When I was 16-years-old I was in love with the blues.
The money for my first job working at a bar went to CD’s, music lessons and a black Gibson Les Paul guitar. I would work as a bar back at Barney’s Boathouse until 3 a.m. and come home in the dead of night and plug in the basement and work on the 12-bar blues, minor scales and the difficult ba-bump rhythm that defined the backbeat that a second guitar player should have. I still wasn’t that good; but it made me happy to play, like I was working through something I couldn't explain.
It was with money from that job that I went to my first concert in Kalamazoo to see B.B. King.
It was the start of Spring Break and while other kids in my high school were getting on planes to Cancun, Puerto Vallarta and Daytona to get drunk and get laid, I was a virgin looking forward to getting my wisdom teeth removed on Monday.
That Saturday Cory Ortiz and I drove up to the State Theater to see the living legend. We were amazed we were getting this link to history while he was still alive and we were now getting the chance to see him. I thought it might be the last chance to witness the 79-year-old, not knowing how much longer he would be touring.
Besides, he had a lot of money and when would a man his age play a small venue in Michigan? He would probably never even play the in the state again, I told my friend.
But we didn't know why he continued to tour at that point. He did so to give the blues to a new generation he said in a Guitar World interview a few years later. The fact that King toured for 10 more years shows how much B.B. King loved performing and sharing the blues with everyone.
It was one of the first trips I ever took out of my small town without my parents. The one-way streets of Kalamazoo were confusing, and I was panicking that we would miss the show, but we finally found a place to park.
It was one of the first trips I ever took out of my small town without my parents. The one-way streets of Kalamazoo were confusing, and I was panicking that we would miss the show, but we finally found a place to park.
The opening act took the stage with by himself with just a guitar and played the sound of deep delta blues, like Robert Johnson played. During intermission I met him shook his hand and dumbly said I had heard of him from a short profile done on him in Guitar World a few months earlier.
The State Theater seemed as historic as a Civil War battlefield that night. It could be my imagination, but it was eerily lit by chandeliers and as we waited on the main show. I looked around at all the people. I was surprised to see one of my co-workers, a bouncer who was the size of a small house. We waved at each other and shortly after the lights came down and King walked slowly on stage. He made it over to a chair and made a joke about how he couldn't stand anymore during the whole performance, but he said, "I know the music will still move me."
And he was right. Part of me was worried that the show would seem sad; King being confined to to a chair. But his playing was as inspiring as Eddie Van Halen throwing his guitar around his neck and jumping in videos from 1979. A couple of times he did stand when he was singing a highly emotional lyric and the house went wild, but every time he played guitar he was sitting down, concentrating.
The State Theater seemed as historic as a Civil War battlefield that night. It could be my imagination, but it was eerily lit by chandeliers and as we waited on the main show. I looked around at all the people. I was surprised to see one of my co-workers, a bouncer who was the size of a small house. We waved at each other and shortly after the lights came down and King walked slowly on stage. He made it over to a chair and made a joke about how he couldn't stand anymore during the whole performance, but he said, "I know the music will still move me."
And he was right. Part of me was worried that the show would seem sad; King being confined to to a chair. But his playing was as inspiring as Eddie Van Halen throwing his guitar around his neck and jumping in videos from 1979. A couple of times he did stand when he was singing a highly emotional lyric and the house went wild, but every time he played guitar he was sitting down, concentrating.
The backing band was at least 20 deep, and if I remember correctly dressed in red tuxedos. King joked that he was losing money on the tour because he had to pay everybody.
The rest of the concert is lost to memory now. I remember buying a black and white shirt with picture of a young King and old acoustic guitar (see below.) For years afterward whenever, even after he quit work as a bouncer and worked as a florist, whenever I saw Adam we would talk about the concert.
I wish I had a journal from that time in my life, but from what I can recall the drive home the sky seemed as black as the shirt I bought, but I don’t even remember who drove there and back.
However, I do remember when I got home it was late at night and my parents were ready for bed. They asked me how it was and I said it was great, but I didn't linger long talking to them.
I went down to the basement, plugged in my Led Paul and tried to play the blues until 3 a.m.
The rest of the concert is lost to memory now. I remember buying a black and white shirt with picture of a young King and old acoustic guitar (see below.) For years afterward whenever, even after he quit work as a bouncer and worked as a florist, whenever I saw Adam we would talk about the concert.
I wish I had a journal from that time in my life, but from what I can recall the drive home the sky seemed as black as the shirt I bought, but I don’t even remember who drove there and back.
However, I do remember when I got home it was late at night and my parents were ready for bed. They asked me how it was and I said it was great, but I didn't linger long talking to them.
I went down to the basement, plugged in my Led Paul and tried to play the blues until 3 a.m.
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