Topic: BB King and John Mayall at the MEN Manchester
Hi Folks,
Two of the biggest names on the blues scene under one roof and it was great!
John Mayall came on at 7.30pm and played for an hour. He has a great new band with him featuring Rocky Athas on guitar. He comes from Texas and grew up with Stevie Ray Vaughan and was voted one of the top ten guitarists in Texas at the age of 23. Really good player.
With Greg Rzab on bass, Tom Canning on keyboards and Jay Davenport on drums. John himself played keyboards and harmonica.
Even though he is 75 he looked very fit and sang really well.
Their set included Oh Pretty Woman, Hideaway, Congo Square, Dream About the Blues, So Many Roads and Chicago Line (I think)
It took about half an hour for them to set up the stage for BB King. The various band members were milling about the stage making sure everything was right but even after all that setting up they still had to swap one of the amps just after thay got started.
The band comprises James Bolden - trumpet/musical director, Stanley Abernathy - trumpet, Walter King - saxophone, Melvin Jackson - saxophone, Charlie Dennis - guitar, Reggie Richards - Bass, Ernest Vantrese - keyboards and Tony Coleman on drums.
What fantastic musicians they all are . They played a couple of instrumental songs to start with and then BB King joined them to a standing ovation from the audience.
He looked very smart in a patterned jacket and the shiniest patent leather shoes you've ever seen.
During the two hour show he spent about half of it chatting and telling stories but when he sang his voice was amazing.
I found this clip on You Tube, it's a bit of a medley.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XtBpGkuSXnk
And this one which is really good
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uvv1a6s9 … re=related
The sound in the arena was very good quality and wasn't too loud.
BB King is a real gentleman and even when some guy at the front was shouting his mouth off, I couldn't tell what he was saying, Mr King was very gracious and dignified and got him to sit down again.
Some people say he talks too much and his playing is feeble but at the ripe old age of 83, as he kept on telling us 
, he is still a great entertainer and a true legend.
Thank you Lucky Simon for taking me there it was a night to remember.
Tripsy 
I’m not a fan of John Mayall’s voice, but like Tripsy, I was very impressed by how strong it sounded and not a bit like the thin high pitched singing on studio recordings. He certainly seemed pretty sprightly for a 75 year old, too. I would definitely like to see them playing a full gig given the chance – Duncan, take note. 
but they were funny and he had the audience eating out of his hand the whole night. He’s a real showman and consummate entertainer. His voice belies his age, being still remarkably strong and powerful. 