Bluesy guitar hero Gary Clark Jr. just knocked Greta Van Fleet off the top of the Saturday Night Live chat threads, with two smoking performances on February 16. Even his “Protect Trans Kids” t-shirt, Gibson Flying V guitar, and a sly reference to “Trump country” has the internet all abuzz, and the stream of his SNL take on the Prince-inspired “Pearl Cadillac” nearly broke YouTube when nearly a million people tried to play it within an hour of NBC’s upload. A few hours later, the same thing happened with his late night performance “This Land,” the title track of his fifth studio album that dropped a few days after the SNL set. Clark also played the song in January on The Late Show With Stephen Colbert, along with “Feed the Babies.”

All the attention being earned by the rising 35-year-old Texas star must be great news for Harrah’s Resort, who just announced booking Clark for a May 22 appearance, the day after Ringo Starr plays the Valley Center venue. Declared Best Young Gun by Rolling Stone in 2011, a lot of San Diegans (approximately 42,000 of them) got their first taste of Clark’s concert chops when he opened for the Rolling Stones at Petco Park on the fourth of July, 2015. His blend of blues, rock, hip-hop, and dance grooves got him signed early on to big-time Warner Brothers, who’ve enjoyed increasing success with each album and EP, including two live albums. Aside from his 2014 Grammy for Best Traditional R&B for his song “Please Come Home,” he’s had six number ones on Billboard’s Blues Albums chart, and he also turned up on Billboard’s Mainstream Rock chart, where his cover of the Beatles’ “Come Together” hit number 15 in 2017. This Land looks to be his biggest release to date, so best seek those seats as soon as you read this.