57° and Mist
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Delighted to see a packed house Friday night at the Niagara Falls Blues Festival. My guess is the crowd was up 30% over last year.
We take it for granted, but the sound from that stage is fantastic.
As we settled into our seats to listen to Spencer MacKenzie (one of the most Canadian names ever) I looked over and saw my friend Joe.
He was sitting in the same place as a year ago, by the hydrant in front of the pretend Barnes and Noble (it looks like a bookstore but functions like a convenience store.)
Somehow a year passed, maybe more, since the coffee klatch gathered in the back of Cancemi’s Furniture on 6th Street. Health has a way of going south for people in their 80s.
When last we chatted, it was 11 a.m. on a Tuesday. Joe had already worked a shift cutting up chickens at a shop in Buffalo but was worried his hand was going numb from too many years wielding a knife and slicing cold meat. He was 89 then, 90 now.
Once his shoulder gets a bit better he said he plans to go back to work. He still lives in the same house on North Avenue he built 50 years ago.
As I chatted with the timeless, Joe Louis Walker took the stage and railed old school, the kind of blues relevant 50 years ago and today. The festival continues tonight. Shemekia Copeland is the headliner.
