Blue is my favorite color, The Blues are my favorite tunes...and this past weekend we heard remarkable Blues under amazing blue skies... with temperatures cooler than the Bay Area. What can I say? Perfection cannot be improved upon.
Joined by Jim and Sara, their visiting grandson Zach and our visiting friend Melanie, we put up our tent about 10:30 AM and just let 'er rip! The Festival was held at Warren Ball Park - the oldest operating baseball stadium in the U.S. We sat just below the scoreboard, which still held the scores of the last Copper Kings game of summer. Local bands The Hounds and Train Wreck both did memorable sets - it's astounding how much talent there is in this little town. We even went up to the stage to shake our tail feathers, though there are few more feathers back there than we remembered from back in the day. Zach has to be the coolest 16-year-old on earth, too, because he wasn't even embarrassed by our antics, er, dancing. Plus he's a Beatles scholar, so how cool is that?
The serious visiting Blues stars came on after lunch, and lunch was a highlight for us. Nathan's hot dogs, Navajo fry bread, grilled corn, chiles rellenos, Kick Ass BBQ, and buffalo burgers were among the fare offered - but best of all, they were serving Stella Artois and some very nice wine... not that we noticed. Next thing I knew we were visiting my friend Vanessa's clothing booth and trying not to purchase that little off-the-shoulder number - escaped just in the nick.
The first post-prandial delight was The Rhythm Room All-Stars, playing Chicago Blues, which really got the crowd on their feet. And speaking of crowds, there were 3,000 people in attendance - this in a town of fewer than 5,000 people. I'm thinking we had lots of tourists in from Tucson, Phoenix, New Mexico, and parts unknown, which is definitely good for the local economy. And judging by the contents of the motorcycle parking area, every Harley club in the greater Southwest made an appearance. Even I, a committed motorcycle-phobic, was impressed by that shining horde of macho wheels... and the fact that the riders were all well-behaved once they got inside. A couple of them stumbled on our tent-pegs and fell over, but they picked themselves up and apologized as nice as can be, never using the F word - impressive.
The grand finale came with the two big name, world class acts - Shemekia Copeland (Shemekia: "How you ladies feel about me bein' the only girl singin' up here today???" Crowd: "Booooo")and Tab Benoit (Tab: "This is the first time I've been here, but I'll be back - I love you, Bisbee!" Crowd: "Yaaaaay"). More dancing, more drinking... then on to Cafe Roka, Bisbee's only fine dining restaurant, for a very excellent meal - the proverbial perfect ending to a perfect day.
The sounds of The Blues have stayed with me all week. That insistent, sexy, rolling rhythm, those mellow black voices... my writing teacher even apologized for stopping me at the Festival and telling me I was dancing slutty. He claimed he was just teasing, but for me it was no problem at all - at 62, I consider that a compliment!
Funny how a great time can stay with you for a number of days, the memory pulling your mouth muscles into an unbidden little smile. It sounds like a great time. I too love the color and the music, blue. And I love that you are still dancing "slutty" at 62. (And lookin' good, I will add - not a day over 42!)
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