Mavis Staples Concert in Brussels, Belgium

Seeing Mavis Staples in Brussels

When Nik and I discussed our plan of moving to Europe, whether for a year or more, one of the ideas was to be able to travel more easily around Europe if we were living there. Going to things such and concerts and sporting events were top of the list.

Our second trip outside of Barcelona took us to Brussels, Belgium to see rhythm and blues singer Mavis Staples in concert at Ancienne Belgique. Mavis was also playing a show in Barcelona, but it was at a sold out festival and we don’t really do festivals anymore. Looking at her other tour dates, Brussels was the one we chose. Nik and I were supposed to visit the city in May 2020, but we all know what happened to cancel those plans.

The Band and The Last Waltz

It’s well known that I am a New York Mets fan. My dad introduced them to me when I was young, in the mid-80s. The second best thing he introduced me to was The Band and their “Last Waltz” concert film. For some reason he bought the VHS and I would watch it over and over at home. Watching the film is where I first got introduced to Mavis Staples and her family, The Staples Singers. The Staples Singers covered The Band’s “The Weight” in the late 1960s and were part of “The Last Waltz” when the two groups recorded a magnificent version of the song together.

Mavis Staples in Chicago

More recently, I started seeing a few Mavis Staples shows around Chicago with a great group of girlfriends, most recently this past November:

Front Row in Brussels

This show in Brussels is probably my favorite show of hers. Being front row might help.

Nik and I arrived to see the opening act, and after they finished, a nice spot in front of the stage opened up and we immediately moved in. The venue did have GA seating, but we still opted to stand. Granted Nik is coming off back surgery from about 2 months ago, we still thought standing for two hours would be ok.

We had great views of Mavis and her magnificent band. I truly wore a smile the whole show. Mavis, in her 80’s is still kicking it and needs to be wrapped up in bubble wrap and protected at all costs.