riverhead blues festival

On July 19^th, my wife and I attended the 10^th edition of the “Riverhead Blues Festival,” an outdoor music showcase held in downtown Riverhead, the county seat of suburban Suffolk County, New York.  (Although it has been running for ten years, this is only the second time I’ve attended the festival.)  Lasting for two days, the event is chock full of talented musicians playing for an attentive, appreciative audience.  For me, it’s a unique type of setting for a festival – the three distinct venues that comprise the event add to what I can only categorize as a complete blues experience.

Riverhead is one of those aged downtown areas where some of the buildings date to the late nineteenth and early twentieth century.  Like other downtown areas of similar character, it is constantly working to be reborn.  Riverhead seems to be succeeding.  The three venues that comprise the festival are situated at one of the main intersections in town.  Although the main festival area offers the usual clothing, craft and food kiosks associated with summer fairs, its proximity to Main Street allows concertgoers the opportunity to take a break from the music to visit the shops and eating establishments that are the permanent fixtures of downtown.  The music from the outdoor stage wafts through town, keeping the atmosphere of the festival in the air for anyone seeking to temporarily trade the main stage for Main Street.  Indeed, after a couple of hours spent outdoors watching the bands on the main stage, it’s a welcomed break to have dinner in a café or restaurant.  After sitting on the grass for a couple of hours, it feels like quite a treat to sit at a table in air conditioning and be waited on.  This is definitely not your usual blues festival experience (especially since patronizing a local eatery gives you the opportunity to use a real toilet).  Once dinner’s over, you’re back in the street with other concert goers, refreshed and ready for another round of music!

We started the day around 4pm, on a blanket, in a shady spot on the side of the main outdoor stage.  After dinner, we walked over to the Vail Leavitt Music Hall to catch the end of Bob Westcott’s set. A restored 300-seat theatre dating back to 1881, Vail’s small, intimate setting is perfect for solo blues artists and some of the smaller combos.  When the set finished, we moved from the music hall next door to Club 91, the “roadhouse blues” venue.  We walked in on Blue Roots, deep into their set with harmonica and guitars wailing.  A few people were standing at the bar, a guy sitting behind a table poured beer from a couple of kegs sitting in ice packed garbage cans, and not far from him was the ever-present line of women waiting to use the ladies room.  From the bar room you can see the backroom.  The members of the band are crammed onto a small stage in the corner; the low ceiling insures that the air is stifling and hot.  In front of the band, a small crowd of people are dancing and rockin’ out.  When you’ve been going to clubs for as long as I have, it’s hard to imagine listening to that music in any other setting.  Perfect!

Blue Roots was the last band for the night at Club 91, ending around eight o’clock.  We walked out the back door of the club into the large public parking area and riverside park, which makes up the festival’s main concert area.  Toby Walker was on stage.

We found our blanket that we had abandoned on the grass when we went to dinner, moved it a little closer to the stage, and just laid back and listened to the bands for another couple of hours.

As I mentioned earlier, the artists at Riverhead Blues play to an appreciative and attentive audience – think 30’s, 40’s and 50’s rather than teens and 20’s.  The people who come to listen to the music do just that: they listen.  Well, actually, they do other things too.  There’s a lot of dancing and a lot of what I’d call groovin’ – you know, rocking and bopping and tapping, even some hand clapping.  People are there for a good time.  There is drinking, but it’s mostly responsible drinking (there’s always a few who overdo it, but their number was kept at a minimum).

When we were first discussing going to the festival, my wife asked, “Who’s going to be there?”  My answer was “Nobody”, or at least nobody with any strong name recognition outside the local area.  The artists closing out Saturday’s and Sunday’s shows respectively were Bernard Allison and Anna Popovic, two accomplished musicians whose success doesn’t really extend beyond the blues charts.  But really, that’s the best part of the Riverhead Blues Festival.  It’s a small showcase for dedicated performers to play to a respectful, responsive crowd.  Personally, I’m looking forward to the next ten years bringing more of the same.