Blind Boys of Alabama
7 April 2009, National Theatre, St Kilda
The Blind Boys of Alabama, if you didn't know, are a historic gospel soul group which formed in 1939 in an Alabama institute for the Negro Blind. Seventy years on, with two additional guitarists, they played to a sold out crowd in Melbourne at the National Theatre.
We've won a few Grammys...
Introduced by the opening band, The Wagons, they walked out, guided by other members of their tour. Their faces were lit up with smiles and excitement, just like ours. Jimmy Lee Carter, the lead vocalist, stood alongside his two other original members and told the audience a little bit about the Blind Boys.
"We're the Blind Boys... We've won a few Grammys. Well five to be exact."
"This year, we don't know, if we get a sixth Grammy then so be it, if we don't, well...We still got five."
And with that they belted out their first song, "Free at Last". On stage they were seated on stools, but for almost every chorus they got up and danced, played with each other, jumped up and down, and even twirled at one point during the night. So often we (the audience) found ourselves tapping our feet, clapping our hands and for some reason yelling, "Yeah!"
"Can I get a witness?"
"Yeah!"
True gospel music
We were witnessing true gospel music. The Blind Boys were taking us back to the mid '30s, The Great Depression, deep-rooted segregation, silent movies and loud churches. We were buzzing with energy, and they were bursting, holding high notes and low grunts. The bass player, slapping at his five strings. The lead guitarist swinging his vibrato bar and holding to the blues sound the boys are famous for.
They played numerous songs from their new album Down in New Orleans, but some greats were played, like "Amazing Grace" and "People Get Ready".
There was one epic moment in the night where Bishop Billy Bowers, one of the lead vocalists, kept getting up and dancing crazily. His guide had to keep sitting him down, but he wouldn't stand for it. He'd rise and start dancing again. He was shaking his head as if to say, "You can't keep me down, I'm feelin' good."
"Are you feeling good?"
"Yeah!"
Can't sit still
The performance was incredible, so often we'd also rise to our feet and dance, shout, and hold our hands over our mouth in shock at something they just did. Somehow, through so many years, decades even, despite the changes in the world, not only in terms of music and technology but history too, with Barack Obama becoming President of the United States, the Blind Boys have still managed to perform, write and record, and do it so well. Their set was truly beautiful.
"Ladies and Gentlemen. We love doing this. If we didn't, we would've given up long ago. We like making people happy, people like you. So thank you for coming."
"Be sure to grab one of those Grammy winning CDs!"
The jokes continued all through the night and you couldn't help but feel so uplifted and optimistic. "There Will Be A Light", a song originally recorded with Ben Harper, was also performed, giving me goose bumps. Every time their voices filled the whole theatre, it was like witnessing history, The Blind Boys singing in unison, harmonising together. Everyone was in awe.
The Blind Boys of Alabama put on an unforgettable performance and when the lights came on and we moved to the exits, you couldn't help but notice the spring in everyone's step.
May they can continue to sing, dance and make everyone around them happy like they did with us.
Four starts out of five.
To find out more about the Blind Boys of Alabama check out www.blindboys.com (new window)
