Zydeco...

 

What a show!  The concert last night at MIM was Terrance Simien & the Zydeco Experience... this was not the typical MIM concert (if there is such a thing, since all the acts we've seen have been excellent) - this was loud, raucous, on-your-feet entertainment.  Simien is a showman and each musician in the band is a top-notch performer.

And they are tight - the band worked together like a well-oiled machine.  Never a lull, they rolled from one song right into another for the nearly 2 hour show.  In true Creole fashion, Simien threw beads to the crowd and had everyone on their feet...

... especially when Simieno and his horn section danced through the crowd (above).

This is the first MIM concert we've seen where the band ran their own sound (usually it is done by MIM personnel)... and it was loud.  First time we've left a MIM concert and my ears were slightly ringing.

They promote as "having done over 10,000 shows" and the tightness that comes with that is apparent.  Each musician was given multiple times to shine and the crowd was appreciative.  The bass player was other-worldly, playing all over the fretboard and coaxing an impressive array of sounds out of his bass...

The horn players, a trumpet and sax, punched hard and full.  The drummer was my favorite for the night, with the tightest snap I've heard from a drummer, and he made it look effortless.  The keyboard player has been with Simien for decades, and that shows, as a glance is all that is needed between them to keep the flow going...

The show ran the gamut of musical genres: zydeco, cajun, rock, soul, roots, gospel, but always true to Simien's southern Louisiana roots.

A fun evening!  (and, yes, Joan caught some beads, that she gave to Cindy)  Mark and I gave each other many "Did you see that?" looks, with the exceptional playing.

--------

Back to the grind...

After writing that post above, we shoved off, heading for the storage place where we keep the motorhome; today's tasks: get it washed and start the fresh water tank sanitizing.

The storage place has a nice wash bay, with a sewer dump...

It's covered, so until mid-afternoon, you don't have the sun beating down on you.  We didn't have to worry about that mid-afternoon stuff - we were there around 8:00 am.  While I worked on the outside of the coach, Joan scrubbed the old windshield cover (we use it just for storage), cleaned the windows, and shined up  chrome.  The coach is looking good.

Next was putting on some fresh water with bleach in it, to sanitize the fresh water tank and all the water lines.  We'll let that sit in there for a couple days.  Plus, we took the coach down the Interstate a ways to top off the fuel and shake up the bleach water in the tank.  Joan ran the bleach water through all the lines.  Next trip out, we'll dump the tank, fill it with fresh water with just a touch of bleach, and dump again.  One more fill with fresh water, and it will be good to go.

That's enough work for today - we got the bulk of it done before the temperature topped 100º and still climbing.