Buddy Guy: Damn Right, Farewell Tour
I got to experience the event of a lifetime this past weekend and the fact that I got to share it with my favorite person made it even better! As I mentioned in this post, I was supposed to attend this concert with @diamonddave, but since he is still in the hospital, I had to shift my plans a bit and take @mrsbozz.
She will be the first to tell you that she probably wasn't looking forward to this show. I didn't really know what to expect either, but I was more than happy to share the experience with her. My friend diamonddave is a big fan of the blues, so when I saw that blues legend Buddy Guy was going to be in town, I knew I needed to get tickets.
It almost seemed like it wasn't meant to be as first they needed to postpone the tour due to Buddy Guy falling ill. Then my friend fell ill and I wasn't sure I was even going to attend the show. Which was a shame because I got us some pretty sweet seats as you might notice from the photos above.
We were in the first row of the balcony and it is considered luxury seating, so there was tons of space to stretch our feet out and in between the seats. I've actually never seen that much space at a venue before. Even when we have been lucky enough to be in a box!
Buddy guy is 88 years old, so we weren't even sure he was going to make it to the rescheduled date. Since this is his farewell tour and given his age, I have a feeling this will be it on the road for him. As I said at the beginning... a once in a lifetime opportunity.
The opening act was a young kid from Australia named Taj Farrant. I could tell he was pretty young just by looking at him, but when he said he was only 15 years old, I was blown away. This kid can play the guitar like a beast. It's quite amazing to watch him. I don't think his vocals are quite up to par, but it doesn't really matter when you can shred like that! He even broke a string during his short set he was playing so enthusiastically!
Taj did a quick half hour opening set with one of the songs taking up about half of that thirty minutes. It is the blues after all. After a quick stage change, Buddy Guy came out around 9:00 PM. I was shocked to see that he stood the whole time and his voice still sounded phenomenal.
He can actually still play guitar quite well and as my wife and I watched the short hour and a half show unfold, I started to realize a few things that I am going to share here with you.
Watching and listening to the other folks interact during the show, it made me realize just how little I actually know about blues music. I am going to need to fix that in the coming months for sure. Second, Buddy guy loves the "F" word. He dropped the F bomb quite a few times during the show and at one point @mrsbozz leaned over and said man, he likes that word more than I do!
If you watch the video above, I think you will see what I mean!
Buddy is actually a pretty funny guy and he told a lot of really cool stories about some of the famous people he has had the chance of interacting with over the years. I actually think the stories were my wife's favorite part of the show. As I said before, he looked and sounded great and I should be so lucky to still be that well when I am 88.
Although it was a short show, he stood the whole time which kind of surprised me. I expected him to need to sit down for most of it.
Towards the end of the show, Buddy had Taj come back out on stage and they played a couple of songs together. It was really more of just a jam session, but I don't think most people cared. @mrsbozz was fascinated by the keyboard player for Buddy. He was quite skilled on both the electric piano and the electric organ.
One thing that did surprise me was the demographics of the show. It was held in downtown Saginaw, MI at the historic Temple Theater. Saginaw, MI probably has one of the largest African American populations in Michigan north of Flint and Detroit, so I honestly expected to be in the minority at this show (which is fine).
I was shocked to see that it was mostly older white folks ranging from 50's to 70's. I'm not saying it was good or bad, just interesting to me and not what I expected.
Buddy finished up his set by about 10:30 and since the venue is so close, we were home before 11:00 PM which is pretty nice. We went to see @diamonddave in the hospital the next day and he asked how the concert was. We told him all about it and I could tell he was a bit bummed that he wasn't able to go with me.
As he seems to be making a bit of a miraculous recovery, I look forward to going to a blue show with him in the future. It might not be Buddy Guy, but we will find something I am sure!
I hope you enjoyed this post for #threetunetuesday sponsored by @ablaze.
It was a pretty magical night and though I wasn't able to share it with my friend, I am glad I got to share it with my wife.
Sports Talk Social - @bozz.sports
"Damn right I got the Blues".
Buddy Guy is legendary for mentoring young guitarists. I didn't know he had Taj Farrant opening for him, but it doesn't surprise me at all. Buddy and BB King are just about the last bridge left to Howling Wolf and John Lee Hooker and Blind Lemon Jefferson and that generation of 'all black' blues.
Which leads me to the audience mix. Again, not surprised. In the 60s, in Chicago, a pack of white young teenagers decided they needed to play the blues. They started hanging out in shows and begging to play with the legends they were watching. Something about the blues seems to lend itself to bringing new talent into the fold, and much to their credit, the Chicago blues players did so. Paul Butterfield, Elvin Bishop, Steve Miller and a host of others apprenticed there. Those guys brought the blues to us yokels of the time. In my case (and others, I suspect) the effect was profound. Hence the 'vintage' crowd.
I'm really glad you got to see BG. And I'm really, really glad that you shared it with me (us). Thank you.
PS Tell MsBoz that I've been known to drop an FBomb or eleven from time to time, too.
He told a story about how when he was younger he went to a guy to learn to play guitar and the guy said he couldn't help him. Then many years later the guy was dying and he asked to see Buddy. Buddy got there and he told him, I'm so glad you didn't learn to play guitar from me. It was probably one of the best stories of the night. That's really interesting about the overall blues scene. I never realized that, but it makes sense when I read it. It was a really cool night in a great venue. I'll let her know for sure!
That is so awesome! If you ever find yourself in Chicago you'll have to try to stop in his venue, Legends. If he's not touring he's usually there. The food is pretty good too.
I will make a point of that! I have only been to Chicago once in my life, but it was pretty cool.
Too bad your friend could not watch the show, but glad that @mrsbozz did!!!
All I know about the Blues is what I have watched in documentaries on TV.
But isn't it awesome that vacations are there to do things that we don't normally have time to do... or just rest and relax! A lot of people have unused vacation time, and some have forfeited it completely.
!BBH
!LUV
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I don't usually use all of my vacation time, but I get paid for the days that I don't use and I have never missed out on something because I didn't want to use a day. @mrsbozz gets a bit more freedom with her summers off. It was really great to share the show with her.
I don't know much about blues either, beyond knowing that I enjoy it when I hear it. Great stuff here! I'll have to look up more from Buddy Guy.
I don't think you will be disappointed. Especially some of the grittier original stuff.
I am glad you did get to go and that Buddy Guy was able to perform at 88. It seems he is a legend and much to my chagrin I had not heard of him until your last post. I guess I never really listened much as I found the lyrics depressing. Excellent to hear Mrs Bozz enjoyed herself as well.
The guitar play is darn good!
I think sometimes the blues is less about the content and more about the delivery. At least that's how I look at it. That way I don't let all the despair and depression get to me. I'm glad you were introduced to someone new. It was a really great show!
Totally agreed!
@bozz! @silversaver888 likes your content! so I just sent 1 BBH to your account on behalf of @silversaver888. (1/20)