Sorry for the long silence. I've had (still have) a Very Bad Cold. My recuperation was interrupted last weekend so we could go see B.B. King. We'd gotten tickets last fall for our anniversary so this was our much belated present. I spent much of Saturday and Sunday in bed, but it was worth it.
B.B.'s band was on stage for more than two hours! He was there for most of that, playing, singing and talking. It was an traditional blues show with about as much talking as singing...it all kind of flowed together from singing to playing to talking. There was a good-sized backup band and each got a chance to strut their stuff.
At one point he invited his daughter, Shirley King, (one of 15 children!) onstage to sing. She is very impressive. B.B. said their working together (he and his band playing and her singing) was unrehearsed. I'm not sure about that--it went together pretty smoothly.
The opening act was Guy King--it was a night for the Kings! The opening band was good, too, and got things going nicely.B.B. King played at the Paramount in Aurora, IL.The weather was clear and we didn't have snow as we'd feared--the show was about a 60 mile drive for us and the trip can be really nasty if it snows. We started going there when my mom lived nearby and we like it--it's much more affordable than Chicago, the theater and the people that work there are nice, and inexpensive parking is nearby.
