Do any of you remember the good old Twilight Zone TV series? Good. So now let me tell you this:
The twilight zone isn’t a myth, it exists. I know, I was just there.

…

When A. approached me tonight, I already had made plans to have a drink with friends from work. (Sorry guys.) But then she said "Hey, what are you doing now? I’ve got tickets to go see Steven Seagal play the blues at the River Rock Casino in Richmond, wanna come?"

I blinked. I wasn’t sure I had heard right. I made her repeat. She smiled and nodded. "Yeah, she added, I didn’t believe it myself. THE Steven Seagal also plays the blues with his band, called Thunderbox. It’s for real and it’s tonight."

I couldn’t believe it. I had to go see for myself.

I’m not a big fan of Seagal. However, when Above the Law came out in 1988, it was all fresh and new, the look was still original, and his on-screen Aïkido was relatively authentic, or even impressive. Since then, his ego seems to have grown as fast as his fame and he’s turned his 7th Dan Aikido Black Belt into a money cow, merrily braking arms, cutting throats and spilling blood in the most non-Aïkido way imaginable; O-Sensei’s teachings are forgotten. Everything about the movie star has turned controversial. Some love him, some despise him.

But tonight, I saw him play the blues. It was weird, it was odd, it was like suddenly being transported into the twilight zone.

I can’t say I’m a blues expert but he did seem to get away with it. His band was good. He was obviously having fun, and didn’t strike me as too macho or full of himself. He’d gained weight. He never played the guitar while he sang. Maybe he can’t. But for a few songs, he was human again.