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2010-03-04 at 13:21

Blues Fest lineup revealed

By Jeff Labine, tbnewswatch.com
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Construction at Marina Park will temporary be placed on hiatus for the ninth annual Thunder Bay Blues Festival weekend.

The multimillion-dollar development plan will take a break to allow the musical event held in July to go on without interruptions. The City of Thunder Bay and organizers of the Blues Festival have already talked about how to minimize the impact the park’s development will have during the show.

Trevor Hurtig, chair of marketing development for the Thunder Bay Blues Festival, said Thursday during the announcement of the festivals lineup that construction wouldn’t have much of an impact during performances. The development’s presence won’t be completely unnoticed, however, as there will be limited pathways where people can walk.

This year’s Blues Fest lineup has 20 confirmed musical acts including headline performers Robert Randolph, the Blues Traveler and Taj Mahal.

Hurtig said organizers are excited that the festival will feature three headline performances for the first time this year.
"This year we have three rock solid performers," Hurtig said. "It was just an opportunity that came our way to have people come out to all three evenings. People were coming out to the Friday performances but not as much as the other two nights."

Last year the event had more than 14,000 people come into the marina area to listen to the music over the weekend.

Hurtig said he hopes the performance of Randolph would attract even more people to the Friday night show.

The price of a Blues Fest weekend pass has increased to $75, a rise that organizers attribute to the pending HST that will be implemented on July 1. Hurtig said the event takes place after the proposed HST deadline and had to factor in the additional cost.

The Blues Festival starts on Friday, July 9 at 5 p.m. and concludes Sunday, July 11 at 11 p.m.

Bands and performers scheduled to appear include:

Friday:
  • Mark Potvin
  • Michael Burks
  • Albert Cummings
  • Robert Randolph and the Family Band

Saturday:
  • Slap Johnson and the Trowellers
  • Big Walter Smith
  • Jimmy Thackery and the Drivers
  • Joanne Shaw Taylor
  • Eric Sardinas
  • Ana Popovic
  • Tab Benoit
  • Blues Traveler

Sunday:
  • Nick Moss and the Flip Tops
  • Candye Kane
  • Mike Zito
  • The Chain
  • Matt Schofield
  • Deanna Bogart
  • Curtis Salgado
  • Taj Mahal

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Tbnewswatch.com(2)

Comments

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NDNKAR says:
Buddy Guy will be playing at the TBCA in a few weeks. Perhaps the organizers of this year's Blues Festival can successfully book him as a performer at that event. The only bigger name in the blues music industry is Eric Clapton.
3/5/2010 3:55:20 AM
commonsense says:
"Construction wouldn’t have much of an impact during performances. The development’s presence won’t be completely unnoticed, however, as there will be limited pathways where people can walk."
Really.
At present, the pedestrian overpass is closed; will this be re-opened for the Blues Festival? The other main pedestrian access near the Festival site is slated for closure with a new pedestrian access over the tracks planned at the foot of Red River Road. In past years, traffic has been minimized coming over the (car)overpass as it would have to pass thru the Festival area; now that will be the only way in. This event is the premiere summer event in TB for residents and visitors alike. It draws former residents home and could become an even bigger draw for tourists as more city events could be added in the preceding week. It is only inevitable that the planned hotel and condos will find the massive numbers of people entering the park, not to mention the noise levels, to be a problem for them. The city knows noise is a problem and is doing another "study" to deal with it. This is the one and only place this event should be held. During the SITP events last summer, the survey asked how important the site was to enjoyment of the event (or something to that effect). Hmmm, is a location change being considered, to move these PUBLIC events out of our PUBLIC park? Let's watch and see.
3/9/2010 11:59:19 AM
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