As I rolled up to the Great Southern Bank Stage for the Taj Mahal concert, the vibe was almost violently mellow. Many older couples cuddled on bright blankets, lighting up a cigarette and chatting about the festival. Children devoured donuts and most people there alone had a beer in hand and a smile on their face. Not one bit of the space was stressed or rushed.
What started as a puzzlingly empty clearing and a stage for jugglers quickly filled in as showtime drew nearer. Small children were scooped up by parents and put on their shoulders as what was once a clearing quickly became standing room only.
An emcee took the stage, and the crowd’s energy thickened with anticipation. He rattled off a list of the upcoming performer’s accomplishments, sighing with a smile, “This cat has brought it to us all. Ladies and gentleman, the Taj Mahal Trio!”
Taj Mahal took the stage in a bright red Hawaiian shirt and white fedora, drummer Kester Smith and bassist Billy Rich in tow. He smiled out on the crowd as he took a seat with his banjo and pulled up the mic.
“Thank you and good afternoon,” he greeted the audience, his signature rasp settled in his voice. Mahal gave the audience what would be his only instructions for the evening: Dance. “We like to see you dance, especially you grown big bottom women. Big bottom girls, you get to move and daddy get to move too.” He laughed and the ladies in the crowd whooped and cheered, ecstatic.
Mahal opened his show with blues staple “Good Morning, School Girl.” His scatting and catchy banjo riffs contributed to a traditional bluesy vibe, evoking images of an old man on the front porch with a harmonica, singing about longing and heartbreak. The bass guitar and drums provided a steady backing to Mahal’s vocals. Mahal performed some of his hits like “Good Morning Miss Brown,” where the audience sang along and attempted to imitate his rasp. A beach ball was tossed as the audience swayed to the music.
As the evening went on, it became increasingly clear that big bottoms were a central theme to Mahal’s performance. When covering “Shady Grove,” Mahal lamented to the audience “Peaches in the summertime, sweet apples in the fall / Peaches in the summertime, sweet apples in the fall.” He proceeded to change the line from, “If I can’t get the girl I love / I don’t want none at all,” to “If I can’t get the _big bottom, round_ girl I love/I don’t want none at all.” As the ladies in the audience cheered, he called out raunchy interjections like, “Big bottom!” and “Work that twerk!” A blues concert like no other.
At the end of that song, Mahal took a break to thank his grooving crowd. “Thank you dancers, thank you wigglers and thank you movers and shakers.” In the speech that followed, Mahal expressed that the only thing more important to Mahal than “shaking that bottom” was togetherness.
“We all together,” he said. “It ain’t like y’all down there and we up here, we all together!” The audience cheered in agreement. As a tribute to this sense of belonging, Mahal’s next song was one of his greatest hits and an instant crowd pleaser. The familiar jaunty banjo tune played out and smiles broke out on faces of the audience as they swayed with recognition. Smiling into the mic, Mahal sang out, “Sweeter than a honey bee,” and anyone who hadn’t already figured it out knew the song immediately. As “Queen Bee” played, the sun set over a mellow crowd, and the moon rose over a hyped one. Mahal milked every note for its full worth, dragging out melodies and throwing in riffs.
The rest of the evening consisted of a similar vibe, sensual and pleasant. The Taj Mahal Trio kept the flavor in their music that they were tired of the “big record companies” sucking away. The audience appreciated this wholeheartedly, whistling, whooping and dancing the night away.
_Edited by Siena DeBolt | sdebolt@themaneater.com_