Monday, April 17, 2006

Music in Mobile

This town never has music -- ever -- or rarely anyway. Or the publicity for it is so bad that I don't ever hear about artists being here until they are gone. They'll advertise only on the radio and I don't listen to the radio -- they talk too much. This Saturday there was a music festival in town that I spent all day at listening to some bands I hadn't heard of, plus the subdudes (they did some older stuff and songs from their latest cd, Behind the Levee) , Will Kimbrough, and Dr. John doing his Nighttripper show. I was in heaven. Normally, if I want a concert, I end up in Atlanta, which is 6 hours away. I'm still smiling inside because of it.

Music shows in Mobile are a lot stranger to me than shows in Atlanta; they don't attract diverse crowds. For example, I saw Rachelle Ferrell in Atlanta and people of all colors were there. I saw her here, and my husband and I were two of three white people at the show. The festival yesterday was mostly white people with two or three black people who weren't working the show. Having attended most of my concerts in Atlanta, I'm surprised by this and find it odd. What is it about this city that separates people that way?

4 comments:

Joke said...

If its any consolation, at the Bobby "Blue" Bland show some years back, my friend Wally and I were the only Caucasians for miles.

-J.

P.S. We were the only people under retirement age, also.

Kathy said...

I saw Bobby "Blue" Bland in Atlanta so it was a mixture when I saw him. Also a mixture of ages as well. I would like to the White Stripes but think if I went I'd be the oldest person there.

Gina said...

A little Bablebabe told me today is your birthday--have a happy day! :-)

Kathy said...

Thanks, Gina. It was nice -- I was in Chicago. The trip was hell but the day itself was nice.