B.B. King Live in Austin
My girlfriend took me to the B.B. King show at The Backyard last Sunday as an early birthday present.
What an excellent show!
The venue is located at somewhat of a scenic hilltop. There is no roof - it's an amphitheater - and the backdrop is the surrounding countryside, giving the stage some serious depth. I've never been there before, so it was a pleasant change from the Sixth Street club scene to get out in the open like that. Even better was the weather...and it is because of the massive thunderstorm!
King got at least an hour into his set and the entire time he, his band, and the scaffolding were illuminated and framed by very busy thunderheads blasting out lightning 180º from the audience's perspective. The wind would pick up and ruffle hair while thunder would rumble beneath the blues. Throughout the opening act, it looked like the clouds would pass us by on the east, providing the crowd with a very pleasant solar display. However, the rain did eventually begin to patter down and King refused to stop playing. In fact, it had long been raining hard enough for the drummer's cymbals to energetically thrust accumulated rain outwards in a fine mist when struck, when roadies began packing things up and King's "handlers" approached him with the request to shut it down.
This was about ten minutes after he said, "I'll be here as long as you're here" and got a very enthusiastic response from the soaked crowd. I'd say about 50% of the audience stayed until the end, clapping and hooting all the way through. He remained buoyant and wry the entire time, joking about his age and weight and telling stories.
His band performed (to my ears) flawlessly and I had no idea he used so much brass accompaniment. He only got an hour and he didn't play his guitar as much I had hoped, but it was enough to convince me it's time to buy his recorded work.