The different generations were apparent as soon as I walked into Lantz Arena Saturday night.

The adults on campus for Family Weekend and students who were entertaining their folks for the weekend seemed to be expecting different things as they began anticipating exactly what they were about to see out of an American legend in music who was going up in years.

Partly, the concert was bridging a gap between two generations. One was a generation that had grown up with the artist who has too many nicknames to start listing now. The other generation had known James Brown best from either Rocky IV or VH1. But, for that night, there seemed to be a general feeling of excitement simply to see a man who has become more than an artist and has jumped into legendary status.

For myself, it wasn’t so much the songs that I was looking forward to hearing, but more so it was the overall performance. How could a man as old as James Brown still put on a show worthy of his name? Was he going to be entertaining or a little boring? Did I drink a little too much beforehand, when all my friends and their parents were playing bags along with me and my parents, to stay awake?

All of these questions were answered fairly early in Brown’s performance.

Yes, he was obviously older, but his age did not effect how much fun he was having on stage, and it did not effect how good he could move. It seemed funny to watch a 72-year-old man who could still move better than the primarily white crowd he was playing in front of.

Yes, he was entertaining. Between the songs I recognized, the highlight being a cover of Ray Charles’ “Night time is the right time,” and Brown’s band that was given plenty of time to do their thing through solos, this was still a very entertaining show.

And for the last question, the answer is yes and no. I did not have one too many before the concert to stay awake, but my father did have his eyelids shut for a brief moment before an elbow to his stomach woke him back up.

But, proving that Brown was indeed a good fit for Family Weekend was the prevailing sense that the young audience and the adults both were feeling what he and his band were playing. Besides a tired father or two, most of the crowd seemed receptive to what was being played.

Brown shouted and strutted his way through two hours of music and gave up much of that time to his band that included three drum sets, a horns section, a couple guitarists, a group of back up vocalists, the bassist, two lady dancers and another singer who was brought out for most of the second half. These musicians and entertainers boosted what Brown was leading along with keeping up the pace and mood of the show.

While everything was happening, a glance across Lantz Arena could put into view bobbing heads from mothers and fathers along with their sons or daughters.

It isn’t all that often that music can cross generations like that. Whether it is parents thinking their children listen to too much rap or the parents who had parents that never could understand rock and roll, music has always had a generational aspect to it of rebellion.

But, those who saw James Brown witnessed something different. It was a little more like unity than rebellion, and, overall, it was a pretty good show.