Thank God (or the Devil) for the Blues—that primordial ooze which eventually morphed into rock ’n roll. The essence of all popular music. Do you ever get the blues?

John Lee Hooker, Sonny Boy Williamson, Sugar Pie DeSanto, Lightnin’ Hopkins, Howlin’ Wolf, Big Mama Thorton…I love it all. Especially when it makes me feel worse than I already do. You just go down…

I don’t know about you, but I’ve got a case of Post–’Mats Show Blues. It happens every time I’ve seen ‘em. You replay the show in your mind, over and over. You wish you were onto the next show. Which I guess is why sharing the above video feels so good. We can keep it going.

“You’ll get the blues all night,” Paul threatened after the above number, which we‘ll call “Whole Foods Blues” for now.  Later, he grabbed a harmonica and just riffed away. One fan then called out to Tommy for “Little Village,” a 15-minute-plus recording by Sonny Boy Williamson the ’Mats made WXRT-Chicago (93.1FM) DJ Johnny Mars (or was it Frank E. Lee?) play during a 1987 interview. Fortunately (or unfortunately) that cover didn’t happen live.

There were other musical interludes during the Portland show—a few riffs off Sabbath’s “Iron Man,” some T. Rex, but the ’Mats’ version of the blues always gets me. “Don’t start me talkin,’ I’ll tell everything I know.”

Now if only they played a Stones cover, maybe my mood would be a little less dark today? Nah!