watermelon slim's show last night

This was a great night of music in Parkersburg. Watermelon Slim and his band are high energy, solid blues music; with their own particular stamp. He is a great entertainer, and obviously has deep roots in music and "life." A very solid band; the drummer is fun to watch putting his energy into a distinctive style. The guitar play was solid- very supportive of the headliner, kept the excitement going. This was a fine crowd for a tuesday night; the word got out decently and there are clearly some blues lovers around. The crowd gave enthusiastic response, and Watermelon acknowledged the short notice of the show, and seemed genuinely appreciative. His song selection, vocals, humor, harmonica playing all were distinctive and memorable. There was an opening act; with a local flavor (WV anyway) who had won a competition in Charleston and were going on to a national contest in Memphis. They earned the audience's attention and got the show off to a good start. Watermelon came on quickly and was really putting himself into the performance, and had the crowd going the whole time. A great job by Bill Poole of getting the show together; Steve Wells introduced and ties a thread together for Blues in the mid ohio valley very well. Gave people a few upcoming dates to look forward to. An enjoyable evening of music for the good ol' mid ohio valley.