Lately it's been too busy to blog, which is unfortunate because all the business gives me a lot to blog about!
So, I'll skip backward to 2 weeks ago (9/13-9/16), when I went to the Telluide Blues and Brews festival. It far exceeded my expectations, which is surprising especially considering I had been there 2 years before. I had great memories of the last time I was there, but it mostly had to do with hanging with my friends. For some reason the music part was a bit hazy. I also remember being cold a lot, and having to take naps to be awake enough for the late shows. I was going to be ok with skipping it this year to go to the Austin City Limits festival instead, which was the same weekend. But since I couldn't get any takers for the ACL, I opted to return with my Colorado friends Dave, Evan, and Bethann to Telluride and give it another go.
I'm so glad I did. The more I go to festivals, the more I realize that you can't tell too much from looking at the line-up. If you know every band on the list, and have seen them live, you may have some inkling of what you're up against. But even then, you might be surprised. For example, the first time I saw Keb Mo at the New Orleans Jazzfest in '05, I was mesmerized by his performance. It was just him and his guitar just putting out one good tune after another. No major jamming, no mutant guitar craziness - just good tunes. So, I was so looking forward to seeing him again in Telluride. And I enjoyed the performance. But it was very different - him with a band, different audience, different vibe. Maybe it was because I had seen him before. Who knows? But whatever it was, I was impressed, but not in the same way as that first time in New Orleans. There are so many ingredients that go into a live performance - the sound system, the audience, your view from the crowd, your state of intoxication, the performance itself, whether the band had a gig the night before...i can go on and on.
On the other hand, EVERY TIME I see Henry Butler, he blows me away. This guy plays keyboard like nobody's business. At the festival, he played in a new band called The Rhythm Council which featured Butler on keyboards and Papa Mali on guitar. This was the first band we saw when we arrived on Thursday night. It was a special "BAL DE MAISON" at the "Fly Me To The Moon Saloon", my favorite venue in Telluride. Papa Mali is a fine guitarist, but you could have put almost any blues guitarist next to Henry and he would have sounded amazing. If you've never seen Henry Butler live, DO IT AT ALL COSTS! This gig rocked it out. The whole club was in full boogie. They played until the wee hours of the morning with the crowd pumping 'til the end.
Henry Butler
Papa Mali
My favorite "artist I've never heard before" from the festival was Joe Bonamassa, a young blues rocker who just wails on guitar. He played the main stage at the festival and the crowd was simply open-mouthed. I heard lots of "wow"s and comparisons to Stevie Ray Vaughan. I don't know Stevie's stuff too well (yes - God forbid), but I can definitely recommend checking out Joe's live show!
There were too many amazing performances to go into detail about every one. But here were some of my festival faves:
Rhythm Council with Henry Butler & Papa Mali - Fly Me To The Moon
Joe Bonamassa - Main Stage
Kent Burnside & The New Generation - Juke Joint at Las Montanas
Johnny Sketch & The Dirty Notes - Juke Joint at Fly Me To The Moon
Eric Lindell's Soul Roots Movement - Late Night Juke Joint at Fly Me To The Moon
The Black Crowes - Main Stage
Eric Lindell
The Black Crowes
I have to mention of the beer fest part. It was damn fun! I found it a bit hard to listen to the music when I was focused on finding the next drink, but luckily they left the hottest bands for another time.
My buddies and I drinkin' away
And lastly, a bit about the festival vibe. The people who go to this festival were pretty cool. It was mostly an older crowd. It was kid friendly, so there were lots of families. It wasn't crowded in the least bit, so people could stretch out and you could get a good view of the stage for pretty much any show. People were generally cool about you using their blankets when they weren't around. We met some great people throughout the fest, and we ended up hanging out with them a lot. The one negative was the prevalence of scalpers near the ticket sales area. They were like vultures. People were legitimately trying to sell their own tickets for cost, and the scalpers were everywhere ruining it for them. And they just create a sleazy vibe that's hard to shake.
A shout out to Dave, Evan, Bethann, and Elizabeth - my festival buddies!
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