B.B. King brings legendary guitar — and lovable personality — to Meijer Gardens for opening night

With West Michigan’s own Vincent Hayes Project getting the party started, the iconic bluesman launched the 2013 concert series amid sunny skies with a veteran band and plenty of audience banter. (Photo gallery, video)

 

Take it from West Michigan blues guitarist Vincent Hayes: Few musicians can compare to the legendary B.B. King in shaping, influencing and inspiring other artists.

“I’ve been listening to B.B. King since I was in college, 20-some years,” Hayes told me on Monday, when the Grand Haven- and Muskegon-based Vincent Hayes Project earned the prestigious honor of opening for King in the kickoff concert of the 2013 Frederik Meijer Gardens & Sculpture Park summer concert series.

“I don’t have many musical idols, but he’s definitely had more influence on me than I can put into words. I consider this an honor of a lifetime.”

Hayes and his bandmates (bassist David Alves, drummer Donnie Hugley and keyboard player Doc Yankee) certainly didn’t wilt under the pressure, delivering a spirited, polished, “traditional” and “respectful” 46-minute set of guitar-driven blues to warm up the sellout crowd of 1,900 at the outdoor amphitheater on a cool, superbly sunny evening – an upbeat night that seems to bode well for the rest of this summer’s record-setting Meijer Gardens series of 29 concerts.

“I feel good,” a grinning Hayes said after his opening set earned a standing ovation from the crowd. “It went by so fast.”

The Grand Rapids concert venue resonated with good feelings and a hopeful vibe. That’s because even at age 87, King still has the cheerful chutzpah to engage an adoring crowd that’s there as much to pay tribute to this legendary singer and guitarist as it is to listen to him perform with his veteran eight-piece band while seated in a chair on stage.

“I love him, he’s great,” beamed Kendall College of Art and Design professor and program chair Jon McDonald, who experienced his first B.B. King concert in San Francisco back in 1970 and snagged a front-row seat for Monday’s show. “He’s real.”

McDonald, who also plays guitar, had his oil painting of B.B. King – based on a photo taken the last time the bluesman played Meijer Gardens – sent backstage on Monday to present to the musician.

“I don’t know anyone who can play notes the way he does. He’s the king,” McDonald insisted. “B.B.’s always been special. It’s just the way he could bend a note. He’s a living legend.”

That sentiment extended to the lion’s share of enthused audience members who stood in unison as B.B. King was helped to his seat – after his attendants polished his shoes and combed his hair just off-stage – hailing “the undisputed king of the blues.”

The Mississippi-bred bluesman exuded humor and warmth in demeanor, even while grumbling good-heartedly about the cool Michigan weather (so much so that stage crews brought him a heater about half-hour into his show).

For anyone who laments that King has lost a step musically while playing those distinctive blues licks on his beloved Gibson “Lucille” guitar, it’s overshadowed by his charisma and bigger-than-life stage presence – all deserving of the accolades he’s received the past six decades or so. This is a musician that has earned standing ovations every time he plays. It’s not the youthful B.B. King who had the world by the tail after his 1969 hit, “The Thrill is Gone,” soared up the charts, but it’s still B.B. King.

And while it was a predominantly older crowd applauding his legacy, there were pockets of younger fans on hand embracing the iconic musician.

“I wish I had the energy,” King said at one point, peering wistfully at a 20-something couple dancing at the corner of the stage. “Go ahead and shake your boogie. It’s ok with me.”

Then there was 9-year-old Zoey Neistat of Grand Rapids, who won’t likely ever forget her brush with blues fame. “We wanted her to see live blues from someone who might not be around that much longer,” her father, Mark Neistat, reasoned from the family’s front-row seats.

For his part, King actually figures that might be awhile, because he made it clear to the audience that he’d like to come back to Meijer Gardens again someday. That would make plenty of folks happy, because even though King spent much of the hour and 5 minutes he was on stage bantering with the crowd and tossing guitar picks to fans, he still drew raucous cheers by bending strings with that inimitable B.B. King wrist wobble and by playing favorites such as “The Thrill is Gone,” “When Love Comes to Town” and “You Are My Sunshine,” propelled by a hearty five-piece horn section.

King’s personality provided much of that sunshine on Monday, and that means Meijer Gardens concertgoers couldn’t ask for much more from an opening night.

B.B. KING: THE LOCAL SPINS PHOTO GALLERY (JUNE 3)

 

Email John Sinkevics at jsinkevics@gmail.com.
Copyright 2013, Spins on Music