At the Denton County courthouse square, there was a treat last Thursday night. A “jump blues/swing band” called Big Daddy Alright played sizzling music on a hot summer night.

It was a part of the summer music series called “Twilight Tunes.” If you are in the neighborhood of Denton, Texas, don’t miss it!

It’s FREE!
It’s on Thursday nights in the summer at about 6:30, which is by no means near “twilight.” Thank you, Denton Main Street Program!

Now, I love swing music (I met my husband when he was playing in a swing band and we had swing music played at our wedding)! I was at loose ends with my husband in Seattle on a business trip. I started getting “cabin fever,” and when I saw the announcement in the paper, I decided to go.

If you knew me, you would know that this is quite out of character. “Impromptu” is a word that, although I am aware of intellectually, rarely creeps into a conversation.

I grabbed my lawn chair, my camera, and a Share A Square afghan to work on (gotta keep busy, but that was the dumbest project to work on in the Texas heat!). Because I went early, I was able to get a great seat in the shade (prime real estate at a Texas festival). I got some sweet tea and a sandwich at Banter, an eatery just off the courthouse square (at 219 W. Oak St.). I highly recommend a sandwich called “Mixed Business!” I add avocado and onion (and it has bacon). I was in hog heaven.

Oh, that music was fantastic! Big Daddy Alright plays a lot of cover songs by folks like Fats Domino, Elvis, Bobby Darin and such. They had a mix of blues, swing, and rockabilly music going down that had the audience hooting AND dancing!







The guitarist was quite a character. I didn’t snap pictures of his antics, but he was a crowd favorite.







Obviously the keyboard player had a gaggle of giggling girls as fans. I didn’t catch them giggling here, but trust me…they were!

And, the lead singer was just a hoot!



I wish that y’all could have been there with me. Everybody else and their dog was. Yes, there were dogs everywhere with their tongues hanging out in the heat.

Get there early, so you can camp out in the shade. I’ll be there before you, so let me know if you are coming and I’ll save you a seat! It’s a cool way to spend a summer night.

I’ve been to enough outdoor festivals that I should know these things by heart.

Items to take to an outdoor festival:

• chair
• camera
• binoculars
• blanket or jacket
• bottled water
• sunscreen
• mosquito repellent
• antihistamine!
• taser gun for zapping unruly crowds!

I know them, but I still forget.

I had told y’all about the horrible crowds at the Denton Arts and Jazz Festival. On Friday night, throngs of idiots who arrived late scrambled to stand in front of the stage, blocking the view for the people who had been there all day waiting to see. I had groused that I was going to take an umbrella to jab offensive people, but Jamie had suggested tasering folks and stacking them like cordwood.

I’m happy to report that the Saturday night crowd was much more civilized. Or, maybe the police just had it figured out better, and stopped people from going down to the front. At any rate, the taser gun I dragged along was unnecessary (but impressive). However, I forgot antihistamine and a jacket! When we went down to the festival grounds, it was hot (so we were in our free t-shirts provided by Jupiter House Coffee). By nightfall, the temperature dropped dramatically. The freshly mowed lawn put a lot of pollen in the air (as if there isn’t enough of that in the air in Texas already).

By the time my hero, Delbert McClinton, came on stage, my teeth were chattering and I couldn’t breathe through my nose!



[photo by Matthew Barnes]

The worst news, is that if I had not already been a Delbert McClinton fan, THIS concert would NOT have made me one. Bless his heart, Delbert has been performing since the early 1960s. When he ripped into a song, he could rock the house. His voice has been abused mightily over the years.

I was mortified for him. I had been bragging on and on to the woman next to me about how good Delbert was, since she had never heard him. As the concert began, I wanted to swallow my tongue. He sounded weak, and ragged. He couldn’t carry a melody! Aww, say it ain’t so! No, it’s true.

Maybe it was an aberration. Perhaps he has allergies, too. It could have been that he was exhausted. It might have been that the sound system had a glich. Or, was it just my ears?

I don’t think so. If that is how he sounds all the time, somebody needs to tell him that it’s time to retire. I think his voice is dead and gone (R.I.P.).

The woman next to me was less than impressed. She left after three songs. We waited until he took a break. I should have gone sooner, because I don’t want to remember Delbert that way.

At least I got to hear him in road houses and honky tonks thirty years ago. That Delbert is still my hero.

That’s the tune I’m singing, folks. I’m so disappointed. We went to the Denton Arts and Jazz Festival, but came home early. The music was stellar, but I don’t “do” uncivilized crowds very well.

Oh, at first it was fine. We arrived at about 5:45, and staked out a small area about 15 yards from the stage. We spread a sleeping bag, and put down our two chairs (low to the ground, so that people can see over us, because we are polite like that). We enjoyed Metzler’s Barbecue and a beer

then some fabulous strawberry crepes, while we listened to the NTSU 1 o’clock lab band.

The 1 o’clock lab band is magnificent. It always comprises the best of the music students at North Texas State University. Did you know that such diverse musicians as Don Henley, Meatloaf, Stan Kenton, and Pat Boone went to North Texas State University? Yep. We are talking a high quality, “class act.” And, we were having a good time listening to their jazz music.

I wandered around a little looking at crafts in the sea of booths. Good thing I didn’t take my wallet!

Then, the Buster Brown Band played a set.

I was pretty impressed. They rocked! They played some of their own music, but also some wonderful tunes like Curtis Mayfield’s “Superfly.” I was having a good time!

Hey, for a free concert, this was about as good as it gets.

Unfortunately, that was as good as it got.

I’d been excited about seeing the Neville Brothers, but when they came on stage is when people started getting totally rude. They pushed their way to the front and stood in front of people who had been sitting for hours waiting to see the band.

Of course, people on the front row couldn’t see, so they had to stand. The people behind them couldn’t see, so they had to stand. In order to see Aaron Neville (sigh), I had to be on my feet! I was not amused.

Do you see all those bobble heads in front of me??! OMG, do you see Aaron Neville (squeal!)?

I got even less amused, when stupid drunken people decided to step across our sleeping bag (spilling beer all over it) instead of walking behind us. We scooted as far forward as we could to leave an aisle behind, but newcomers filled the space. I thought I was gonna have to smack one smart aleck little toot who almost wouldn’t let me move my purse out of the way before he pushed in front of us.

Maybe I’m just getting old, but it seems to me that the festival’s organizers could arrange that better. Maybe they could delineate a space in front, where people sit, and make the “standing room only” crowd be at the back. Is that so unreasonable?

We got disgusted enough to move outside of the festival ground to listen for awhile, but then we just came on home.

Strangest thing, on my back porch, I can hear the music very well, and I can see the stage as well, too. Which means I can’t see it at all.

Delbert McClinton plays on Saturday night. I may have to take an umbrella to prod people who offend me.

I make a pretty good curmudgeon.

But, I distinctly heard that smart aleck little boy call me something else. It started with a “b” and rhymed with “itch.” I do so hope he comes around again when I have my umbrella.