Although Mavis Staples was abruptly escorted off stage, breathless, mid-concert, she returned shortly after — as her band entertained the audience with instrumentals and dancing.
Earlier, the stage at the at the Templeton Blackburn Alumni Memorial Auditorium was set with cool-toned lighting as Staples’ band entered the stage around 7:30 p.m., and she followed shortly after.
“Now, we’ve come this evening to bring you some joy, happiness, inspiration and good vibrations,” Staples said as the audience rose with her arrival.
Staples is best known for her “extensive gospel career with the Staples Singers,” according to biography.com, as well as her work with the civil rights movement.
“I’m just looking forward to some nice, cool jazz, relaxing music, and I like it when she warms it up a bit too,” Wanda Rathbone, a Coolville resident, said before the show. Rathbone loves “blues and jazz” and stumbled upon Staples around 10 years ago and has been a fan ever since.
Staples performed around 10 songs, some originals, some covers, before she was abruptly escorted off stage by her tour manager for an undisclosed reason. After Staples returned, she performed about five more songs before an encore at the end of her show.
“She is the most positive presence I’ve ever been around, she’s magnetic, her shows ... just leave people floating on air,” Adam Ayers, Mavis Staples’ tour manager of four years, said.
Ayers said they try to take Staples and her band all around the country, and were thrilled to come to Athens County for the second time in about two years since she performed at the Nelsonville Music Festival in 2015.
Staples has been through “so much,” but she remains positive as she continues to defy the odds of age, Ayers said.
“She gets younger and younger by the day and by the show,” he said.
Throughout the evening, Staples interacted with the audience between songs. Before performing “Freedom Highway,” which was written by her father, she said, “I’m a living witness ... I’m a soldier, I’m in this army, army of love ... I’m fighting for peace and ain't nobody stopping me.”
“Her soul and gospel music is just amazing,” Charles Moseley, an Athens local, said.
Moseley and his wife have been listening to Staples for years, being “big Mavis fans,” but had never seen her live until tonight, and they were most looking forward to, “the songs — the inspiration songs,” he said.
Throughout the concert, Staples commented on the writers of the songs she sang, applauding them for their work. Staples specifically mentioned Justin Vernon of Bon Iver after performing “Dedicated,” a song co-written by Vernon on her newest album, Livin’ on a High Note.
“This was my first (Staples) concert,” Nancy Stinnett, a Columbus local, said at the end of the show. “I loved the whole thing, her soul and music and message are just very positive, I thought it was fantastic.”
