On October 25, 2002, Dayton's premier blues performance was held at Gilley's in downtown--a show by the Queen of the Blues, Koko Taylor.

The crowd went wild when Koko came on stage as the band reminded them Koko has won 19 (yes, nineteen!) W.C. Handy awards, been nominated for six Grammy nominations and took one Grammy home in 1984!

If you ever want to see a performer putting out the maximum effort, be at a show where the artist's family is in the audience--like we were at Gilley's! 

Koko's Dayton area relatives sat down front right in front of us at stage right.  You could sense Koko enjoyed putting out 100% for the family--and her fans!

Koko ran through a large amount of her musical history with songs ranging from "Hound Dog", which she dedicated to Big Mama Thornton and Elvis Presley,...

... to her classics of "I'm a Woman", "I'd Rather Go Blind", "Let the Good Times Roll" and "Sure Had a Wonderful Time Last Night." 

And like all blues artists who are still in touch with their fans, Koko signed autographs after the show

--and look who got an autographed photo to hang at home!