I’ve been looking forward to this for awhile now. The show last year was a bit earlier in the year (and hotter). I think part of the reason it got pushed back this year was because of that. But there was a notable period of time where we weren’t sure it would run at all. Helene hit this town pretty hard. This year’s festival is being held on the 1yr anniversary of the storm. Got this lineup in my email this morning and I’m stoked.
It’s HUGE that they got Eric Gales this year. This is only the 2nd year for this blues festival. I was hoping for a bigger name this time, but this is bigger than I had hoped for. Although I recently started to hope Kingfish would make an appearance because he’s passing through town a couple weeks prior to the blues fest. Mac Arnold was at the fest last year and he’s just a legend. He’s technically “regional” but his history is a big deal. I’ve seen several of the smaller local/regional acts at the bottom of the list and they’re good. Mr. Jimmy spent decades in the Chicago blues scene and moved here a few years ago. I’ve seen Lyric a couple of times. She’s also very good. Kelle Jolly was at the blues fest last year. I missed out on seeing her because I was at work when she performed but my wife got to see her. She plays ukulele (yes, ukulele can do blues).
Nothing beats a good blues fest! I try to make a couple every year. Next week my wife and I are heading down to Madison, IN for the annual Ribberfest. Blues and BBQ. What’s not to like!
I have had the pleasure to see Eric Gales in a small bar setting as well as at a couple festivals. He is one of the best guitarists out there. You won’t be dissapointed.
I used to live in Indiana and always wanted to go to Ribberfest. Cursed crappy jobs meant both my wife and I had to work most of the time.
Have you seen Eric Gales do any acoustic blues? I’m more familiar with him on electric, so I’m curious about the fact that the festival has announced that he’s doing “a new acoustic set” for the festival.
Last year, they had a couple of blues jams advertised on the program. I was in no way prepared for that sort of thing at the time so I never even bothered going. But if they have any on the program this year, I think I’ll at least go to check them out and see how they’re run and what folks are playing. One of my guitar goals is to be able to play comfortably in one of these. Which includes learning to improvise.
@ChasetheDream when is that event in Madison? I live in Cincinnati and that’s just a couple hour drive for me.
@Mustela I have been trying to see Kingfish since 2020. I was going to see him at a dive bar here in town on March 13, 2020 but the world decided to shut down instead. He came in August 2021 to a small venue but my wife decided that was the week we were going on vacation. I had tickets to see him open for Buddy Guy in June 2023 up in Dayton, OH but ended up in the hospital with diverticulitis. Then I had tickets to see Buddy and him in October 2023 here in Cincinnati but Buddy paused his tour for health reasons. He had a different opening act when he resumed his tour and came to town in June 2024. Turns out, Kingfish ended up playing that smaller venue in October/ November 2023 in lieu of the tour with Buddy but I didn’t learn about it until there were only scalped tickets going in excess of $500 - no way. We did get to see him this past winter when he was part of the Hendrix Experience and we have front row pit tickets to see him in October. Fingers crossed my jinx is over and we actually get to see him this time.
I saw him for the first time last year in a small venue that sadly no longer exists. The property (that the venue rented) was being purchased by eminent domain for a freeway project (it was known about the freeway project for a long time, but details about what land they would need for it were nonexistent until last year). They were going to use the fall concert profits to help find a new venue. But then Helene wiped the entire place out and they lost their fall season.
The owners have moved onto other business ventures in town so I don’t think a comparable venue will replace it. It was a cool small venue show. Kingfish came down off the stage and performed in the middle of the audience. He was RIGHT in front of me. He’s a SHORT DUDE! I think my wife is taller than he is! Tix for that event were sold out when I learned of it, so I had to search the resale market. Face value for those tickets was like $35, and I saw people trying to sell them for $1,000 each. Insane. I ended up finding some for face value (of course with the ticket reseller website’s fees tacked on top).
Next month, he’s playing at another venue in town that’s really solid. I’ve seen a lot of different people there. Let’s see, I’ve seen GWAR there, Buckethead, the local Rock Academy youth bands, a mountain bike film fest, and more that I don’t even remember. I was supposed to see Gangstagrass there the weekend Helene hit. That one obviously got cancelled. Those are just the bands I’ve seen there within the past year or so.
The property (that the venue rented) was being purchased by eminent domain for a freeway project (it was known about the freeway project for a long time, but details about what land they would need for it were nonexistent until last year). They were going to use the fall concert profits to help find a new venue. But then Helene wiped the entire place out and they lost their fall season.