Two divas of soul, Bettye LaVette and Mavis Staples, hit the Lisner Auditorium stage Saturday and brought down the house with their big voices and even bigger personalities.
LaVette opened the night singing and shimmering, giving what she described as a “tawdry display” of butt-shaking as she performed songs from her new album. At 65, the singer continues to dazzle audiences after a long career in the music industry.
“No grandmother expects that everything they’ve been trying to do all their life is gonna happen at 60,” LaVette told The Hatchet.
While LaVette’s explosion into mainstream popularity did not occur until later in life, her stardom has skyrocketed in the past 20 years, even landing her onstage at President Obama’s Inaugural Celebration for a duet with Jon Bon Jovi in 2009.
Reflecting on her long history in the capital, which began in 1962 when she worked at the Howard Theatre with Otis Redding, LaVette has always felt “embraced” by the city she has visited more than 10 times.
“Washington has always accepted me and given me a place to come,” the singer said.
Her latest album was even inspired by her well-received cover of The Who’s “Love, Reign O’er Me” at the 2008 Kennedy Center Honors Gala. LaVette said her husband came up with the idea for the album, which is a collection of British rock covers.
As her performance drew to a close, LaVette’s energy never wavered, as if she’d been saving it up all these years. With promotional T-shirts that exclaim, “Bettye LaVette: She Will F*ck You Up,” the singer does not seem to be showing any signs of slowing down.
Mavis Staples took the stage next, with a presence to rival LaVette’s. Paired with producer Jeff Tweedy of Wilco on her latest album, the Rock and Roll Hall of Famer belted out new material while continuing her tradition of civil rights advocacy.
Staples has been performing since 1950, when her family band The Staple Singers broke onto the music scene with such hits as “Respect Yourself” and “I’ll Take You There.”
After performing “Freedom Highway,” a song her family wrote about the 1965 Selma to Montgomery marches, Staples said, “I’m still on that highway and I will be there until Dr. King’s dream has been realized.”
