michelej1
03-26-2009, 04:11 PM
Chicago Sun Times http://www.suntimes.com/entertainment/1496026,CST-FTR-ebrief26.article
LIGHT ON STAR POWER:
Blues fest scales back
On the same day the South Side Irish Parade was canceled because it had grown too big, the Chicago Blues Festival announced a lineup that should alleviate any fears that the fest has become too big for Grant Park. Not only has the June 12-14 festival been scaled back to three days this year, but the nightly acts on the Petrillo Music Shell mainstage have diminished in quantity and drawing-card appeal. Friday night's only two Petrillo performers, gospel-blues belter Shirley Johnson and Eddie C. Campbell, who's celebrating his 70th birthday, are talented club-level artists whose names mean little to out-of-towners. Detroit vocalist extraordinaire Bettye LaVette heads an otherwise pedestrian Saturday mainstage crew, while long-ago Fleetwood Mac guitarist Jeremy Spencer is the most interesting Petrillo artist on Sunday. Most of the bigger names appear on side stages, including harpist Charlie Musselwhite on opening day, guitarist Lurrie Bell and folk-blues up-and-comer Samuel James on Saturday and charismatic Christian jamsters the Lee Boys on Sunday.
LIGHT ON STAR POWER:
Blues fest scales back
On the same day the South Side Irish Parade was canceled because it had grown too big, the Chicago Blues Festival announced a lineup that should alleviate any fears that the fest has become too big for Grant Park. Not only has the June 12-14 festival been scaled back to three days this year, but the nightly acts on the Petrillo Music Shell mainstage have diminished in quantity and drawing-card appeal. Friday night's only two Petrillo performers, gospel-blues belter Shirley Johnson and Eddie C. Campbell, who's celebrating his 70th birthday, are talented club-level artists whose names mean little to out-of-towners. Detroit vocalist extraordinaire Bettye LaVette heads an otherwise pedestrian Saturday mainstage crew, while long-ago Fleetwood Mac guitarist Jeremy Spencer is the most interesting Petrillo artist on Sunday. Most of the bigger names appear on side stages, including harpist Charlie Musselwhite on opening day, guitarist Lurrie Bell and folk-blues up-and-comer Samuel James on Saturday and charismatic Christian jamsters the Lee Boys on Sunday.