Jeudi

Mavis Staples

FAIR GROUNDS -- Being old enough to remember when her father Pops penned songs that would later be classics of the civil rights movement, Mavis Staples has never been the type of performer to simply run through her hits without offering a few thoughts on the state of the world. Friday's set offered her a few chances to address current events. First, of course, was her would-be partner for a Saturday set that will not come to pass, the recently departed Levon Helm.

To mark Helm's memory, Staples brought out Thursday Acura Stage performer and Irish songwriter Glen Hansard for a rendition of Helm and The Band's classic, "The Weight." Like Bruce Springsteen did earlier this week, the duo and Staples' band played the 1960s classic with hundreds of voices in the Gospel Tent providing the backing vocals. Without many words spoken, she managed to communicate the obvious hole in Saturday's closing set at the Blues Tent (which has been filled by Warren Haynes) and, more importantly, the void that will never be replaced by Helm's soul and talent.

Later Staples turned to future matters as she used her slot at JazzFest to try out some campaign speechifyin' in front of the 2012 presidential election. At the end of a rendition of "This is My Country,"she chastized people who were talking down President Barack Obama, especially those who say he wasn't  a U.S. citizen. She eventually came around to say she was talking about the Tea Party, whom she said were "mixing the Kool Aid and calling it tea."

To standing applause from around the Tent, she went on to question people who want to "go back to the 1950s and 1960s."

"I ain't never going back to the back of the bus," she cried out.