Aside from having to live through long, drawn out versions of Hey Joe on both days of the 8th annual Briggs Farm Blues Fest, it was a good weekend. It was my first year attending Briggs Farm, and it had been several years since I had been to a large outdoor music event like this. I always seemed to have something going on during previous festivals, or I was myself performing somewhere. This year I made it a point to get out and support this event which has built quite a name for itself. As anyone who likes blues will tell you… they can be good, bad or ugly. Briggs Farm was a good example of the Good the Bad and the Ugly too. Here’s a synopsis.*

*I’ve toned this down quite a bit for web posting, with the understanding that my opinions are my own and that I’d rather be positive rather than negative where such things are concerned.

Day #1

Octavia & Dave Franklin

The weather was beautiful, but Hurricane Dennis brought a few rain showers here and there just to make things interesting.

Clarence Spade’s band was the next to play, and they offered up a great performance plagued by poor sound (clipping on the toms/bass drum and some tuning issues due to the humidity). Their covers were a bit anti-climatic, and I would like to have heard more of their original stuff. Sara Ayers Band was next. They were the tightest, most interesting and most melodic band of day #1 at Briggs. Suavek Zaniesienko, their bass player, was awesome on both fretted and fretless bass, by far the best bassist of the weekend. Luckily, by then the sound problems had been mostly worked out. I was holding out to buy CDs on day two after seeing all the acts, and I could kick myself for not picking up one of Sarah’s disks. Check ‘em out at http://www.sarahayersband.com/

From my perspective as an acoustic guitarist and lover of melody and good taste, there’s not much that I can say about Magic Red. I am admittedly biased in this matter. Let’s just say it was not my bag. While I enjoy Clapton (who is often criticized for messing with Robert Johnson’s music), I found I didn’t like someone taking Clapton’s versions of Robert Johnson songs and rocking them up. They just seemed silly. So to me, Magic Red was nothing more than a Clapton or S.R. Vaughn impersonator - the blues that Sean Appel (who performed on Day#2) warned me about weeks ago in a lively conversation on the topic.

Hayride, sans hay.

Fireflies...

Percy Strother was billed as the final act for day #1, but as it turns out Terry “Harmonica” Bean was there instead. Terry was awesome, and really the only authentic bluesman of day #1. He opened with a couple semi-acoustic numbers that blew away Magic Red. Terry played sitting down most of the time until his backing band came up. I stayed for a few songs but left just after 11:00 when audio problems with Terry’s vocal mike reared their head and no one seemed to notice. By then many people in the audience were blitzed anyway, so they probably didn’t care. Krypton City Blues Revue was supposed to be there too, but I’m not sure if they played.

Terry “Harmonica” Bean

Day #2

I arrived very early on Day #2 to be sure I would catch Sean Appel, fellow acoustic musician and one of the only resonator players in the area. The opening band was local group Symphonic Haze. The female singer would be beautiful if she wasn’t chain smoking. She looked so disinterested in being there, with her back to the audience most of the time. The musicianship was decent – not blues, but a kind of Limp Bizkit mix with lots of jam band and modern rock influence. Sound issues continued, which was expected as they were helping to warm up the system and the engineers from what was no doubt a late night. Thankfully, the drums seemed to be under control compared to day#1.

Sean "Dogboy" Appel

Sean "Dogboy" Appel

Nate Myers & The Aces

Nate Myers & The Acres came on stage with a no nonsense, tight, melodic and personable approach to music what was refreshing. Nate Myers (vocal/harmonica) was not only a very good musician but also one of the best singers of the festival. They were the best band of Day#2 for sure, and I bought two CDs. Check ‘em out: http://www.natemyers.com/

The Kelly Richey Band was a good ol’ guitar, bass and drums combo - a solid blues group that I’d go see again. As people continued to file in, I made my way to a spot up on the hill where I could rest my ears but still hear the music. Up to this point, most of the bands were Caucasian, with a couple of African-Americans on certain instruments here and there. It probably makes sense since the festival takes place in NEPA and the majority of the audience was Caucasian too. But part of me really wanted to see a traditional (meaning Black) group. Most of the blues I listen too and love is the old stuff (Muddy Waters, Mississippi John Hurt, Blind Willie McTell, etc.) My prayers (on aspects of color anyway) were answered when the Dave Riley Band took the stage.

Kelly Richey Band

Dave Riley Band

Dave was charismatic in his white suit and hat, but his band was the biggest disappointment of the weekend. Aside from some so-so roadhouse Chicago blues originals, they played lots of mediocre renditions of cover songs. Some songs were played sloppily or only partially. “What were they thinking?” I asked myself. There were attempts at SR Vaughn and “Papa Was a Rollin’ Stone” are understandable… but John Lennon’s “Imagine” at a blues fest?!?! I soon found myself thinking about leaving early.

An abundance of profanity spewed forth from Dave during the set. In such a mixed age setting, I didn’t think it was appropriate, even at the hour he was on stage. I could not wait for this band to get off of the stage… the encore was torture. So I wonder, are they really that bad, or were they just having an off night? Magic Red was actually better!

The final act that was advertised (Lucky Peterson) was not the one who played. Instead, Big Jack Johnson and the backup band from day #1 performed. I listened for a while, but left around 10:00. I had grown tired of loud music, and my ears had already encountered enough 12-bar blues progressions for one weekend. Although I was equipped to camp if necessary, I opted to go home each night. I think that was a good decision because I wouldn’t have slept too well I also didn’t have any interest in the partying aspect of the festival, though a lot of people seemed to be really into that. That could be why the spotty quality of the music didn’t seem to matter at times. As long as people were having fun, that’s all that mattered.

Highlights: Sara Ayers Band, Sean Appel, Nate Myers & The Acres, Hayrides, fireflies in the field overlooking the tents and stage; great open skies and a spooky view of the steam columns out of the nuclear plant in Berwick.

There were really no headliners at this festival. Everyone played almost the same amount of time. Typically you’d expect music to get better as the night goes on, but despite the Jim Christman’s (MC and owner of Roads End Pub in Hazleton) claims that we would see more and more good stuff, I have to say the quality was all over the map from the start. But with over 4000 people estimated attending, and the variety of blues attitudes and tastes that folks can have, I think there’s something for everyone if you give it a chance. The food was reasonably priced, but not always hot. Overall the site was clean and people were friendly. Sanitation seemed to be under control. All in all a good experience, and I’d probably go back. Best of luck for the Briggs Farm folks for next year!