A Night at Symphony Hall

Buster & I had a busy but very fun weekend. Friday night I took him to see B.B. King... a 3-hour concert is a bit much for a 9-year-old (even one who likes blues!), but B.B. is 81 now and probably won't keep touring much longer... with Buster old enough that he may actually remember this show it seemed a worthy adventure to let him see this blues legend! And yes, it was long for him and he had moments of boredom and fidgeting, but whenever a song he knew was played he'd bounce right back and on a few occasions start singing along! It was his first real concert, and when it was done he was very glad he went. He was even able to go down near the stage at the end of the show and scored one of the little souvenir pins B tosses out to the crowd when he's done.

I've seen B.B. many times over the past 20-odd years, and have also met him twice... once even singing with him, a story I'm sure most reading this know and have heard enough of! It's been both fun and bittersweet watching B.B. maturing, and of course noting how I myself have gotten so much older... time marches on, the ultimate blues. Each of the past several times I've seen him B has looked a bit older, a bit more tired... and yet hasn't backed down from giving the audience what he's always given us: himself. An evening with B.B. really feels like you're meeting the man... no on-stage patter for him, he talks to the audience with true stories and lessons from his own life. The man is amazing, and amazingly humble. As always lately, I'm hoping this wasn't the last time I'll see him!

On another quick note, The Hey and I saw the new James Bond movie last night ("Casino Royale"), and came away very happy! I've always been a big Bond fan, but the movies have become more and more "Blowed Up" stunt extravaganzas with over-the-top stories and cartoon-character characters. This had its share of stunts but was still a genuine spy story with overall fairly believable characters... not perfect by any means but a great story and a good return to the basics for my favorite secret agent. Here's hoping they can build on this and keep moving in that direction!