As the show went on, the horn section was sent off the stage, and King led his rhythm section through some blistering instrumentals, as well as home stretch efforts like “Key To The Highway,” Thrill is Gone,” and “Please Accept My Love.”
 “Now, we don’t have Eric Clapton here,” said King towards the end of show, “but we’re going to do one of the songs from the album that I just did with him, and we’ll just pretend he’s here.” With that, King launched into a tasteful reading of one of his earliest songs, “3 O'clock Blues,” which did not need Clapton to get the crowd going. As the last number started, King thanked the audience for their warm reception, introduced the members of his extraordinary backing group
(all of whom seemed to bask in the love that was sent to the stage all evening), and got up to leave the stage to a standing ovation. They simply don’t make them like B.B. King anymore.
 Opening act Albert Cummings, looking like a cross between John Tesh and Woody
Harrelson, started off the evening with a paint-by-the-numbers set, which
included a technically fine yet unsatisfying blues set. Cummings threw out
several cliches in an attempt to warm up an easily receptive crowd, but the main
event was more than worth the wait.