Tradition grows

Ten years ago, when the Thunder Bay Blues Festival was in its infancy, there was no chance a group as revered as the Tedeschi Trucks Band would find its way onto the lineup.

That’s what reputation does.

Bob Halvorsen, the general manager of the Thunder Bay Community Auditorium is the man responsible for booking the acts at the Blues Festival, and said without a good name in the music world, the event would be severely limited in its ability to attract big name acts.

With about 15,000 people venturing out to Marina Park over the weekend, Halvorsen said anyone who didn’t make it out missed a heck of a performance Saturday night.

“Last night’s performance by Tedeschi Trucks, if you didn’t get to see it, you’re definitely going to hear about it from people that were here,” he said.

“It was probably the most outstanding signature act for blues and just about any other genre of music – it wouldn’t matter what you liked. It absolutely blew the doors off the place last night.”

It doesn’t get any better than that, said Halvorsen on Sunday evening, getting to watch Blues Fest closer .38 Special run through a string of ‘80s radio hits and other classics to wrap up another successful event.

“Probably the biggest influence we’ve been able to make on the agents and the managers is the reputation the Auditorium has brought into the festival.

“We do this on a regular basis, 24/7 all year long at the Auditorium. They all know us, they know the building now. They know our crew. They know they’re going to be treated well. Thunder Bay is on the map. I’ve said this 100 times, that we’ve got a reputation now is second-to-none,” said Halvorsen, who added he’s already starting to look at next year.

If he has his way, another huge Sunday closing act will be on tap, one he just missed out on landing for the 2012 event.

“We tried to get Vince Gill for this year on Sunday night, which would have been a great blues, slash country crossover and would probably have added a whole new dimension for the festival on Sunday night, in terms of bringing the country people down here.

“But he’s still a very strong blues artist and a great guitar player. We almost had him this year and at the last minute we substituted .38 Special because he wasn’t able to make it. But he would definitely be on my radar for a signature act for next year, one of the closing acts anyway.”