Mavis Staples live!

Mavis Staples
Hideout, Chicago
Monday, June 23, 2008

In explaining why she decided to record her forthcoming live album at Hideout Monday night, Mavis Staples cited its closeness to home, even joking of starting a Wednesday-night residency. But her second reason was much more telling: “Keep up these positive vibrations for at least the next six months.”

A clear reference to Barack Obama’s presidential bid, it was also somewhat of a softening of the stance taken on last year’s We’ll Never Turn Back (Anti). The songs from the album dredge through sensitive Civil Rights issues, lamenting a lack of resolution. But while Turn Back formed the bulk of her Hideout set, tracks like “Down In Mississippi” and “We Shall Not Be Moved” turned from angry into hopeful, catching a swift ride on the steam train of Staples’ vibrato and reversing the sunset peeking through the windows.

Without spoiling too much for those who’ll only have the CD as a document, Staples candidly and warmly recalled her father and meeting Martin Luther King Jr. in Alabama. Renditions of “The Weight” and “Will The Circle Be Unbroken” were far from rote, and her celebratory cry of “Robbie Robertson” after the former sparked wild applause. She challenged the engineers by passionately reciting “Waiting For My Child To Come Home” without a microphone ($100, by the way, to the sound editor who sneaks the tamale guy’s sales call into the final product).

It was as if the set list was planned to follow a linear path from Staples’ feelings before recording Turn Back and America’s electoral potential. Opener “For What It’s Worth,” while greeted enthusiastically for its familiarity, begged vigilance and reassessment. Toward the close, however, she was testifying “I’m on my way to Freedomland” — and there was as much light in the room as when the sun lit it as she took the stage.

— Steve Forstneger

Category: Live Reviews, Weekly