Samantha Fish
The Fillmore
November 19, 2025
Photos by Paul Piazza
Blues rock sensation Samantha Fish recently played San Francisco’s famed Fillmore Auditorium and rearranged the molecules in the air with a super-charged show that showcased her excellent new record Paper Doll, while also including some of her longtime favorites.
Diehard fans can appreciate that Fish has ascended the blues world by doing things her own way. She has long been an especially strong guitarist, known for her blues-rooted style that encapsulates distinct elements of rock and roll, funk, and Americana. She has achieved slide guitar mastery that creates vocal-like melodies on the guitar that allow for nuanced phrasing. One of her signature tunes is “Bulletproof,” on which she plays slide on a cigar box guitar. She also has a custom Delaney guitar in her road case, which is known as the “Fish-o-caster.” Lately, she seems to prefer a Silver Sparkle Gibson ES-335, which she used to record much of her latest record upon.
Fish has also developed into a strong songwriter, with a writing approach that casts a wide net into different styles. This has allowed her to develop into an incredibly strong vocalist. In short, she has a lot of strengths. Now, combine that with her current beast of a touring band which features Ron Johnson on bass, Jamie Douglas on drums, and Mickey Finn on keys and you have a serious blues road monster. Johnson has been with the late Greg Allman’s band, Warren Haynes and Anders Osborne. Douglas has played with Shooter Jennings, Brandi Carlisle, and Tanya Tucker. Finn was in the punk blues band Boss Hawk and also in the Miracles.
Paper Doll is the first record with this touring band in the studio and the record has a loose, road-worn chemistry amidst its nine tracks packed with electric charm. The majority of the set at the Fillmore was from the new record followed by a couple cuts each from Black Wind Howlin’ and Kill or be Kind. They opened with MC5’s “Kick out the jams,” which has become a cover staple, but it was a nice surprise later, when they whipped out R.L.Burnside’s “Poor Black Mattie.” Later, during the encore, Fish was joined by San Francisco guitar great Eric McFadden for a big bluesy jam.
Openers Robert Jon and the Wreck are a great band that formed in 2011 in Orange County. Led by Robert Jon Burrison on lead vocals and guitar, the five-piece blues and Southern rock band got things cooking early on with some extended jams. These tunes showcased the firepower of lead guitarist Henry James, who brings a psychedelic bent to the band’s Southern style tunes. The band’s latest record, Heartbreaks & Last Goodbyes is their ninth studio album and was recorded in Savannah, Georgia with renowned producer Dave Cobb (Jason Isbell, Chris Stapleton).
Here’s more photos of Samantha Fish and her band by Paul Piazza:
Samantha Fish
Samantha Fish
Ron Johnson (Samantha Fish)
