If you saw B.B. King at Riverbend last year, or the year before that, you've seen B.B. King at Riverbend this year.

        The blues singer and guitarist, who turns 77 next month, put on the same show Sunday night as last year's — the same songs, the same order, the same monologs setting up songs, the same jokes within songs.

        It's a pleasant act, but after subtracting the two instrumentals before he came to the stage and all the unfunny jokes there's not much left. (Maybe the jokes are funny when heard for the first time, but it's hard to remember for certain).

        Mr. King implied he doesn't intend to put the tired act to rest. This year marks the 11th anniversary of the B.B. King Blues Festival package tour, with George Thorogood and the Destroyers, the Fabulous Thunderbirds and Joe Bonamassa along this time around.

        During “Key to the Highway,” the gem of his set (as it was last year), he paraphrased the lyrics to address any notion regarding retirement: “I'm gonna do this till I die, folks.”

        This year featured the worst opening acts of the last few years, without a Buddy Guy or a John Hiatt, although Mr. Thorogood's bombastic Chicago-blues stylings wowed the crowd, a big one thanks in part to a ticket-giveaway promotion by a phone company.

        Mr. Thorogood propelled his drinking-tune favorites like “I Drink Alone” and “One Bourbon, One Scotch, One Beer,” with loud and thick riffs. But he doesn't need to club the audience over the head with his guitar to be effective, as he proved with a snappy version of “I'm Ready,” on which he sang but didn't play.

        Vocalist and harmonica player Kim Wilson is the only original Fabulous Thunderbird, and although new guitarist Troy Gonyea isn't Jimmie Vaughan, the new band is decent enough. The back-to-back performances of their 1986 hit “Tuff Enuff” and the harmonica-showpiece instrumental “Down at Antone's” were the highlights.

        Where the T-Birds finessed the blues, Mr. Bonamassa and his unruly, cliche-spewing guitar trampled upon it. He's a fitting heir to the blues-guitar pretenter on last year's bill, Tommy Castro.

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