Isaac Hayes, by Raymond Carver

So we sat down to enjoy Isaac Hayes last evening because that's what we thought we were going to do. Isaac is a bit dissipated, but he's 66. The first hint of trouble was the three double-decker synthesizers. If we were seeing Genesis on tour in 1981, that would be good. But when you're seeing the man who used to sing on top of the Bar-Kays and Booker T & the MGs, it's worrisome. Even more worrisome was the mustached Lothario who sprinted out behind the bongos while Isaac was helped to his seat. He looked like the kind of man who might approach a woman at the bar and ask if she knew that he played the bongos. His long, wavy hair glistened under the stage lights.

Then Isaac muttered his way through a few B-sides from the Polydor years. Those were the years when he collaborated with a washed-up Millie Jackson. Let's say I was Paul Rodgers of Free and Bad Company. You'd better believe that I'd sprint out on stage and sing "Bad Company" and "All Right Now" immediately.

Meanwhile, those synths were making brassy sounds. The guy in the middle favored a sort of wind chime glissando sound. He made that sound several times, irrespective of the mood or moment of the song. He had kind of a dopey grin on his face. He was jazzed to be playing with Isaac Hayes. Maybe that's why he kept glissando-ing his way through songs.

So, sure, he played "Walk on By" and "Shaft" at the end. Maybe they should have just shown the last 15 minutes of Wattstax on a large drop-screen projector.