Living in the Chicago area, I haven't had much opportunity to see Snooks live. In the last seven years, I know of 2 times that he's come to Chicago -- unfortunately I didn't find out until I read the reviews after the show. So much for publicity.
Thanks to Offbeat Magazine's web site, though, I was able to discover that Snooks was playing at Bugsy's Blues Room on the 27th of January (1996)-- so I took a little trip down the Mississip, so to speak. The time had come to visit New Orleans.
Since Snooks was scheduled to come on at 10 pm Saturday night, that
left some time Friday and Saturday to explore the French Quarter:
so much to do, see, eat, drink, and buy. There was the typical
souvenir stores with their mugs and t-shirts -- far more than I'd
think could stay in business. I mean, they had to be over half the
stores. A couple really cool stores, though, were The Hempstead
Company Store ("Earth's #1 Environmental
Fabric")
and Rev. Zombie's House of Voodoo,
which contained a wide variety of gargoyles, spell books, and potions.
I thought since Snooks was scheduled to play at 10, I'd get there a couple hours beforehand to get the best seat. I got there about a quarter after 8. It never occurred to me the place would be empty. I figured it was a bar that happened to have live music that night. But the people that work there were just setting up. I had my choice of any seat.
By the time Snooks came on, nearly 10:30, the place was pretty full. A lot of the people seemed to be regular followers of his. Between songs he'd call out to some of them by name. I think I was about the only out-of-towner there.
When he's not drinking beer, Snooks appears to enjoy a gin and tonic. He even requested one from the stage, which was dutifully rushed up to him. The whole performance was very loose. Often the next song was decided by audience request. He played 3 sets for a total of about 3 hours, and when it got to be around 2 am, someone got the word to him to wrap it up so the bar could close. Snooks seemed prepared to go all night. Befitting his title of "Human Jukebox", he played a wide variety of songs, both from his albums and not. I can only say that I recognized one of the non-album songs, but it was a rockin' version of "Winchester Cathedral".
Snooks seemed pretty accessible, but I didn't feel like I should bother him. Between sets, I saw several people go over and talk to him at his table with his wife and another woman while he enjoyed a cigarette. I had asked his wife about getting a picture of Snooks and me, but after I took a couple pictures of the band playing (which didn't turn out) and one of his people came over and hassled me about it, I didn't think I should venture back to his table. The bartender told me not to worry about it, the guy just follows Snooks around, and he's not really with the band or anything. But they do let him do the welcoming announcements before each set.
So it turned out I went all that way and didn't get a picture and didn't even shake the man's hand. It was a good show, though. I should have been more forceful. I have to believe Mrs. Eaglin and her friend didn't hear my name when I introduced myself to them. I mean, there should have been some reaction when they heard my name was Eaglin, I'd think. At least the way things turned out, there could be no way for my awe at the legend of Snooks Eaglin to be diminished.
And it made for a fun weekend.
