BB King and Company Draw Record Crowd to SITP

6 bands performed at the 17th Annual Gateway's Saturday in the Park last Saturday, and all were phenomenal, but in the end BB King stole the show on Saturday night. A record crowd and perfect weather paved the way for the King of the Blues, who took the stage at about 9:20pm and played until 10:45pm, offering up a set of blues standards, his most famous hits, and a ton of wonderful commentary. King appeared to be genuinely appreciative of the 25-30,000 person crowd, and was full of energy during the entire set, during which he continuously danced in his chair.

Dickey Betts and Great Southern offered up a searing set right before King, and Betts passed up the chance to perform a well deserved encore out of deference to King. Betts mentioned King often in his set. JJ Grey and Mofro tore it up earlier in the day, as did ReBirth Brass Band, Sarah Borges and the Broken Singles, Damon Dotson and Mount Suzuki. Record crowds and perfect weather made this Saturday in the Park memorable, and the fireworks that started just as BB took his final bow made this one of the most incredible nights in Midwest music history.

King may be 81, and some may wrongly discount his live performances, but if you were there on Saturday night you were part of something special; a show in which attendees, organizers and performers all were in perfect sync for a few hours that left us all in awe of the power of live music. -db