Shaffer surprise

The rains fell, yet the faithful remained Saturday on Day 2 of the Thunder Bay Blues Festival.

And those who stuck around – and there were plenty who did – were rewarded for their perseverance, despite sloppy grounds at Marina Park.

Paul Shaffer, Thunder Bay’s musical master and sidekick to David Letterman, made a surprise appearance late in the evening, introducing headlining act Los Lobos and sticking around to play a song with the American-Chicano rockers.

“I came to town for a family reunion and it just happened the festival was on,” said Shaffer, in an exclusive interview with tbnewswatch.com.

“I’m good friends with Los Lobos. They’ve done the Letterman show a number of times and they’re a wonderful band and I just thought I’d love to come over and say hi. I got to introduce them and I got to play a song with them tonight, and it was all good.”

Shaffer had nothing but praise for the crowd, who stuck it out despite the weather conditions.

“What’s wonderful is to see this audience because it’s pouring rain here and nobody left. They’re all there with their umbrellas,” Shaffer said.

“The band is probably saying, ‘Why isn’t anybody applauding?’ Well, the reason is it’s hard to applaud with an umbrella in their hand. But this is the true Northern Ontario spirit. I’m telling you I’m so impressed with this town.”

It wasn’t the day’s only collaboration.

Earlier in the afternoon, before the rains began, 14-year-old prodigy Quinn Sullivan was joined by Los Lobos guitarist David Hidalgo, just the sort of thing that brought fans to the festival in the first place.

Ernest Murillo, a Montana trucker passing through the city, said he knew nothing about the event until he arrived in town.

Once he did, he asked his company for a couple of days off to stick around.

“The music’s great, the people are great here, there’s good food here. The service is great,” said Hidalgo, looking forward to seeing Los Lobos and their pre-headliner Los Lonely Boys, making their second Thunder Bay Blues Festival appearance.

Jessica Mihalcin and Melissa Jostiak had similar sentiments.

“We like the music and we just like the atmosphere,” the 20-something Mihalcin said.

“The music is really good and it’s a nice day, so it’s a fun way to spend the weekend,” Jostiak said, hours before the first raindrops hit the ground.

Day 2 also acknowledged the loss of Big Walter Smith, the Minnesota bluesman who had played every single Thunder Bay Blue Festival, but died shortly after the 2012 edition.

His widow Shirley joined his band, The Groove Merchants, after their set, thanking the crowd for supporting her husband’s music and welcoming him year in and year out.

“Big Walter loved you. He loved coming here, and we will continue to carry on his legacy here in Thunder Bay,” she said.

While rain was expected to continue falling overnight and into Sunday, event organizer Bob Halvorsen said he’s confident the grounds can handle the water and be ready for fans to return for the final day of the festival.

Sunday’s acts include local band Rebel Spririt, Doug Deming and the Jewel Tones, Too Slim and the Taildraggers, JW Jones Blues Band, Davina and the Vagabonds, Kim Mitchell, The Family Stone and Great Big Sea.