Rolling out with the aid of an electric scooter, before making a few feeble steps to lean against the chair at the center of the stage, Etta James clearly is no longer a young woman. But that doesn't mean that this 66-year-old-legend still can't shake a tail feather. And she did; sticking her derrière into the air and swishing it like a stripper on a pole, before settling down to deliver an amazing performance that effortlessly mixed blues, R&B and soul selections from throughout her massive catalogue.
James is one of the last Chess-era singers still performing, which makes it all the more amazing just how completely at the top of her game she still is. Though she told the audience she was in it for the money, she sings like someone who has something to prove and not at all like a jaded veteran of decades of tours and studio sessions. James has two recent discs, Blues to the Bone and Let's Roll, that show off her blues mastery. But she barely touched on those songs. Instead, she reached further back for "Come to Mama" and her raw and riveting delivery offered the audience a senior citizen with drives as vital as any teen. James' voice moved from saucy to raunchy, and the double entendres in the lyrics were brought home by some straight-ahead stage antics: from crotch-grabbing to thumb-sucking.
Dedicating the show to one of her inspirations, Ruth Brown (who was in the audience), James ran through old hits like "I'd Rather Go Blind" and "Something's Got a Hold on Me," as if she was showing off. And she was. James' voice remains a wonder, and age has added a heft that helps her reach an intensity few singers will ever achieve—to paraphrase Spinal Tap, this singer goes to 11.
James will forever be best known for the class and spine-chilling emotion of her voice on the ballad, "At Last." And the song predictably brought the audience to its feet as she swooped through. But even then, Etta James wasn't done as she led her crack band (which includes two of her children) into an Al Green medley of "Love and Happiness" and "Take Me to the River." The sexiest little old lady on Earth then got back onto her scooter and drove off, queen of the blues.