Subject: Pool #1--The BluesPool was escorted into the East Room for "In Performance at The White House: Red, White and Blues" at 6:45pmPOTUS and FLOTUS entered the room at 7:25pm to rousing applause.
Highlights: POTUS began his speech by wishing the crowd a "Happy Mardi Gras." Turning to the Blues, he said the music has "humble beginnings, roots in slavery and segregation, a society that rarely treated Black Americans with the dignity and respect that they deserved."
POTUS said the Blues helped lay the foundation for Rock n Roll, R&B and hip hop. POTUS said the blues "Speaks to something universal." "No one goes through life without both joy and pain, triumph and sorrow. Blues gets all that sometimes with just one lyric or one note," he said.
The music "teaches us that when we find ourselves at a crossroads, we don't shy away from our problems. We own them. We face up to them. We deal with them. We sing about them. We turn them into art."
Obama then called BB King, whom he called "the King of the Blues" to the stage, helping him up.BB King (wearing a shiny leaf-patterned jacket) and other musicians listed below then led the crowd in a rendition of "Let the Good Times Roll." (For all you Rolling Stones fans, Mick Jagger was not on the stage.)
linkSpotted in the crowd: First Granny Marian Robinson, HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius and WH senior adviser Pete Rouse. Full set list: “In Performance at The White House: Red, White and Blues”B.B King, Trombone Shorty, Buddy Guy, Jeff Beck, Mick Jagger, Shemekia Copeland, Susan Tedeschi, Gary Clark, Jr., Keb’ Mo’, Derek Trucks, Warren Haynes
Set List
1. “Let the Good Times Roll” (Ensemble)
2. “The Thrill Is Gone” (B.B King)
3. “St. James Infirmary” (Trombone Shorty)
4. “Let Me Love You Baby” (Buddy Guy, Jeff Beck)
5. “Brush With The Blues” instrumental (Jeff Beck)
6. “I Can’t Turn You Loose” (Mick Jagger)
7. “Commit A Crime” (Mick Jagger, Jeff Beck)
8. “Miss You” (Mick Jagger, Shemekia Copeland, and Susan Tedeschi,)
9. “Beat Up Guitar” (Shemekia Copeland, Gary Clark, Jr.)
10. “Catfish Blues” (Gary Clark, Jr.)
11. “In The Evening (When The Sun Goes Down)” (Gary Clark, Jr.)
12. “Henry” ( Keb’ Mo’)
13. “I’d Rather Go Blind” (Susan Tedeschi, Derek Trucks, Warren Haynes)
14. “Five Long years” (Buddy Guy, Jeff Beck, Gary Clark, Mick Jagger)
15. “Sweet Home Chicago” (Ensemble)
