Because of the well known-yet-horrible parking and traffic snafu that is The Hollywood Bowl, we left earlier than normal from our home in Echo Park an hour and a half before the show and still arrived late after taking the bus from Hollywood and Highland. So as we entered into our seats at 8:30, the show was already in full-swing. I know you have prompt schedules to adhere to, but for those at The Bowl and the promoters, why did you start promptly at 8pm? What about crowd flow due to bad LA traffic? It seems every other venue in LA does something about this and while annoying, it does help.

People were still packed on the buses on the way to the Bowl when we got there, and it wasn't some set of hipster or industry types who got free pair of tickets to waste the night away on someone else's dollar. These were fans of all races, shapes and sizes who came from all areas of LA to bask in the glory of Stax and their 50th anniversary reunion featuring some classic appearances by former artists on your label including Mr. Hayes, William Bell, Mable John, Eddie Floyd and Booker T Jones.

So as we came in, we sat down and caught the rest of William Bell's performance (missing Mable John and Eddie Floyd), Angie Stone singing a great rendition of Shirley Brown's "Woman to Woman" and Booker T Jones performing 2 MG's tunes (Time is Tight and Green Onions). My first question is, where was Donald "Duck "Dunn and Steve Cropper? According to their calendar on their individual websites, they were wide open. While the studio musicians playing with Booker T were fine, it didn't seem the same without Duck and Cropper. Can someone help?

After Booker T did his set, host Randy Jackson came out to announce a short break to set up for the second half. While I guess Jackson's a good choice for hosting the evening, as he was pretty knowledgeable for introducing all the acts, I wonder why choose someone who's on the popular-yet-loathed "American Idol" show.

So after the short break, we were given a short film about Stax with lots of old tune snippets and pictures to reminisce about the good old days. It was exciting to see all the old names again. Soon thereafter, Randy Jackson introduced Mr Hayes to the stage where he came on in a Black and gold tunic and hugged Mr Jackson.

Now, I love Mr Hayes and his endless contributions to music. His "Hot Buttered Soul" is as classic as they come. Songs like "Walk On", "By The Time I Get To Phoenix" and of course "Shaft" are timeless. Even his earlier penned greats like "Soul Man" and "Hold On I'm Comin'" should be preserved in whatever form they can exist forever. However, post-Jackson hug, I suddenly saw my heart sink.

As Hayes walked toward the stage and the crowd roared, he literally hobbled like a zombie to his keyboard. Once he got there, he took a few minutes to pull out his bench, sit down, and start things going. You could hear the crowd waiting in anticipation for the first song licks to come out while in the back of their heads they're thinking "is something wrong?"

After a few songs including "Joy", he babbled to the crowd "35 years!" (pause) "40 years!" (pause) "wow, 50 years!" I looked at my wife and thought "is he on something?" I know he suffered a case of exhaustion which may or may not have been a stroke, but if he's still touring, then there's gotta be something left. However, I seem to think otherwise. I don't want to say this, but I feel kinda ripped off. I know Hayes tours with an trio of dual-deck keyboardists, but could it have been a little more worth the effort to get a few horns or strings? Was it necessary to literally mash-up "By The Time I Get To Phoenix" with a backup singer doing "I Say a Little Prayer"?

If you're able to get the Stax crew for a legendary gig in Austin at SXSW this past March, why not do something of similar nature for The Hollywood Bowl? Why did Isaac perform his Hot Buttered Soul that came out more like Hot Buttered Vicodin? Rather than have a variety hour dedicated to Stax and a struggling second hour of Hayes performing, why not make the entire show dedicated to the 50-year legacy of Stax? Was Al Bell behind all this?

You had me at Booker T walking on the stage and lost me when Hayes couldn't even say his band mate names appropriately. Everybody on the bus back to the lot had these puzzled looks on their faces wondering what they just experienced, and I was one of them. Should I be angry or saddened?  Sinatra knew when tho relax and maybe Mr Hayes should get some R&R as well.

Others seem to think the same as noted here:
http://www.contactmusic.com/news.nsf/article/fans%20puzzled%20by%20lost%20hayes_1038056

I'll always love what Stax has meant to me, but this evening puts a small frown on my face.