At first, the Lucas Theatre stage held only two bluesmen.
This concert of SMF35 was titled "Muddy And Wolf Revisited: A Tribute To Muddy Waters And Howlin' Wolf" and was one I'd wanted from before the very first day.
Fortunately, someone who'd snagged one of the volunteer positions had bailed, so I had snapped up the gig!
Never lose faith!
The North Mississippi Allstars were the two starters.
That's Luther Dickinson on the guitar and doing most of the singing.
His brother, Cody, is the man on the drums, keeping that bluesy beat bangin'.
They were up there solo for awhile, getting the crowd moving.
Then two more blues players came up, off to either side of the two brothers.
Over on the left is Joey Williams, the bassist for the Blind Boys of Alabama.
I always credit them with introducing me to "Amazing Grace" sung to the music of "The House Of The Rising Sun", back at a past Savannah Music Festival - oh, yeah!
[Here's a more recent video of that, with Joey on the bass and singing, too.]
On the right is Danielle Nicole, also on bass, and singing with that rasp in the voice that all good blues singers possess.
She put it to fine use on "Spoonful", a song made famous by Howlin' Wolf.
Then she belted out "I'd Rather Go Blind", which can be heard here.
So, we had two, then added two more... time for the fifth!
Once Bobby Rush took the stage, he was all over it!!!
It was immediately obvious why the others had their time first, because all eyes were on the 90-year-old blues veteran as he grabbed the spotlight and held it tight!
Not that he was greedy about it, as he kept interacting with the younger ones on stage.
It's just that he was constantly, constantly, constantly in motion!
He didn't stay up on the stage, either - oh, no!
Like Renee Fleming had done, he called for the houselights to come up so he could see us.
Unlike her, he then came down into the house, joking around with the folks up in the Gold Circle seats, then heading up the aisle with his harmonica for a closer look at the crowd.
And the crowd went wild!!! Wow!!!
Kermit the Frog would have been beside himself with glee, as I was!
Surprisingly, I did have the presence of mind take advantage of a rare opportunity.
I managed to snap a couple of shots of the photographer - outlined against that decorative wall - trying to catch frames of the nonagenarian - standing up left of center stage - as he literally bounced from fan to fan, like a large, graceful, dark butterfly trying to grace as many flowers as possible.
Recognize that man behind that long lens of the camera?
That's none other than Frank Stewart, the fellow with the exhibit at the Jepson!
He really hadn't recognized me at the museum, but he's made sure to talk to me at every one of these concerts that he's worked!
(smile!)
And Bobby Rush?
The man played almost thirty minutes longer than scheduled!
He especially had fun with his Grammy winner, "Porcupine Meat", even getting the crowd involved with the refrain!
My many thanks to whoever it was that gave up their slot so I could be here!
(smile!)
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