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I nearly had to be given last rites when I saw your cover: “It’s last rites for the blues at the New Vegas Lounge” (“The D.C. Blues Implosion,” 1/17). It wasn’t until I read the entire article that I realized your headline was misleading at best and that my beloved hangout wasn’t in some kind of mortal danger.
Instead of knocking the “purity” of the blues played there and picking on open-mike night, Washington City Paper could have focused on the positive. The Vegas may not be the Mississippi Delta, but the fact is that Dr. Blues knows what his customers wanta upbeat mix of Motown and R&B hits that packs them in on the weekends. Maybe the City Paper has been wallowing in the blues for too long to appreciate a good time.
Van Ness
via the Internet