The Pacific Northwest threatened to make Thursday night’s show for Gary Clark Jr. a very rainy affair, but the raindrops and clouds parted way just before showtime to make for an excellent summer evening at the historic McMenamins Grand Lodge out in Forest Grove, Oregon. Suzanne Santo opened up the night before Gary Clark Jr. and his band hit the stage, easing into the groovy “Maktub” with a very extended opening jam.

Mr. Clark took a minute to take in the crowd after the opener, stepping up the mic with his guitar slung behind the back and grinning at the enthusiastic audience. One concert goer screamed out the the title of “When My Train Pulls In” within the band playing a couple notes, which prompted a chuckle from everyone, including the band. That dip into 2012’s Blak and Blu record was brief as “Don’t Start” brought everyone back to the band’s latest release, JPEG RAW, from earlier this year. There’s probably a concert photographer’s joke about that title in there somewhere, but I’m sure it’s been done before.

“Bright Lights,” originally released as part of the 2011 EP, was a standout moment towards the end of the main set which then fittingly closed out with “Habits,” the JPEG RAW album closer. (You see that?! JPEG, RAW, album: now we’re just playing bingo with photography lingo!) After the encore break the show wrapped up with “Don’t Owe You a Thang” while the crowd mingled for a bit afterwards with everyone enjoying the end of another great summer night.