Calvin Johnson was easy to spot at Mahaffey Theater on Tuesday night. The saxophone player for the Preservation Hall Legacy Quintet was one of the few people under 50 years old in the house, and his older tourmates — who wrapped a grueling two-month jaunt in St. Pete on November 21 — let him know it by pointing out that this final stop was also Johnson’s 32nd birthday.
To be serenaded by the Blind Boys of Alabama and Irma Thomas — who led the theater in singing “Happy Birthday” to Johnson — is something he won’t soon forget, but concertgoers won’t soon forget the show they got either when the Boys’ Jimmy Carter led his hall of fame gospel outfit through a short set before the 76-year-old Soul Queen of New Orleans Irma Thomas — who released her first single at 18 years old — put together her own abridged set of Crescent City classics on the way to getting everyone home before 10 p.m.
Have a look at a few photos from the show below. Read our interview with Carter here.
