Blues legend Taj Mahal played to a full house Sept. 14 at the Pabst Theater. Born Henry Saint Clair Fredericks, Mahal, a two-time Grammy Award winner, has been performing since the 1960s. His unique style is a combination of traditional blues, reggae, Cajun, gospel, bluegrass, Hawaiian, African and Caribbean influences.

The Taj Mahal Trio began playing shortly after 9 p.m. and continued their jam for nearly two hours. They began with an instrumental blues number, before launching right into “Done Changed My Way of Living.”

Almost immediately, Mahal started shaking his hips and swatting his hand, as an invitation to the audience to get in the groove.

Audience participation was not optional this evening. Between the excitement of experiencing a legend in person and the alcohol served in the lobby, middle-aged people from all over the metro-Milwaukee area could be seen dancing, singing and having a great time.

Throughout the show, Mahal yelled encouragingly “Ladies scream!” and had the audience do call-and-response. The audience, in return, showed no reserve and played along willingly.

The trio continued the concert with “Blues with a Feeling” and the Caribbean number, “My Creole Belle.” By this point, Mahal’s spirit and quick fingers on the guitar had people dancing in the aisles and, of course, singing their hearts out.

Mahal, clearly enjoying the audience enthusiasm, announced to cheers, “Daddy like to see you moving around!”

The concert continued with classic Taj Mahal favorites such as “Corrina” and an African instrumental called “Zanzabar.” Mahal’s vocal range — low and gravely to silky soft — is part of what makes listening to his music so enchanting. The plush velvet seats and ornamental Pabst Theater helped complete the ambiance.

Mahal ended the concert to a much-deserved standing ovation and performed perhaps his most well-known song, “Lovin’ in My Baby’s Eyes.” This ode to love appropriately wrapped up a magical evening. Mahal crooned out the words to the classic while couples throughout the room held hands, kissed and whispered quiet expressions of love.

Milwaukee loves the Taj Mahal Trio and showed its love overwhelmingly as Mahal and his guys walked off the stage. Seeing a legend such as Taj Mahal live is a once in a lifetime opportunity that will not soon be forgotten by those in attendance.