The 31st edition of the Chicago Blues Festival started with a bang June 13 with a big, wet, sloppy hug toward tradition and history, as well as a grand lesson on how this most American of art forms has shaped contemporary music for the ages.
Mayor Rahm Emanuel was nowhere in sight ( probably busy at Trump Tower ) so the headliners tipped their hats to the city without his address to civic pride. Ultimately it really did not matter that His honor was not in attendance since this annual party has always been destined to roll regardless of who sits in city hall.
Grammy winners and relatively young traditional blues aficionados The Carolina Chocolate Drops hit the stage and turned music from Leadbelly and Odeta into a rousing jamboree of roots music, with a pair of dancers ( who performed century old dance steps to music that was just as dated ), with fury and polite cheekiness. Next up was Otis Taylor, whose set showcased the talents of Chicago violinist Anne Harris. The crowning achievement of the night was an hallucinatory, near-psychedelic jam through Jimi Hendrix's murky murder ballad "Hey Joe," which ( happily ) bordered on weirdness.
Bettye LaVette headlined the festival on Saturday night and pretty much destroyed Grant Park. Currently on her 50th-anniversary tour, LaVette had the gall to sashay onstage in a clinging black pants ensemble and bring an aura of sexual allure to all that tradition. She made the comment that now—after 50 years of making records that never got released or had a chance of finding an audience—her current tour was about rediscovering those would be classics. "Let Me Down Easy," her second and most substantial hit, took the festival to a new level of naked sincerity. But her take on legend Joan Armatrading's "Down to the Ground" was flirtatious and ironic while "Everything Is Broken" was the kind of measured, sinister, emotional funk that speaks to the ages and defines not only the blues ( traditional or otherwise ) but the current state of life as we know it.
The Office of Cultural Affairs of Chicago did itself and us a favor in having LaVette headline the Saturday night show. Seeing her in front of a massive audience who had heard her name but never felt the pull of her power ( the expansive audience who politely clapped at the start of her show steadily grew more vibrant and vocal as the set progressed, reaching a celebratory peak of dancing and call and response shout outs ) made this show something far more than just a traditional Chicago hoedown in the park. It validated the Chicago Blues Festival as a living breathing part of history and everyday life.
Sunday's show could only pale by comparison, which certainly does not imply that there was any hint of weakness on the bill. St. Louis' Nikki Hill and her ferocious band ripped through a set of stinging, blistering "new school" blues that brought all that tradition into the present age. Hill's brutal barrelhouse twang was far from mere posturing, and she and her band ( including husband Matt Hill, who joyfully burned the living shit out of the Petrillo Band Shell ) are a bunch that should be seen to be believed.
Then legend Aaron Neville hit the stage, lowered the volume and sonic violence, and seduced the packed crowd with a velvety smooth torrent of old-school soul. That Neville's cracked falsetto was so delicate that it forced the audience to sit up, be still and listen seemed to create an extraterrestrial vibe. Hearing old school gems like "Summertime" and "Everybody Plays the Fool" in such an articulate and elegant fashion amidst all the thunder and so late in the festival moved it and the audience into an entirely new dimension.
Finally, New Orleans legend and voodoo god Dr. John hit the stage for another blast of relevant tradition. John's set was undermined by him being placed a good 20 feet back from the lip of the stage and barricaded by pianos ( 45 feet from the front row if you add the photographers' pit ), but his rip through his classic "Iko-Iko"—a song so catchy and relevant that even Cyndi Lauper had the good sense to cover it—had the crowd on there feet.
Amid rumors that Emanuel is plotting to eradicate these big festivals in the park ( while the seated ticket prices for A Taste of Chicago have doubled since last year ), the Chicago Blues Festival proved itself as something new, exciting, traditional and otherworldly. Rahm, be our guest and bitch out Donald Trump but leave these festivals alone, why don'cha?
Heads up: Summer 2014 is here and there is no reason NOT to have fun. The very day that Windy City Times hits the streets this week has Rachael Sage playing Uncommon Ground but Friday, June 20, at the Mutiny there will be a queer punk benefit for LGBT rights in Uganda ( admission is free and the line-up is packed with DIY homo-rockers ), while Jennifer Hudson hits Pridefest on June 21. Melissa Ferrick plays the Old Town School of Folk Music on June 22 ( tickets are still available ) and Bob Mould plays the Pritzker Pavilion in a free show for Chicagos "Monday Music Series, on June 23. So if you are not having fun, it's your own damn fault.
