The Blues and Arts
Festival - 2008
Yesterday (Saturday, April 19, 2008) marked another
of San Felipe's forays into the area of music festivals.
This one, following close on the heels of Woofstock,
was closer to its phonetic precursor, having the
spacious venue of the baseball field and by far the
largest performance stage ever constructed in San Felipe.
The sound system, with its rastra of speakers
the size of box cars, had the nearby hills beating like
hearts.
The Lions Club, together with Tecate and a host of
local sponsors, managed to organize, execute and sustain
an event that will be the benchmark for future music
festivals. It was well-marshaled, providing ample seating,
lots of shade, adequate trash disposal, good parking
and the scenic backdrop of our local mountains against
providential blue skies.
Accompanying the seven local and visiting blues bands
were a wide range of visual artists who displayed their
works below a train of pavilions at the east side of
the venue. Photographers, woodworkers, painters, sculptors,
potters, jewelry designers and several cross discipline
visionaries showcased their achievements to a steady
stream of admiring onlookers.
The music part of the festival kicked off in the morning
and continued all day, culminating with a jam session
around 9:30 that evening.
The Vatos Locos and Agave Blues bands were up to their
usual high standards. They played early in the day and
missed the people who like their blues tinged with sunset.
Shelle's big voice poured out of the venue and rolled
across the hills. Lead singer of the Shelle Blue Band,
she commanded an earthy, visceral style that didn't
let any spectator's attention wander too far from the
stage.
Steve Bulger, lead singer and blues harp impresario
of the 145th Street Blues Band, thrilled the audience
with a Dali-esque taffy pull of note-bending harmonica
rifts. His fierce vocals
Michele Lundeen, The Queen of Steam, ignited
the crowd with her contagious enthusiasm and charismatic
Joplin-like style.
Johnny Mastro and the Mama's Boys, curtained by smoke
and kinetic night lighting, stirred up the well-oiled
crowd with a performance that flaunted a raw electric
edge. The group seemed pleased to be the 'bad boys'
of the concert and the audience seemed to approve of
the choice.
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10:30 - 11:30: Vatos Locos
-
1:50 - 12:50: Backwater Blues
Band
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1:30 - 2:30: Agave Blues Band
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2:45 - 3:00: Agave Blues with
Special Guest
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3:20 - 4:20: Shelle Blue
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5:00 - 6:00: 145th Street
Blues
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6:20 - 7:40: Michele Lundeen
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8:15 - 9:30ish: Johnny Mastro
& the Mama's Boys
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9:30 - 10:00pm: Jam Session
(all who want to join)
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Exhibiting
Artists:
- Aida Valencia - Mosaic Sculpture
- Alfonso Arambula - Sculptor
- Ananda Ruiz - Mixed Media
- Andrena Joyce - Painter
- Antonio Martinez
- Artistic Jewelry by Lails
- Baja Reflections - Ron Saunders
- Barbara Peacock - Mosaics
- David Romo A. - Gourd Carving
- DeCoursey Wood Sculptures
- Gani Guerrero
- Huichol Indians
- Jack Zivic - Mixed Media
- Jim Mann - Watercolors
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- Luis Cogley
- Marco Miranda - Mixed Media
- Monica Perez
- Paco Garcia
- Pai-Pai Potters - Daria Mariscal
- Polos Fine Art Gallery - Polo Valencia
- Smoke Signals - Authentic Cuban Cigars
- The Peoples Gallery
- Valentina Ragsdale
- Victor Ratliff Rodriguez - Fine Art Photography
- Jose Isaac Morales Flores (CERVUS) - Mixed
Media
- Kathy Keane - Magic in Nature Photography
- Johanna Czoberek - Lemurian wands
- Jorge De La Lama
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