B.B. King
Saturday, May 12th, 2012
South Okanagan Events Centre,
853 Eckhardt Avenue West,
Penticton, British Columbia, Canada

Taper: LeifH
Source: CSBs (filter) > Sony WM D6C (Dolby B) > Maxell XL II-S 90 (x2)
Transfer: Master cassettes > Modified Sony TC-WE475 (Dolby off) > H/K 3500 > Creative X-Fi Soundblaster > Wavepad Master's Edition @ 48000kHz (tracking, edits, downsample to 16/44.1 > flac (8) via TLH

Setlist: 1:39:55
01 Instrumental
02 Instrumental
03 B.B. King introduction
04 I Need You So/band introductions
05 Nobody Loves Me But My Mother
06 One Kind Favor
07 Key to the Highway
08 When Love Comes to Town
09 The Thrill is Gone
10 You Are My Sunshine
11 Guess Who
12 When the Saints Go Marching In > You Are My Sunshine
13 B.B. talks (a lot)
14 Rock Me Baby

This was my second time seeing B.B. King and this turned out much better than my first recording from 2007. The ticket price was lower this time too. I decided to go at the last minute, just a few hours before the show. At 86 years old he can still perform, but for how long? I was in row 19 on the floor, in the centre section (see images). The crowd wasn't very respectful during the show, but it still turned out well. The venue claims the show sold out, however the stage could have been pushed much further back to allow more open seats, and there were zero seats surrounding the soundboard. In other words, they sold out what seats they had for sale but not the entire arena.

The band did their standard of 2 instrumentals, then introduced B.B. King, at which point everyone gave a standing ovation. There were many, many latecomers and you can hear this at the beginning of the tape. It seemed almost the first half of the show there were people being directed to their seats. Someone passed a note onstage to B.B. that said, "Get off." He admits to not being able to keep his mouth shut. He also mentions being a fan of Willie Nelson. Someone in the crowd up front brought home made signs that said, "Riding with the King," and B.B. says he can't remember any of those songs, then called for Eric. He sang You Are My Sunshine twice and forgot the words. When he was departing the stage after Rock Me Baby, he signed a few items including guitar pick guards. I found this interesting as the last time I saw him there was a strict 'no autograph' policy.

The sound was done by a company called S & W, as opposed to a touring sound technician. If I was at the board I would have changed a few things and turned up the master faders a bit.

It is kind of annoying that many performers skip Kelowna and play in Penticton instead when Kelowna has a bigger population and is less out of the way. But the crowds usually suck big time, however I would say a third to half the crowd this night was from Kelowna.

Tape flips patched with Sony ECM 44B > Sony PCM M10. Heads cleaned, demagnetized and adjusted.