The Blind Boys of Alabama at the Sydney Opera House

Last night I had the wonderful opportunity of going to the magnificent Opera House to watch a concert of Gospel and Soul. The Bill as you can see from the posters I borrowed from the Opera House website shows clearly the Blind Boys of Alabama and the amazing Mavis Staples and her band and Aaron Neville. For me, whilst I had vaguely heard of The Blind Boys and seen You Tube clips of them along with those of Mavis Staples, I initially came because I am a HUGE fan of Aaron Neville.

Mavis Staples and the Blind Boys of Alabama were the headline acts and for just cause. They were sensational. Watching the concert with a friend I tried to analyse the feelings I had during the event and could only describe the music as soul food. I have long wanted to attend a negro spiritual church somewhere in the southern USA and to date, have sadly not had that experience. This was as close as I could get so far. Aaron Neville sang only 5-6 songs but he added something special to the concert. I never had the chance to meet him, but I certainly loved the whole concert experience.

It is interesting that in Tennessee, you have at one end Memphis, producing some great spiritual music and then Roy Orbison, Elvis Presley and many, many others and then in Nashville the country music capital of the world. It is a particular hotbed of influence and musical crossover. Some of that was on display last night. I thought of the American civil rights movement whose retort to the colour segregation they experienced and eventually changed was done so largely because they sang.

Their music was filled with a belief in and a love for God, and a faith that he would lead them through.

Mavis and her band were truly wonderful, she sang that she would not be moved or turned around - I thought of Rosa Parks who was too tired to move on a Bus one evening and unwittingly started the civil rights movement. There was a reference to Martin Luther King's "I have a Dream" speech, which was wonderful.

I was there not as a photographer, but I snapped off these few pictures to help me remember this wonderful event. I used the pocket Nikon P7000 camera with the screen display disengaged so as not to offend or make the view for my fellow concert goers uncomfortable, and rarely even used the viewfinder, these were LITERALLY snaps because I wanted to enjoy the concert more.

I am putting this post here because if any of you are in Sydney tonight they are playing the Opera House again, and I think it fair to say, that for all that were attending last night it was truly a special evening, judging by the cheers, claps and screams. These people have music, harmony and blending in their blood and it was beautiful to witness.

You can get more information by clicking on the link just below and booking! I thoroghly recommend it!

Book Tickets and get info here

I will put some You Tube clips at the end of the post.