The 22nd annual Mississippi Valley Blues Festival was held recently at LeClaire Park (right next to and sometimes in the Mississippi River) in downtown Davenport. As I said in an earlier post, I wasn't too hopped up with this year's headlining acts - Mavis Staples (of the famous Staples Singers); The Dirty Dozen Brass Band; and Delbert McClinton.
In fact, a lot of the acts leading up to the headliners (and those in the tent stage area) were much better than the headliners.
I know, I know - Delbert McClinton has won a number of Grammy Awards, he's universally known as being one of the top blues harmonica players in the world, and he's an icon for blues music. But I've seen him about three times previously and while he puts on a good show, it seems like he's just mailing in the performance.
I was at the Fest all three evenings catching a number of good bands - some I'd seen before and others I hadn't. Here's the rundown of who I saw:
Popa Chubby was playing when I got there on Friday night. This was the third time I'd seen Popa Chubby. His real name is Ted Horowitz and he hails from New York City. It's not the place that you'd think a bluesman would hail from, but that's the case with Popa Chubby.
Each time I've seen him, he just puts on a blistering show. 
Ably backed up by a very good bass player (a new guy was playing with him this time around - he had a black guy playing for him before who was very good in his own right); and a very capable drummer, Popa Chubby put on a high spirited show. His music more of a high powered variation of the blues - some of those in the crowd didn't care for his style of the blues - but I thought he smoked.
And just after Popa Chubby played, Ronnie Baker Brooks came on. The son of legendary bluesman Lonnie Brooks, Ronnie Baker Brooks grew up on the southside of Chicago and learned the blues from some of the world's best. And he's a good showman, as well. Brooks put on a fine show, backed by longtime bandmates, keyboard player Darryl Coutts, drummer Moe Taylor and a very intense Carlton Armstrong on bass guitar. This was the second time I've seen Ronnie Baker Brooks and I'm hoping it won't be the last.
Mavis Staples was 35 minutes late for her headlining performance on Friday night. Although she is a member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame for her work with her family, The Staple Singers; and she recently earned a National Heritage Fellowship Lifetime Honor from the the National Endowment for the Arts, she was somewhat mismatched for the Blues Fest. I didn't stay long for her set which seemed to be more tinged with gospel music than blues. Plus she talked too much in between songs. There were droves of people leaving the park during her late set.
I did stop off at the tent (as did a number of people) to see a couple three songs by The Mannish Boys, an eclectic group of all-star blues musicians led by the great Kid Ramos on guitar. I talked to a couple people I knew who were standing in the hot tent who agreed with me that they should have been on the bandshell stage instead of Mavis Staples.
Saturday, Cindy went down with me as the Blues Fest gave tribute to the musicians of the Gulf Coast with an all-Louisiana day at both the bandshell and in the tent. But the only person I wanted to see was Sonny Landreth, the great slide guitar player who has also played with John Hiatt. I've seen Landreth by himself and with Hiatt at Summerfest in Milwaukee. Both were great shows. And this show was no exception. Backed by a bass player and a drummer, Landreth played the blues, slow blues, zydeco and rockabilly each with equal enthusiasm.
The Dirty Dozen Brass Band was the headliner for the bandshell on Saturday night. And, once again, this choice was a little perplexing. This longtime New Orleans band is more of a funk/jazz band than blues. We didn't stick around for long. Once again, people were leaving the bandshell area in droves.
At the tent on Saturday was Chris Thomas King - probably more well known as the young blues guitarist, Tommy Johnson, in the great movie "O Brother, Where Art Thou?". We missed his performance, but we did listen to a couple songs from Kenny Neal, a great Louisiana blues guitarist who I first saw at the 1991 Mississippi Valley Blues Fest just after I moved to the Quad Cities. His performance was worthy enough to be playing on the bandshell stage.
And as we were leaving that night, we stopped to catch some of C.J. Chenier, whom I've seen four or five times in different locations. Chenier's brand of blues zydeco is catchy and fun. Once again, he probably would have been better suited to play the main bandshell stage than have him in the hot tent.
Sunday was a warm day and I wouldn't have gone to the Blues Fest had I not got a late free pass from Kristy Adams (thanx again, Kristy). There really wasn't anyone that I wanted to see. As I said earlier, I'd seen Delbert McClinton three times in the past. And even though he is a revered blues musician, he doesn't get my heart pounding to see him.
But I'm sorry I missed Eric Steckel - a 17 year old blues guitar prodigy; and Kelley Hunt, a Kansas City based boogie-woogie style blues pianist in the mold of Marcia Ball. I understand their bandshell performances earlier in the day were very good.
I did get there in time to see Guitar Shorty, a delta-born, L.A.-based blues guitarist who has been around the music scene since the 1950's. I've seen him once before, years ago in Ames, IA, and he did a pretty good job at the Blues Fest.
Delbert McClinton took the bandshell stage around 10 p.m. and it was evident from the start that he wasn't his usual self. His voice was raspy, he was coughing, his nose was running. My buddy, Tom Laake, thought that Delbert was coked up, but I think it was nothing more than a pretty bad cold. He normally plays his harmonica on every song, but I think I only heard him play the mouth harp a couple times during the 40 or so minutes I stood to listen to him. I was highly disappointed in his performance.
I stopped off at the tent stage to see the legendary bluesman James Cotton, a man who is well past his prime. He was seated on stage, next to a guy who was playing the harmonica instead of Cotton (Cotton is known as "Superharp"). He looked every bit of his 71 years of age. I understand he only plays a few dates a year these days. But even though I thought it was a disjointed performance, he did finally play his harp. I was still glad I got to say I saw him play.
I wasn't too whipped up with the acts for the Blues Fest when they announced the line-ups back in March. But I wasn't too whipped up on the acts they had at Summerfest this year, so I just decided to take in some of the Blues Fest instead. And it is a good event for the area. Even though I may question some of the acts they bring in from time to time, I'll still support the festival.
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