Blues Fest: Get to See the Same Bands, For Free
By Chuck Sudo in Arts & Entertainment on Jun 10, 2011 4:00PM
It seems fitting that the 2011 Chicago Blues Festival kicks off on the 40th Anniversary of B.B. King's legendary visit to Cook County Jail. This year is also the 40th anniversary of Alligator Records. Looking at the schedule, festival organizers only have two events penciled in to commemorate to the local blues label's anniversary and nothing related to the King's concert at 26th and California.
This is the corner the programmers for Blues Fest have painted for themselves. The lineup, especially the artists slated for the Petrillo Band Shell, are artists you'll see any time of the week at Buddy Guy's, Kingston Mines, B.L.U.E.S. Chicago and other blues clubs around town. The programming seems geared to college-age kids and tourists who want to engage in an endless sing-along to "Sweet Home Chicago." Sun-Times "Back in My Day" correspondent Dave Hoekstra concurs with this sentiment, and offers some suggestions that have been anathema in previous years.
The Chicago Blues Festival needs to expand its view of the blues. I’d be more amped about a festival that included blues-influenced artists like the Black Keys, Lucinda Williams (acoustic blues and a favorite of Mayor Rahm Emanuel), Bob Dylan (he thinks he’s a blues man) or Gregg Allman collaborating with Chicago blues cats. The budget for national bookings would be offset by charging admission. Or charge a $20 admission for Petrillo seating and keep lawn seats free. (The 15th annual Blues on the Fox festival in downtown Aurora has more star power with Robert Cray on June 17 and Charlie Musselwhite performing before Buddy Guy on June 18. There is a $5 daily admission.)
That's not to say Blues Fest should be avoided. There are some acts that are worth catching. The programming on the side stages has long been more ambitious in recent years, for what it's worth. Hoekstra recommended The Sanctified Grumblers, playing the Front Porch Stage at 4:45 p.m. today. We've long been fans of stride piano master Erwin Helfer, who'll also grace the Front Porch Stage at 2:05 p.m. today with blues pianist and singer Katherine Davis. Helfer is one of the city's secret treasures - a living link between ragtime, blues and jazz whose protégés include the popular Japanese-born blues singer Yoko Noge (whose native Osaka theatrics and own jazz pedigree would have also made a welcome addition to the lineup).
Another thing we love about Blues Fest is the free smartphone apps for iPhone and Android, which gives you the map to the festival, the full lineup, up-to-date festival news and tweets, and the ability to best plan your festival experience.
Blues and Jazz Fests didn't receive the cutbacks of the other major festivals: four of the city's music fests have been rolled into Taste of Chicago. Maybe the City should use this as an opportunity to revitalize what's become a staid festival.