30 years later Raitt still rocks

If the measure of a performer's longevity is the age range of the audience, then Bonnie Raitt is still rocking well into her third decade of performing.\nLast night's concert at the IU Auditorium had its fair share of "classic" fans who have admired Raitt since her 1971 debut album, but these fans were more than balanced with college students and teens who have discovered her rockin' guitar playing and soulful lyrics.\nFor the first hour of her show, Raitt entertained the crowd with esoteric hits from her early days, as well as covers of a diverse mix of songs. Her rendition of early reggae band Toots & the Maytals' "Love Gonna' Walk Out On Me" brought the crowd to a frenzy, and softer ballads from Mary Chapin Carpenter soothed them like a cherished old blanket.\nTo the casual fan, her choice of songs might seem random -- after all, her most prominent hits have come later in her career and are responsible for her catapult to superstardom. But Raitt's lifeblood is her performances, and she takes great pride in keeping her shows unpredictable and fresh. In fact, she told the crowd her band had no practice for their Toots cover. Not that anyone could tell, as they brought their jazzy syncopation to the classic reggae.\nAs the second hour progressed, Raitt hit her most established songs which brought her widespread popularity in the 1990s. Raitt gave the crowd "Thing Called Love," "Something to Talk About" and "Love Sneakin' Up on You" as a three-pack tour de force, using her signature Fender Stratocaster guitar as part of her body. Her one-legged playing, expansive riffs and styled grooving showed how much of her heart and soul Raitt puts into her show.\nAfter she and her band left the stage, thunderous applause brought them back for a three-song encore starting with her most soulful love song, "I Can't Make You Love Me." The audience was in tears as couples held hands and platonic friends wished, if only for one song, they were dating.\nThroughout the show, Raitt kept her audience engaged in the performance. The Auditorium isn't considered a large venue by most standards, but it's not exactly built for intimate performances. But Raitt drew the crowd in and made it feel like she was strumming a guitar around her fireplace, with a living room built for thousands. She chatted about politics, her career (proclaiming it "bitchin"), her sex life (especially when her male stagehands wired her guitar) and Bloomington's foliage. My favorite anecdote was about the Indiana rest stops populating Interstate 65 between Indianapolis and Chicago.\n"Ah know yur a music star, but ah cayn't remember which one!" she shouted, doing a dead-on impersonation of Central Indiana residents.\nThe only drawback to the performance wasn't Raitt, but the fans. Some of her songs are sit-down and-reminisce songs, but most are stand-up-and-shake-your-butt songs that deserve a crowd on its feet. Two girls sitting about five rows in front of me, neither one could possibly be old enough to drive, were having the most fun: they rocked, they shimmied, they got their groove on.\nUntil someone complained and security sat them down. \nWe should have followed their example and given Raitt the response she deserved.\nBut it didn't matter much -- for 50, she's cooler than a hundred Britney Spears put together. And we felt cooler just being in the room with her.