As you know, I'm at South Miami-Dade Cultural Arts Center (now called the Dennis C Moss Cultural Arts Center, with a web address of mosscenter.org) a lot. I was there Friday night.
I get the list of shows in advance, as does everyone on their circulation, I choose which shows I want to attend, which is usually most of them, after I choose which shows I don't want to attend, and I enter them in my calendar. I indicate the date, the time, and which venue I'm attending (they're not all SMDCAC). If I tell someone I'm going to a show there or anywhere else I go, and they ask me what the show is, I never know. I've already decided when and where, and what it is is a surprise when I get there.
So on Friday night (April 25), I went to SMDCAC, as my calendar said I was scheduled to do. The show started at 8:30, and it turned out to be Kat Riggins. The impresario of SMDCAC is so reliable that I commonly don't even bother to explore what the artists do. It turns out that Kat Riggins is a young woman who leads a blues band. She has a guitar player, a bass player, an organist, a drummer, and two backing singers. She writes some of the material herself, and she, and her group, also performed an Albert King song, a Muddy Waters song, and a Led Zeppelin song.
There are a few things worth noting in particular about Ms Riggins, and about this concert. Ms Riggins comes from Miami. She now lives in Hollywood, Fla, so still pretty close by. How she was never before at SMDCAC is a mystery. She's a purely delightful person, a great blues singer, and a super great leader of her group.
The show occurred in the room SMDCAC calls the "Black Box." It's the smallest of their rooms, it's sort of cabaret style, and they serve (you can buy) drinks and snacks.
I have never seen so many people in SMDCAC's "Black Box," and they must have brought in extra tables (four at a table), because the room was jammed.
I have also never had as much fun as I had at this concert. It started late, and it's a long enough drive home, so I felt a conflict as to whether I was eager for it to end, or I wanted it to go on all night. There was an intermission, too, so it lasted a good, long time. I got home at about 11:30.
Ms Riggins is as good a female blues singer, and entertainer, and cheerleader, as there is. Her guitar player was spectacular, as was her drummer, and her bass player, and her organist. I could see why she wanted the backing singers, but she didn't need them. She and her instrumentalists did everything that needed to be done, and they did it perfectly. Everyone had a wonderful time. I very much hope we see her back.
She had mentioned that she was from Miami, and when I asked her what part, she said Brownsville. So I told her the County also created a venue -- Sandrell Rivers Theater -- in Brownsville. It's a lot closer for her and her group, and although no venue on earth matches SMDCAC, it's a good enough venue, and it has more seats than does SMDCAC's Black Box room. She didn't ask me for my contact information, but if she remembers I told her about Sandrell Rivers, and she's interested, she can ask Eric Fliss, the magician impresario of SMDCAC, and he'll tell her about it. She mentioned that she and her group perform around the world (and I'm not one bit surprised), but they are local, and she might like some nostalgic performances.
You missed Kat Riggins, and I missed you.
