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He was performing with a great band at the Payomet Performing Arts Center in Truro, Mass., in a tent in the middle of nowhere. When I saw the announcement, I thought someone must have dug up an old poster from 30 years ago as a gag. John Mayall in Truro? THE John Mayall?

Oh, no, it was no vintage poster. It was really John Mayall. Once an outpost (still in a tent!), Payomet has been a Mecca for acts that no longer (or never did) warrant huge venues. This year is a very cruel one for me. One of our favorites, Shawn Colvin, was there a week ago, so we'll miss her. The week after we leave, Arlo Guthrie will be performing there, so we miss him, too.

BUT....the day after we get there, Jorma Kaukonen and Jack Casady, AKA Hot Tuna, will be playing there. You KNOW I have already reserved our tickets for that one!

Full of energy and definitely put a lot of feeling into his performance.

Enjoy Kaukonen and Casady, should be a great show!

I always thought Casady and Chris Hillman were two of the most underrated bassists of the late 60s. Solid, but melodic at the same time.

Both you and DFW get to see great shows and I'm stuck in this little town...
I bought the Bluesbreakers album in '68, the one with Mayall, Clapton and McVie.
It was inspirational.

Hughie Flint never made much of a splash after that, but Mayall was already a force by then, and Claption and McVie of course, went on to make musical history.

And don't think little towns always miss out. Look up how many people live in Truro, Massachusetts, where we'll be seeing Hot Tuna--in NINE DAYS!! By the way, we all had a big laugh at the end of the first Men In Black film, when the Tommy Lee Jones character ends up retiring to Truro, Mass, and the map has it smack in the middle of the state. Truro is on the tip of Cape Cod, just south of Provincetown, about a 4 hour drive away.

If you hit his stuff cold, nothing prepares you for him. Especially "Bare Wires," his penultimate album with Mick Taylor. Taylor departed following the next one, "Blues From Laurel Canyon," and the next album was legendary..."The Turning Point," with acoustic guitar and no drums.

He didn't do any of those unfortunately, but he did do "Steppin' Out" and "All Your Love" from Beano and of course being at the Whisky he played "Walkin On Sunset" from Blues From Laurel Canyon.

Rocky Athas out of Texas did a great job on lead guitar, Greg Rzab out of Chicago was solid on bass, and Jay Davenport, also out of Chicago, was terrific on drums. A truly outstanding band backing John up.