Don't Mess Wit My Valentine's Date!

On Valentine's Day, the Mississippi Coast Coliseum hosted the 2009 Blues Festival. I had been eyeing this event for months, thrilled that Brian agreed to go with me as our Valentine's Date Night.

First, the mmwb-pre-requisite back-story:
I love the Blues. I love Old School R&B. And now, here I am in Mississippi: the "Delta" ...the place where the Blues were born!, long before they were sung in Chicago... This is "Hard Time Mississisppi" where Stevie Wonder was "Living Just Enough for the City." This is the place Bessie Smith would moan about in "Mississippi Moan." This is the birth place of Muddy Waters, where he honed his Delta Blues sound before gettin' out of Dodge and bringing his music to Chi-Town to spearhead what would become the Chicago Blues Scene. I used to LIVE down the street from Buddy Guy's Blues Club, and now I'm in Mississipp'...and the only times I've heard some Live Blues since we moved here was when we were in Memphis, TN seeking refuge from Hurricane Gustav, and once when a very talented white man was playing for a not-so-diverse crowd in a Downtown Ocean Springs Bar. Like I said, the guitar player was surprisingly good. But, Man! Where are my Brotha's and my Sista's!!?

I couldn't believe that my daily interactions in Anchorage, Alaska had more diversity than my daily life in Mississippi. It was while listening to a late-night Blues program on NPR when it all hit me: I left the city of Chicago to ultimately end up here. What kind of inverted exodus have I made?!...

Cut to: 14 Feb 2009
I have seen it all AND satisfied my six-month craving for some Blues. I also found my Mississippi Brothas and Sistas. It was more of a Rhythm and Blues festival, but the Blues artists in the second half of the program held the show to its name. We saw Denise La Salle sing "Don't Mess with My Toot-Toot," a song she's been singing and strutting across the world, which also can be heard on the "Big Easy" movie soundtrack. Then, Bobby Rush (whose family moved to Chicago in the 50s-they're no fools!) came out all a-funkin' and a-hoochie-coochie-mannin' with two-big-bootied-back-up-dancers. He asked the audience to "Wave your hands in the air." But he stopped everything and said to two dudes in the front row, "Why you ain't wavin' your hands? Betchyou listen to that Snoppy Doggy A&^%$#-Sh*&^%. Without me and James Brown, Snoop Dawg would be Sh*&%.... Who do you think started Rap when Snoop was still in diapers..." And then, Bobby Rush proceeded to mock-cover Snoop Dogg/Dr. Dre with a full two minutes of hip-hop-hibby-hibby-hops, gins and juices and rip-roaring expletives. And his act was AFTER the "Sixty and Sexy" audience-participation dance contest, which was more like "shake your sub-gut maker." Once the 300 lb. contestant took the stage, the skinny hussies didn't stand a chance.

The night ended with Clarence Carter who sang his big hit, "Slip Away" and was fantastic! Brian, who agreed to rise up and dance with me a little, is fantastic, and a great sport, considering he was one of the few guys there NOT wearing a three-piece purple [or red or white] suite or a wide-brimmed hat. He was wearing a fleece pull-over and jeans. Even still, he alerted me that the Ladies were checking him out in the beverage line, for he was "Pretty fly for a white guy." I say, True Dat.