkins) his guitar work knocked out the crowd on instrumentals like "Steel Guitar Rag" and "The Stumble." Among the covers was a version of "Five Long Years" with Ike giving a special twist to the lyric: "I spent 18 long years with that woman and she had the nerve to put me out" (spoken aside: "and write a movie about me")! Ernest Lane got a chance to shine on "After Hours" a song Ike said you needed to know to get the ladies. Throughout Ike proved that he was a consummate showman right down to his silver glittering jump suit (a pink one was donned for the second show).

 Things got a bit surreal when he called up a female singer to join him who sang and acted suspiciously similar to a former partner. Ike and her ran through songs from the old Ike & Tina days like "Proud Mary" and "Ain't No Mountain High Enough." I'm not sure this was quite what the crowd wanted, except for one enthusiastic and very vocal woman who was waiting the entire show for just this moment.

 In short Ike's pass through Rochester was a rousing success and proved that even at 70 he has plenty of gas left in his tank. If Ike brings his Kings of Rhythm through your town drop everything and make sure to check him out.