Sun reporter Chris Kaltenbach saw B.B. King perform at Pier Six Pavilion last night. Here are his thoughts:
It's not every day you get to watch the Statue of Liberty walk onstage, but that's what it felt like watching blues legend B.B. King enter Pier 6 Pavilion last night.
At age 84, the man's best performing days are clearly behind him. But watching and hearing a legend is an opportunity not to be missed, and on that level alone, King did not disappoint ...
On a sweltering Baltimore night, the man proved that he can still make his guitar, the wondrous Lucille, moan like nobody's business, that he can still growl in that way that all blues (and many rock) singers have been trying to imitate for decades, and that he can still win over a crowd.
True, his repertoire for the evening included some odd choices: "You are My Sunshine" and "Let the Good Times Roll," but no "Caledonia" and only one stanza of "The Thrill is Gone." But sitting in a chair at the front of the stage, King was clearly in good spirits, even while confessing that he would be going to the doctor's next week and explaining about an ear problem that clearly irritated him.