Steve Miller Band; Joe Cocker

For survivors of the 1970s, this double bill of erstwhile major hit-makers may seem like déjà vu all over again. Guitarist Miller and Cocker were both on top of their game that decade. Wisconsin native Miller grew up enamored of the blues, spent time among the legends of Chicago, later launched his blues-rock band amid the San Francisco psychedelic scene, eventually beefed up the rock component and scored a succession of monster hits, including "The Joker," "Fly Like an Eagle," "Rock'n Me," and "Abracadabra." Englishman Cocker's gravelly soul voice and air guitar antics were a highlight of Woodstock, around the same time he had a string of hits with distinctive covers of high-profile songs like the Beatles' "With a Little Help from My Friends" and the Box Tops' "The Letter." Both Miller and Cocker have had low profiles of late. But Miller and his band, mostly intact for upward of two decades, recently released a two-DVD, one-CD concert and documentary set, Live from Chicago (Coming Home Media), that shows the guy some people call the Space Cowboy, others the Gangster of Love, in prime form knocking out all the hits lo these many eons later. Cocker has a new album out, too: Hymn for My Soul (Fantasy), a tasty dose of Sheffield soul tamer than the old days but perhaps more deeply felt. And he's still doing fine Beatles covers, with the T-Bone Burnett-produced "Come Together" and George Harrison's "Beware of Darkness."
Thu., July 3, 6:30 p.m., 2008