Oh, the energy was there. So were the scorching blasts from Guy's signature polka-dotted guitar, the screeching vocals, the cosmic asides. But here's the quibble: Guy is a tease. Whether he skims across the surface of some familiar guitar rife or plunges into its depths, he always seems to emerge too soon. And while the crowd is buzzing over what they've just heard- and what they think they're about to hear-Guy shakes himself dry and moves on.

It's exasperating, but there's no arguing that the man entertains. Dressed in wild-child Jimi Hendrix garb (loud African print blouse, reddish boots, a swept-back beret), the 63-year-old Guy cranked out a 90-minute set that began with "I just Wanna Make Love to You" and included Eddie Boyd's "Five Long Years" and takes on John Lee Hooker ("Boom Boom), Albert King ("Crosscut Saw") and Willie Dixon ("Hoochie Coochie Man"). A foray into the crowd was highlighted by Guy's own cacophonic "Damn Right I Got the Blues."Reunited with his marvelous band (Ray "Killer" allison on drums, Orlando Wright on bass, Scott Holt on guitar and Tony Z on keyboards), Guy cooled down with John Hiatt's tender "Feels Like Rain," followed by Cream's "Strange Brew." After resting for onw tune while Scott holt took the lead, Guy came back with a boisterous "Sweet Home Chicago." A nice Parry-and-thrust between Guy and Tony Z (using organ deyboard this time) on "Someone Else Is Steppin' In" was a highlight, as as Guy's ripping, crashing, wah-wah guitar overture on the Hendrix chestmut "Voodoo Chile." The penultimate number was a ballsy rendition of "Mustang Sally."

The show's opening act was Shemika Copeland and her adroit, crowd-pleasing band (Arthur Neilson on guitar, Eric King on bass, Barry Harrison on drums and Dona Oxford on keyboards). Copeland used here expressive personality to great advantage in vamping with the band. Her bright eyes flashed from her smooth, dark face like a lantern on an inky sea, signaling pleasure, pride or pathos, lending depth to each song's storyline. (Can she really be only 20 years old?) In her too-brief set, Copeland drew mostly on her well-regarded album Turn the Heat Up (including "Big Lovin' Woman,""Your Mama's Talking" and the title song). The simmering torch tune "Salt in My Wounds" allowed the polished ensemble to demonstrate how smoothly they can run through all the musical gears.

Barely 15 minutes later, the stage had been reset for Jimmie Vaughan. He jumped right into things with a crackling rendition o "Hey-Yeah," a self-penned rocker from Strang Pleasure, "Like a King," a splendid song from hes recent release Out There, and the original shuffle "Don't Cha Know." This is and ensemble musician, and "tasteful" is the best word to describe the tight little guitar figures he sent out into the audience. The performance had a gospel feel-Bill Willis' work on Hammond B-3, from which he supplied the bass line throughout, contributed to that impression, as did the trio of soulful singers (Rayvon Foster, Charlie Whittington and Greg Sain) who backed Vaughan. These guys are personable, talented and smooth. It's obvious that Vaughan's band enjoys the froove, propelled by rhythm guitarist Billy Pitman and ever-steady drummer George Rains.

As everyone knew he would, Vaughan acknowledged his late sibling with a heartfelt rendering of Larry Davis' "Texas Flood" that drew enthusiastic applause. The slow, strolling blues "Just Like Putty" and the frat-house rocker "Boom-Bapa-Boom" revealed Vaughan to have a clear and purposeful voice, an impression reinforced by the compelling performance of "Tick Tock" during hes second encore. This soulful, hopeful, endearing little jewel has a refrain that goes, "Remember that/Tick tock, tick tock, tick tock, people/Time's tickin' away." Who better to offer that perspective? The song was the best effort in a splendid evening of blues from three great acts.