John Vanderaart column Livin Blues

I consider myself a ‘blues man’, just like the colleague (= the wild man on duty) at my business. Every random conversation we have quickly leads to the Mississippi Delta, the cradle of the blues. For me they are the first albums of ZZ Top (ok, Texas), he chooses Muddy Waters and John Lee Hooker. Strange, because he’s younger than I am… Anyway, we found ourselves in the common denominators Cuby + Blizzards and Livin Blues. Harry Muskee is no longer with us, but Nicko Christiansen is. So on to the Patronaat here in Haarlem! Well, a pop temple today is different from a pop temple back then. To start, see the mandatory one locker just get it open. QR code, something app-like, iDeal, then one of approximately 600 lockers find it, and so on. The audience: “Crazy grunts!” With a clear division: HCC members and non-HCC members. The first group (I checked that specifically) had those lockers in them no time working. The second group kept their jackets on… After two songs I thought for a moment that Nicko Christiansen was getting a splash, but nothing could be further from the truth, he was still warming up. Once warmed up, he invited two beautifully sculpted ladies (= the Bluesettes) to arrive, after which he went wild for an hour and a half. Yes, his mojo was still working fine. And what a concert, truly of international allure. Afterwards it was still a bit of a hassle (for the non-HCC members). lockerapp, but that doesn’t deserve any attention. At the door I started talking to the doorman (bouncer size) and the manager. They agreed: “Beautiful show, good bar turnover, flexible audience. Not all that good with the automation.” Do I sense a division there? From there I received an email from the Patronage: “I liked it.” Certainly…

The band Livin Blues gave me a great evening. Thank you and congratulations for that