Welcome to the pond

I'm back from the Buddy Guy concert! It was a great time for all, watching a living legend do his thing and please the crowd. Shemekia Copeland opened for him, and she's quite awesome herself. I've heard her before, so I was excited to see her before watching Buddy. She got the crowd going before the main show and performed very well. Her vocal style mixes blues, soul and even gospel. She's a woman with a lot of energy and passion, for sure.

A little while after Shemekia left the stage, Buddy Guy and his band came on to set things on fire. Buddy was on spot the entire night, virtually attacking his guitar and singing very, very well. Buddy, you see, is as good a singer as he is a guitar player. He may be one of the best blues singers of all time, I think. Most of the songs were extended jams featuring alternating blistering solos, passionate vocals and slower, quieter times. A good showman always knows how to make the crowd listen.

At one point, Buddy even went out into the audience to play! At least that's what I think he did, because I couldn't see that part of the ampitheater from where we sat. He did that for probably ten minutes before returning to the stage. He talked to us quite a bit, saying it had been a long time (since the 1960s) since he had been to Eugene and that he was glad to be back and ready for us to show him some love. We showed him the love!

Near the end of the night, he started giving us a little blues history lesson, playing parts of "Boom Boom" by John Lee Hooker and "Voodoo Child (Slight Return)" by Jimi Hendrix. He really showed off during that part. He also played a little of "What'd I Say?" by Ray Charles.

Unfortunately, I think the end of the concert was a little weak. Buddy ended with a little acoustic number instead of a rip-roaring guitar jam like I wanted. There was no encore, but the man deserves a break because he's now seventy. And he didn't play "Mary Had A Little Lamb"! But I don't care about any of that because I got to see him and see him do what he does best - play the blues like no one else!