 The
first LOMA event was a huge success, the weather
was perfect, the recessed area in front of the
hill made for an excellent venue for an outdoor
concert, the surrounding trees and sculptures
only added to the ambiance of the evening. Friday
night (night one) September 23, 2005 was blues
night. LOMA - Laumeier Outdoor Music Amphitheater
is the newest addition to the Laumeier
Sculputure Park!
Big
Dave - Joe Bonamassa first opened for B.B.
at age 10, and fast forward a few years, and
here he still is, showcasing that guitar style
which is uniquely his! A cover of 'You Upset
Me' gave Joe the freedom to make his guitar
sound eerily like a violin, a sound you'll rarely
hear coming from a guitar!
Cornbread
- Kenny Wayne Shepherd and band played songs
that went back 10 years, “Blue on Black”
and my favorite instrumental – “Electric
Lullaby”. While I think KWS is a talented
guitarist I never got the choice of naming “the
Kenny Wayne Shepherd Band” and Kenny doesn’t
sing. I was glad to see his set focused on his
older blues stuff versus the newer direction
from blues to rock.
Big Dave - B.B. King is a regal Bluesman,
a living legend that brought together a legion
of fans onto the grassy ampitheater to kick
off the debut of LOMA. Featuring his very special
musical relationship with Lucille, and backed
by a big brass sound, B.B covered some of his
classics such as 'The Thrill Is Gone', and payed
homage to U2 with 'When Love Came To Town'.
The crowd enthusiastically wished B.B. a happy
birthday, as he's celebrating his 80th on this
tour! When he encouraged the crowd to 'shake
it', he humorously then added, "I'm 80,
miss, so be cool"!
Cornbread
- By far the thousands of multi-generational,
multi-genre fans would agree B.B. King was the
highlight of the evening. The eighty-year old
ambassador of the blues with his best gal –
Lucille, pleased all with songs, anecdotal stories
and of course his signature King-inspired bending
of notes. B.B. set lasted an hour, he was in
good form. Not only is he a polished contemporary
bluesman, he’s cute and loveable, highly
animated almost cartoon-like with as much charm
as he has skill at singing and playing guitar.
B.B. played a Willie Nelson song and a Bono
song. For me hearing a live version of his 1970
smash “The Thrill Is Gone” was a
pure joy.
The
St. Louis Blues Brothers
Big Dave & Cornbread
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