Baton Rouge Blues Fest
Downtown Baton Rouge
April 17-18
Those who say there’s nothing to do in Baton Rouge just haven’t lived through Baton Rouge in April, when every weekend is filled with so many events that one couldn’t possibly go to them all. Even among the noise of all the events, Baton Rouge Blues Fest is one worth clearing the calendar for.
The festival is in its 44th year. This weekend it featured over 40 bands/local artists across five stages peppered around downtown Baton Rouge. It’s free to attend and draws over 50,000 people annually.
Friday night was hosted in conjunction with Live After 5 featuring Garry Burnside plus Doussan Garrett Benoit LeBlanc (a Louisiana blues/rock group formed by four band members in the name). They played a set that featured Louisiana specific songs like “Louisiana 1927.” They also had a young drummer who was rockin’ it. After the set, the local YMCA hosted line dancing.
The bulk of the festival happened on Saturday. The festival isn’t like a concert where everyone is pressed up against the stage; it’s more like individual family picnics all across downtown where the streets are closed. One doesn’t need prior blues knowledge or even a lot of awareness of the individual artists playing to have a good time.
For a festival as longstanding as Blues Fest, the most striking element is the continuity. Many of the performers are the children of others who have performed at Blues Fest in years past, or if not, they grew up going there. The headliner on the mainstage Saturday night, Kenny Neal, is the son of Raful Neal, known as the "Godfather of Baton Rouge Blues.” Kenny Neal grew up going to Blues Fest and reminisced on stage about how his father would usually bring him up to perform, before asking his daughter, Syreeta Neal to come up to do a song with him. The two were dynamic performers together who looked like they could just live on the stage.
The night was slightly cut short by the impending storm and heavy winds threatening to blow over tents (it ended closer to 9:30 than 10 p.m.), but the energy was fantastic. A perfect intro to blues for the uninitiated or a trip down memory lane for those who have grown up with this music.
