Koko Taylor

The Coach House

What a pleasure it was to see Koko. As another one of the artists on my see them before they retire list, it was pretty much a given I was going to go. I ended the evening with no regrets whatsoever. I don't know how old Koko is, and it doesn't really matter ... she can still sing the blues. She had a great backup band who complemented her extremely well. The band featured one very talented guitarist, playing some pretty darn old equipment, and another guy playing with much newer gear. Guess who won? You can't beat old equipment mixed with talent. My only gripe of the night was the second guitarists amp which, unfortunately for me, was turned up loud and pointed at me. As a result, I couldn't hear a lot of the other musicians as well. The Coach House does have this problem when you sit up front ... crappy sound. Koko still came through for our group though and put on one of the best performances we've seen at the Coach House. It's a shame she didn't have the draw to play a place like the House of Blues ... that would of put her on par with Etta James' performance. Anyway, Koko's a fantastic performer and they put on one hell of a show, going everywhere from "happy" blues, to down in "the basement" as she puts it. If you like her music, she can still sing it, and you won't be disappointed by a night out seeing her in action.