mavis staples did one concert only at womadelaide
she was the big headline act on friday the opening night
there's been a great series on abc tv lately about soul music
our lady of this night featured on it a few weeks back
ignorant me had no idea of the significance of her family
but of course the staple singers were central to all that soul
so seeing her on the bill at womadelaide meant a must see
not wanting to be ageist her but she has to be pushing 70
which puts her in the class of divas who have gone before
over the years at womadelaide many elder ladies have sung
this year as well as mavis there was supposed to be cesaria
but alas she had a stroke on stage in sydney (another story)
mavis staples has an amazing voice and an even better laugh
got the impression she was enjoying every moment
though the occassional side-stage foray seemed necessary
to catch her breath and let the band take over
mr axe man particularly had fun in the spotlight
let rip with a most impressive display of guitar histrionics
almost made me think i was at crossroads guitar festival
and not a world music festival...but...let's not be picky
each tune in the set was totally recognisable
i kept thinking i really had missed something
if this lady had been responsible for all these tunes
but then i decided she was doing a bunch of covers
in the end i enjoyed it but it did feel a bit false
me the purist is not a huge fan of cover bands
even allowing for this lady's claim on the material
i discovered afterwards her latest album is all covers
done with real style and soul i would suggest
and a huge seller in her home country of the u s
the band she had on this night was first rate
a simple lineup of guitar, bass, drums at the core
and augmented by mavis and 3 backup singers
one being her very own sister (stage left)
i wanted to be totally enthralled by the event
as obviously were many around me
but for me not quite
still very good though
