[denny]

Working a BB king show tonight.  Man, that dude is older than I am!

[tschmidlin]

And he defies gravity!

[majorvices]

I saw him 15 years ago and he was old then!

[redbeerman]

And he defies gravity!

Well he is one of the gods of music!

[majorvices]

And he defies gravity!

haha! On the iPad it is not upside down.

[corkybstewart]

We saw him about 4 years ago in Ruidoso NM, it was an excellent show.

[denny]

And he defies gravity!

haha! On the iPad it is not upside down.

I think it's becasue I was holding my iPad "upside down" when I took the pic.  It works when viewd on iPad, but in "normal" circumstances it's upside down.

The show:  Well, BB King was one of the weirdest shows I've ever seen.  After the backup band played a couple numbers, BB was wheeled onto stage, where he stood up and toddled onto stage followed by 5-6 handlers.  Sat down, picked up his guitar and there was massive feedback.  Couldn't get the guitar working, swapped out 3 amps and 45 min. into the shoe he played his first note.  Introed the band for 15 min., told aimless stories while the backup band played and they try to get his amp working, a 15 min. sing along on "You Are My Sunshine", a lackluster "Thrill is Gone", then 15 min. of signing autographs and handing out cheap plastic jewelry from the stage.  Hour and 15 min, and that was it.  Most of the audience thought it was an intermission, but the show was over.  I love BB King, but I think maybe it's time for him to stay home and take it easy.

[nateo]

a lackluster "Thrill is Gone"

Maybe he's doing high-concept performance art.

[Alewyfe]

Wow. That's disappointing. Someone is doing him wrong. No matter how much you love him, that would leave a bad memory.

[donsmitty]

I got to see him (front row) when he was 84....now he's 87.  He's a legend that I had to see.  Denny, sorry you had a bad experience. 

[majorvices]

Yeah, I love BB but when I saw him 15 years ago it was obvious to me he was just "wheeled" out there and that the thrill really was gone. They had another guitarists doing most of the riffs and BB played a bit here and there but was mostly just on display. Cool that I can say I saw him though, he is a legend.

[a10t2]

Hour and 15 min, and that was it.  Most of the audience thought it was an intermission, but the show was over.

Sounds like when I saw Dylan. Serious disappointment.

[jeffy]

Yeah, I love BB but when I saw him 15 years ago it was obvious to me he was just "wheeled" out there and that the thrill really was gone. They had another guitarists doing most of the riffs and BB played a bit here and there but was mostly just on display. Cool that I can say I saw him though, he is a legend.

This sounds like the same tour I saw.  The guitar player with the blonde pony tail from Saturday Night Live (Jones, Johnson?) did all the work.
Still not as bad as the time I saw (the back of) Bob Dylan's (head) concert.

[bluesman]

I've seen BB twice in the last 10 years. Both good shows IMO. The first time was 2003 in Vegas, which was a great show with BB playing and singing well, eventhough BB sat (bad knees) on stage throughout his performance. The most recent show was about five years ago at The Grand in Wilmington, De. It was a decent show, although a little less energy from the BB and the band. He was helped out to the stage and sat throughout the performance. However, it was an entertaining show unlike that which Denny describes. Sounds like BB, going on 88 this year, is showing a lot of signs of his late age. Maybe it's time he should scale his touring schedule back.

[Dave King]

I didn't want to say anything before hand, but he was past his prime when he was here in Binghamton, a good many years back.  Too bad, but we need to remember him for his greatness. 

 Dave King, BIER