The Inaugural Bourbon and Beyond Festival at Champions Park was highly anticipated by Louisville festival goers for months. With an amazing array of artists with an emphasis on blues, rock veterans The Steve Miller Band and Stevie Nicks slotted as headliners, as well as a bourbon experience unparalleled in this type of setting Bourbon and Beyond 2017 was destined to make its mark. It did not disappoint!
Double side by side main stages ensured that the music never stopped and every act went off on time, which in itself is nothing short of miraculous. The nonstop succession of top artists did present festival goers with the challenge of carving time away from the stages to partake in the bourbon workshops and gourmet food offerings.
Festival goers were virtually guaranteed a myriad of options for the entire weekend.
To say that the sweltering heat was not anticipated in mid-September is a given, and people were faced with sun and heat that made things uncomfortable to say the least, but the lineup of performers made it worth enduring. Organizers have already declared on the festival’s Facebook page that “We will be back.” Which is welcome news to Louisville festival goers. One can only wonder how organizers can possibly top this inaugural lineup!
Here is a recap of the weekend’s music highlights
Saturday September 23rd:
After a long and at times unbearably hot day, crowds flocked to the Oak Stage for Saturday Night’s headliner, The Steve Miller Band, to wind up the first day of the festival weekend. Steve “Guitar Man” Miller wowed the audience when Kenny Wayne Shepherd joined him on stage for a cover of the Elmore James song, “Stranger Blues” as well as “Mercury Blues” from KC Douglas. Shepherd, who had performed on that same stage earlier in the day gave Miller an opportunity to show his skill as a blues guitarist which was a nice reward for the crowd’s perseverance. The set from this veteran band also included one hit after another from their decades-long career. It was the perfect ending to this first day of the weekend.
Fantastic Negrito was first up on the Barrel Stage Saturday afternoon and set a high bar for the rest of the weekend. While he may not have been a headliner, this artist, who is riding a recent surge in popularity, performed as if he were, giving the crowd an inspired set which included songs from his recent album The Last Days of Oakland. His music is a blend of blues, R&B, rock and roots genres. He wasted no time getting the crowd engaged and excited. Fantastic Negrito is both charismatic and expressive, at one point encouraging the crowd to chant along with him in true festival spirit “Take that bullshit and turn it into good shit.” Anyone who had not heard of Fantastic Negrito prior to his appearance on Saturday was sure to remember his name. His set was a definite highlight of the day.
The Chris Robinson Brotherhood kicked off their 8-song set with “Let’s Go, Let’s Go, Let’s Go”, a cover by Hank Ballard and the Midnights. With songs like “Blue Star Woman” and “If You Had a Heart to Break”, they were the quintessential festival band providing the perfect blues-infused guitar jams for festival goers to immerse themselves in.
Buddy Guy took the stage wearing his iconic polka dot shirt as everyone settled in for a steamy blues set performed by one of the all-time greats. Paying homage to Muddy Waters, Eric Clapton, The Rolling Stones, and his middle school music teacher, Buddy Guy played through a number of his classics as well as several renditions of music written by his idols. The show was full of anecdotes and Buddy’s gleaming smile, leaving the audience laughing and smiling along. Despite his apologies for talking too much, his stories provided a great amount of context to the show and made Buddy all the more personable. Orlando Wright was “playin’ it right” on bass, guitarist Ric Jaz held his own with Buddy Guy on guitar, and long-time drummer Tim Austin kept everyone in time for what would be a very memorable show from a true music legend.
Anyone who must walk on stage a mere five minutes after Buddy Guy, certainly has his work cut out for him, however, Kenny Wayne Shepherd was more than up for the challenge. He spent his 60 minutes on the Oak Stage tearing it up as only he can beginning with his own “True Lies” and including classic covers such as “The House is Rockin'”, BB King’s “You Done Lost your Good Thing Now”, and Jimi Hendrix Experience’s “Voodoo Child”. His set was a feast for the ears.
Amos Lee provided an entertaining and enjoyable show featuring his folksy blues-infused music. He frequently asked between songs “How’s everyone feeling?” After he would shout “I feel good!” he turned to the audience to respond with “I feel Great!” By the time he finished his hour-long set, everyone actually did feel great.
Eddie Vedder of Pearl Jam took the stage for the penultimate show of the night. With his acoustic guitar and powerful voice, he was everything you could hope for, and more. As a self-proclaimed tequila guy, he played his set at Bourbon and Beyond with a bottle of Jim Beam on his stool. Toasting the 26th anniversary of Pearl Jam equipment manager and bass tech, George Webb’s first show with the band, the two shared a swig of bourbon, to the approval of the crowd.
Eddie seemed to have a great time performing songs from Pearl Jam and his own solo efforts along with some noteworthy covers. After telling the crowd that he was missing his daughter Harper Moon’s 9th birthday to be here he acknowledged that she shared a birthday with Bruce Springsteen, then lead the crowd in singing Happy Birthday to Bruce, with a promise to send the video to him after the show. Hopefully, he also sent a video of his rendition of Springsteen’s Open All Night, which was a perfect fit for Vedder’s unique vocals. Following that, he dove into Neil Young’s “Rockin In the Free World”, giving it his own unique spin.
Also, appearing on the lineup Saturday were Dave Cavalier, Band of Horses and Shawn James & The Shapeshifters.
Sunday September 24th:
Stevie Nicks is the ultimate headliner and if the thousands of festival goers that filled Champion Park were any indication, her closing performance was highly anticipated. Stevie Nicks stepped into the spotlight with her trademark flowing dress, fingerless gloves, radiant blonde hair and gave the crowd what they were hoping for.
Her set relied heavily on her solo material and included favorites such as “Stop Dragging My Heart Around” and “Stand Back”. During her performance of “Belladonna”, she donned the original black cape from 1981. Another special moment was “Crying in the Night” from the Buckingham/Nicks album that predated joining Fleetwood Mac. Fleetwood Mac was represented during the show with “Gypsy “and “Gold Dust Woman” receiving a huge ovation and finishing out the set with encore songs “Rhiannon” and “Landslide”. Stevie Nicks, captivating and enchanting, is rock royalty, and looked and played the part as Bourbon and Beyond drew to a close.
At the start of the day, Kiefer Sutherland treated the early afternoon crowd at the Oak Stage to a spirited set of original music from 2016’s record Down in a Hole as well as a few covers from artists who meant a lot to him. Merle Haggard’s “The Bottle Got Me Down” was country at its finest and Sutherland did it justice. Trading his acoustic guitar for an electric, Sutherland and his band belted out Tom Petty’s bluesy funky “Honey Bee” and the crowd loved it. Sutherland is the perfect combination of rock and roll swagger and the humility of a man who knows the audience hasn’t heard his music before. He expressed his gratitude more than once. This early day performance was well worth showing up for and got people ready for an excellent festival day.
From the first moment Troy “Trombone Shorty” Andrews and Orleans Avenue stepped on stage the energy level at the Barrel Stage was off the charts. People who were wilted from the brutal sun and heat and were taking refuge in the shade came to life and got out of their chairs. This isn’t the sort of music you sit back and absorb, it demands you get involved and move. Every element of this performance was electrifying. Trombone Shorty handled vocals, tambourine and of course trombone. He was all over the stage at times jamming with various band members, and kept the crowd jumping, bouncing and grooving with the band. Trombone Shorty and Orleans Avenue is currently on tour supporting Parking Lot Symphony, their debut album for Blue Note Records. Do yourself a favor and see them live.
Gary Clark Jr, brought a taste of the blues Buddy Guy had performed the day before and the rock n’ roll that Jimi Hendrix performed decades ago to his set. He kicked things off with B B King’s “My Baby’s Gone” and over the next hour followed with one song after another including a cover of Albert Collins’ “If Trouble Was Money, choosing to let the music do the talking for him. His hard-hitting version of The Beatles classic “Come Together”, was one of the particularly powerful moments in the show. Closing his set with the hit song “Bright Lights”, Gary Clark Jr delivered on every possible expectation of his set.
Paul Rodgers thanked the crowd for being part of his “Rock and Roll Fantasy” but it was really a two-way street. Young and old alike were treated to 60 minutes of familiar favorites from Rodger’s decades-long career with Free, The Firm, and Bad Company. With his infectious smile firmly in place throughout the set, the crowd needed little encouragement from Paul Rodgers when called upon to sing along to such classics as “Alright Now”, “Shooting Star”, and “Can’t Get Enough” to name a few. From the first song to the encore performance of “Bad Company”, this was a standout show, which included massive crowd participation and a list of songs you probably forgot you knew and loved from one of the finest voices in rock and roll.
As evidenced by the sweat pouring through Joe Bonamassa’s two-piece suit, there were no plans to take Sunday night’s set easy. Starting strong and keeping the energy until the very end, Joe and his band were absolutely note-perfect, and no amount of performance energy was sacrificed to achieve that level of perfection. Tearing through songs such as “Blues of Desperation”, “Last Kiss” and Led Zeppelins “How Many More Times”, Bonamassa proved once again why he is a master of his craft. The sun setting behind the Barrel stage as Joe and his band brought their particular brand of blues and rock n’ roll to Louisville’s waterfront only adds to the charm of the first edition of Bourbon and Beyond.
Also performing on Sunday were Caitlyn Smith, bluesman Jonny Lang, G Love & Special Sauce and Nikki Lane.
