Festival Leaves No One Feeling Blue

If you were one of the fortunate souls not to end up in Oxford, Mississippi, this weekend, and you didn’t attend the first annual Roots ‘N Blues ‘N BBQ Festival in downtown Columbia this weekend, I truly feel sorry for you. Not because I don’t think that you have your own life, with your own agenda, trying to find yourself in this sea of black in gold. But I feel sorry for you because you could have taken the short 10-minute walk from your dorm and attend a free two-day music and barbecue festival with 8,000 of your new closest friends. But don’t worry for those of you who were sleeping by the pool or e-mailing your crazy Bio 1010 teacher, because I was there, and I’ll always have your back.
The air was filled with a rough mesquite scent that stung the nostrils, and instantly triggered memories of those amazing Fourth of July barbecues. Walking up to Jesse Hall, you can hear the faint murmur of music that grows stronger with each coming step. I walked passed Jesse Hall and saw one thing: people.
I saw all sorts of people. The sixty year-old Harley rider who refuses to shave his beard or wear anything else but a leather vest and chaps. The philosophy major who thinks he is the re-incarnation of Bob Marley looking for the tofu stand (he didn’t find it). I saw kids on leashes. I saw Matt Damon (I swear I did). I saw everyone from 8 weeks old to people that looked as though they were just passing the time between Bingo games at their local “Over 90 and Lovin’ It” club. I saw hippies. I saw cowboys. I saw big people. Then I saw even bigger people. I saw mullets. I saw dreadlocks. I saw a braided beard. I saw sober people. I saw some not so sober people. I saw fat babies. I saw cute babies. And yes, I saw some ugly babies. But they were all there for one purpose: to enjoy some good food, good music, and everyone else invited to this party.
While the music was the center of this festival, it was the people and the venders that made this event possible (and possibly a huge sponsor, like Boone County National Bank, just to throw that out there). There was the Jamaican Jerk Chicken stand blasting the reggae music from 11am to 11pm, who looked as though they couldn’t be having a better time. It also helped that they has a constant line of at least 20 people with their cash out. Right next to them there was the two sisters and their brother, none older than the age of 12, who were seriously HUSTLING people at their kettle corn stand. If you went a little further down the road, you would see one of the cowboy hat stands that was run by ma and pop, only ma and pop looked as though they sold hats to John Wayne and were strangely recalling the days “when all of this was dirt.” I’m kidding, but these were some old people! More power to them, though.
This atmosphere was perfect for the culminating event at 8th and Broadway on the Boone County National Bank Stage. As the sun was setting, everyone gravitated toward the stage to see the final act in the inaugural festival. However, they were beaten to the punch by all the elderly Missourians who had made a weekend out of this event and who had been camped out there since noon with their fold out camping chars and coolers. As the sun began to set, the energy began to rise and the crowd started to form around the old folks in their sitting section. Looking through the crowd, it was awesome to see everyone coming together as a community, young and old alike.
Then 9 pm hit.
The scheduled act was Taj Mahal, a blues musician who has two Grammy Awards to his name and has been releasing albums since 1968 and has released 45 more albums since then. He was the last of the 30 nationally known acts to perform, and boy did they save the best for last.
Taj Mahal took the stage with his bassist and drummer. And in blues music, that’s about as complicated as it gets. It was evident that this wasn’t his first show, but this veteran of blues music brought the same amount of energy and emotion that he did his first show. It just looked like the guy on the streetcorner was finally given a chance to perform, and Taj nailed it. I don’t think there was any part of the show where he wasn’t laughing or smiling. He could sing as soft as if he had just meditated for 30 minutes, or as rough as if he had just had his heart broken. No matter which way he sung, anyone could see and hear that he spoke from the soul and not only made you listen to his words, but feel them as well. He made me want to get a girlfriend, buy a dog, and get a guitar just so I could get heartbroken, ran away from, and get my guitar stolen JUST SO I COULD LEARN TO SING LIKE THAT.
Not only could Taj play guitar and sing with the best of them, he also took over electric organ and played as though he was born to do it. It was nice to watch someone with such passion for what he does, to the point where such raw emotion couldn’t be rehearsed. It was a perfect set, in the perfect setting, on an amazing night.
Those people in Mississippi had no idea what they had missed…


just for the record, i am not anti-elderly. it just seems that way.