Let’s face it: the 2013 announcement that Live Nation — one of the largest promoters on the globe — was planning The Music & Blues Fest was a little nerve-wracking for fans on the existing, essentially mom-and-pop Tampa Bay Blues Festival. I mean, how was a nearly two-decades-running homegrown effort supposed to compete with the man many call the most powerful man in music (Live Nation’s Arthur Fogel)?
Well, it’s been almost half a decade since then, and the Bay area’s original blues festival is still singing. Live Nation’s production even dropped the “blues” as part of their name as part of a move to include less bluesy acts (Joe Russo’s Almost Dead and Mavis Staples were notables on the 2017 lineup this January). So what do local fans need to do to make sure they’re gleefully singing the blues this weekend at St. Pete's Vinoy Park? Here’s some essential info, plus a few do’s and don’ts for the party.
Read: Deadheads, gorgeous weather both flock to Vinoy Park for Sunshine Music Festival
First, expect gates to be open by noon each day, and know that kids 12 and under can come to the event for free — they just can’t drive you home if you get drunk (that’s what taxis and ridesharing are for, dude). That said, anyone without a kid should plan on kicking things off the night before when Americana rock and roller Samantha Fish brings her evolution of the blues to a pre-party on Thursday April 6 at the Palladium, just one mile away. Extra-brave night owls can shut things down on Friday and Saturday at after-parties happening at The Ale & the Witch and Ringside Cafe, both a short walk away as well.
As for the festival itself, don’t miss 80-year-old Buddy Guy's still-fiery Chicago blues (he plays at 8:30 p.m. on Friday). Serbian guitarist Ana Popović (who plays right before Guy) is the anticipated highlight of the entire weekend, and Canada’s own Dawn Tyler Watson should turn a lot of heads when she takes the Sunday stage before New Orleans water protector and six-string slayer Tab Benoit, who recently completed a two-night stand at Skipper’s Smokehouse. Anyone with a hankering for some Stephen Stills is going to want to shut down Bluesfest on Saturday when he plays alongside Kenny Wayne Shepherd and Barry Goldberg as The Rides.
Some of your creature comforts are also welcome, so bring your own lawn chairs, blankets and sunscreen (just don’t start lathering a stranger up without getting permission from them — consent, man). Don’t bring your actual creatures, though (no dogs allowed), and leave the coolers, booze and peanut butter and jelly sandwiches at home, since the whole idea of Tampa Bay Bluesfest is to coalesce around one of America’s greatest contributions to world in the name of benefiting the Tampa Bay Blues Foundation and its charity partner, PARC, whose mission is to “opportunities for children & adults with developmental disabilities to exercise their independence and experience life to the fullest.”
This article appears in Apr 6-13, 2017.