Mavis Staples was singing, “Hallelujah!” over and over. Her lips began to quiver; tears rolled from her eyes. And as her band played “Far Celestial Shore,” Staples took a seat. 

After assuring guitarist, singer and music director Rick Holmstrom – whom Staples calls “Pops Jr.” for his performances on such songs as “Respect Yourself” – she was OK, addressed the crowd:

“Say, ‘Amen!,’” she shouted. “We’re in church, y’all.” 

Indeed. Even if July 20 hadn’t been a Sunday at Jazz & Rib Fest, where some 1,200 fans gathered in Columbus, Ohio’s, West Bank Park after a day of heavy rains, it would have been a holy occasion as Staples headlined with a free, 65-minute show worth well over $100. 

It was an immensely powerful, restorative and uplifting performance comprising a dozen tracks including the Staple Singers’ “I’m Just Another Soldier,” Talking Heads’ “Slippery People” and the Band’s “The Weight.” The latter, with vocal turns from Staples, Holmstrom and backing singers Saundra Williams and Kelly Hogan, left many eyes as wet as the ground on which intrepid festivalgoers stood. 

At 86, Staples remains a fountain of joy delivering such staples as “If You’re Ready (Come Go with Me),” “Handwriting on the Wall” and “Move Along Train” with the verve of someone much younger. She smiled continuously, waved at and blew kisses to individual audience members who caught her eye, playfully fingered the neck of Holmstrom’s guitar as he soloed, slapped her knee and laughed heartily as she recalled asking her grandmother why she moaned all the time.  

“‘Well, Baby, when you moan, the devil don’t know what you’re talking about,’” Staples said, recalling the answer. “So I started moaning, too. I didn’t want him in my business. No indeed.”

With that, the band slammed into “Freedom Highway.” Together, Holmstrom, drummer Steve Mugalian and bassist Greg Boaz make a fuller sound that many quintets. And when Staples sang: “The whole world is wonderin’ what’s wrong with the United States?,” the past seemed eerily present. 

But Staples, in her faith and optimism, remains undeterred. 

“I’m not going back,” she declared when the song ended. “I’m going to be like Congressman John Lewis. I’m just going to stay out here and make good trouble. Ain’t no one going to mess with me. Ain’t that right, Pops Jr.?”

Laughter and tears ensued. And 10 minutes later, as Staples was helped off stage to a standing ovation as the band vamped on “Everybody Needs Love” and the audience sung along to the refrain – “Love, love, love” seemed a plea as much as a mantra – Staples’ greeting rang truer than ever. 

“We want you to feel better when you leave here than when you come up on in here,” she had said. 

Amen. 

Mission accomplished.