Chicago Bluegrass & Blues Fest Entertainment Art Congress Theater Chicago, IL November 22, 2008

It was a cold, but otherwise nice fall night. I was in the company of good friends, and the excitement of the unknown made attending this first annual event very attractive. Once in the doors, the bouncers patted me down and tore my bag apart like I was trying to smuggle cocaine into the country. While there were no drugs or weapons to be found, they did discover, and force me to dispose of, a leftover half of a freaking $12 sandwich I had for dinner. That being said, I was inside the Congress and still feeling good about the festivities ahead.

Once through the security gauntlet, I entered the theater’s beautifully historic “pavilion” lobby. To the right was a full stage being occupied by Chicago’s How Far to Austin, to the left there was a row of venders selling everything from t-shirts to beer, and directly in front of me was a huge white marble staircase with only tiny bits of its blood-red carpet visible through the mass of people perched upon it for a better view. It was quite a first impression. The pavilion’s tall marble and concrete walls certainly didn’t do much to help the sound, but the evening’s tone was set nonetheless. There was energy in the air.

After a few moments, I decided to grab a pint of 312 (which at $6 was fairly priced for a concert venue) and head into the actual theater to catch the start of the headlining acts. When I first entered, I noticed that the cavernous old movie house’s main floor was at about ¾ capacity. There was a faint, but familiar music festival scent of marijuana in the air, which surely upset my two “smoked-turkey on whole wheat confiscating” security buddies at the front door. Then the lights when down and I made my move forward to get a closer vantage point.

Fifty feet from the front of the stage, I couldn’t tell if I was at a Phish reunion show, a popular hipster hangout somewhere in Logan Square or a college basement in Madison, Wisconsin I can say, however, that it didn’t matter if you were one of the girls spinning hula-hoops to the left of me, or one of the guys sporting backwards Cubs hats to the right of me; if you were in the audience, Springfield, Missouri’s Ha Ha Tonka had something to say to you.

Combing elements of folk, blues, bluegrass, country and traditional Ozark mountain music, HHT has developed an epic sounding form of rock and roll that channels the likes of the CCR of John Fogerty, Bob Dylan and fellow up-and-comers The Fleet Foxes. Their melodies were all spot on, and were most prevalent on the acapella “Hang Man.” Another crowd pleaser was the band’s cover of Ram Jam’s “Black Betty.” They even found a way to sneak in a little bit of Sufjan Stevens’ “Chicago” into one of their more bluegrass inspired tunes. HHT’s newest album Buckle in the Bible Belt was released on Chicago’s Bloodshot Records, which hopefully means we will be seeing a lot more of this group in the future.

In between sets on the main stage, I took some time to walk around to the various vendors’ booths. The festival’s patrons may have covered a wide range, demographically speaking, but I think it would be safe to say that a large percentage of the crowd was neo-hippie/hipster twenty-somethings. So it was no wonder that the majority of the merchandise sold--jewelry, clothing made of hemp, information about social movements, etc. - your Bonnaroo type of fare.

I grabbed another pint and headed up to the balcony to catch The David Grisman Quintet’s set. Much to my surprise, I discovered that the majority of the seats on the second level had butts in them, and from this vantage point I could see that almost the entire main floor was now full. Whether it was just a result of timing or a testament to his popularity, Grisman played to the largest audience the festival had seen all day.

The former Jerry Garcia collaborator’s highly acclaimed style of Newgrass music, which fuses jazz, folk, blues, and bluegrass, created an atmosphere in the theater that was that of a 1960’s “free love” rally.

Grisman was very humble onstage, taking time to tell stories behind much of the music he played, and to introduce each of his band members in some detail. The level of talent on the stage was enough to make me feel reassured that my choice to pursue a career on the business side of music, as apposed to the creative side, was a solid one. It really hit me when he introduced his guitarist, Frank Vignola, as a man that Les Paul proclaimed to be one of the top-5 players in the world.

The quintet mixed little pieces of covers into their show, including a piece by Bela Fleck. My only criticism about their set is that it ran a little too long to keep the audience’s undivided attention. Truly a case of “too much of a good thing.”

The stage was set for The Avett Brothers to come out to a charged-up full house; an opportunity perhaps missed due to the nearly hour long break between the end of Grisman’s set and the first note of theirs. What was once a sea of people blanketing the entire floor was now about half its former size. Luckily for the closing performers, a great little pop-up performance in the balcony by The Giving Tree Band kept more people engaged and, more importantly, in the venue.

Despite hitting the stage well after their scheduled time, the Avett Brothers came out guns-a-blazing, their aggressive style fusing Townes Van Zandt, Pink Floyd and The Pogues.

Due to a previous engagement and the delayed start time, I was not able to catch their entire set. However, during the six or so songs that I heard, I was able to come to the conclusion that The Avett Brothers’ music is an enigmatic take on traditional folk and bluegrass, laden with intensely honest lyrics and plenty of dynamics. They are currently working on their first major label release with producer Rick Rubin. Based on my initial impression of the group, the record will definitely be worth checking out.

Alas, my night at the Congress Theater had come to a close. Overall, I would say the festival was a success. Other than the fact that the bathrooms were less sanitary than the porta-john “cities” you might come across at larger outdoor music festival like Lollapalooza, I really don’t have a bad thing to say about my experience. Good food and beer options, a generally “charged” audience and, of course, great music should continue to sustain the Chicago Bluegrass & Blues Festival for years to come.

Write Comment
Name:	Guest
Title:
Comment:
Code:*

Powered by AkoComment 2.0!