WHAT I DID THIS WEEKEND!!
Friday, February 16, 2007, I drove to St. Louis,
met my son, and then flew Southwest Airlines to Midway Airport. We
took the Chicago
Mass Transit Orange Line to the corner of State and Lake, walked across
the street to The House of Blues Hotel, checked in, went next door to
the House of Blues for a fantastic Cajun dinner, and then went upstairs
to a DELBERT
MCCLINTON CONCERT!!!!!
Delbert was amazing !!!
This was only the 2nd time I've seen him. The first time,
I hardly knew who he was - that was only a lttle over a year ago at
The Lafayette Club in Bloomington,
IL. I bought my first Delbert McClinton CD the next
day, and I've averaged one a month since then.
This time the show was even better than the first time!!!
I half expected to be disappointed. I wondered how much my
memory had embellished the actual event. II wasn't disappointed!!
First of all, Delbert looked 10 years younger than he looked a year ago.
He is actually 66, but his energy level and appearance was more like 40
- and that is prime. He looked great, his voice was perfect,
and he was obviously having a good time. I was aware of so
very much more than the 1st time. This time I noticed every single
musician in his band - and I noticed the way that Delbert was so
attuned to each of them constantly. I noticed the signals he gave
each of them - and the signals to the sound man. I noticed that he
was conducting, and they were all in tune with him. All of that I
totally missed the first time.
Delbert has a truly outstanding band. Rob
McNelley on guitar and occasional vocals, Kevin McKendree, keyboardist
extraordinaire, Scott Ducaj on trumpet, and Don Wise, an unbelievably
talented sax player. Each of them has CDs and could be headliners. There
is also a bassist and a drummer, whose names I can't find.
We couldn't take cameras into the venue, but here is a
picture that I took with my cell phone. I knew I felt fuzzy - but
looking at this photo, I see that Delbert was fuzzy too.
It
was a complicated outlandish trip - but I loved it. If you ever
have a chance to see Delbert McClinton live, go for it!!! You
won't be sorry.
He first caught the ear of the nation with
his harmonica accompaniment on Bruce Channel’s “Hey, Hey Baby”.
Remember that distinctive sound? Delbert has been a prolific song writer
throughout his career. His lyrics are sometimes funny, sometimes sad,
sometimes just observing human nature, sometimes telling a personal story,
and always touching the soul.