charlie musselwhite

We went to see Charlie Musselwhite last night at the Kachina Lodge. It was billed as an "all ages" event, but I tell you I counted only six people in the entire place who were under 21, and one of those was a tiny baby. Otherwise it was a sea of gray heads, bouncing in unison to some of the best blues you could ever hope to hear. I swear to you, 90% of the audience was over 50, which doesn't surprise me really. Most young'uns these days never heard of Charlie Musselwhite. So sad for them. But what did surprise me was how I felt like I was at a high school dance. This was no night club, baby. It was a large, dark room, with poor stage lighting, a scattering of round banquet tables, and some rows of chairs up front. Everyone (not me) was squished to the front near the stage, filling the large dance floor, but mostly just standing there, bopping up and down, being up close and personal with the musicians. The "bar" in the back of the room served water. That's it. Water. Granted, we all need proper hydration at this altitude, but you know, sometimes a person wants a little more of a tasty beverage to go along with her delta blues experience. In order to get such a beverage, we had to walk all the way through the hotel to the real bar, and then had to sit there until we'd finished our refreshments, well out of earshot of the music. Ridiculous. Needless to say, there probably weren't a lot of tipsy people driving home after the show, but I kind of think we're all old enough to figure out our own limits...

Anyway, the music was great. Truly great. And we all had a good time (and no headache this morning). For those of you too young to know who this Old Blues Guy is, check out the newfangled YouTube video above to help you catch up... I don't care who you are - old, young, or not really sure, it's always good to get up and shake that thang...