Blues on the Mall

[Nitro]

I think it was a "lad" (as in boy) being led around with a pink purse. A girl would be a "lass", wouldn't she?

Like it matters, both are very strange.

Yup, you got it right, Lad as in Boy. I started to wonder how many people actually show up to watch the blues performers and how many show up to watch the human entertainment.

[GRCentro]

We have a winner! This tread easily has the day's oddest discussion.

But on the topic of suited men, it's likely they are from out of town. Lots of Amway hotel guests seem to find their way up Monroe Center around dinner time.

[GRGridGirl]

I love the diversity that you see at Blues on the Mall.

How many events, besides Festival, do YOU go to where a wide variety of people show up?

BotM has been this way ever since I can remember going down there.

[Budgie Frisket]

Cat Boy plays Blues on the Mall.

BF

[Vertigo]

Does anybody actually explore "real" blues in its original form?

This tripe that's sold as blues is hardly that.

This stuff that's played at blues on the mall is safely marketed to fans of george thorogood and classic rock.

Man does it suck! My bowels go into convulsions when I hear it. Hate to be a music snob, but check out Charley Patton or Robert Johnson. We're being played the Kenny G of blues!

Having said that...have a great time! People watching is in fact, fun!

The lass/lad dog collar thing as been going on since the the beginning of this thing.

Apparently a rite of passage for some.

To add fuel: Harleys suck. Harley=Nike. Real (good) bikes are made in Europe!

[mejane]

Does anybody actually explore "real" blues in its original form?

This tripe that's sold as blues is hardly that.

This stuff that's played at blues on the mall is safely marketed to fans of george thorogood and classic rock.

Man does it suck! My bowels go into convulsions when I hear it. Hate to be a music snob, but check out Charley Patton or Robert Johnson. We're being played the Kenny G of blues!

Having said that...have a great time! People watching is in fact, fun!

The lass/lad dog collar thing as been going on since the the beginning of this thing.

Apparently a rite of passage for some.

To add fuel: Harleys suck. Harley=Nike. Real (good) bikes are made in Europe!

Vertigo, I couldn't agree with you more about the music being sold as the blues

downtown. I haven't gone to the event for 2 or 3 years in a row just for that reason.

I knew what to expect with Jimmy Dillon and so I wasn't disappointed, and

I enjoyed the performance in spite of the company I had with me. But too

many of the blues acts on Wednesdays in the past have been too much

Stevie Ray Vaughn and not enough Howlin' Wolf.

Real blues is VERY dirty! Full of innuendo - what couldn't be expressed out

loud was very often done as metaphor. Real blues makes you want to thump

your head to the side as you just drop your eyes downward and absorb the music

of sex and sorrow and love and loss. Real blues music played well always makes

me want to take my clothes off - okay, sorry for the visual, but that's how it

SHOULD make you feel - not like flailing around, arms and legs akimbo and

call it dancing.

Is there any real, great new blues music written today? Not so much. Seems

like the time is ripe for it, but it appears those voices choose rap as the venue

these days. The blues is done best, in these times, by those artists who can tap

into the likes of Muddy Waters, Son House, Robert Johnson, John Lee Hooker,

Big Mama Thornton, and so on.

Open your CD's and take a look at who really wrote the songs on albums by

The Stones, Clapton, even occasionally The Beatles, and you'll see these names.

The white guys were the ones who took the songs and made the money.

There are some people today who continue the traditions really well -

John Hammond, Mem Shannon, Betty LaVette, Guy Davis, occassionally Keb Mo',

and many others, but they often do it best when they are covering the

greats from the past.

I'll go out on the music snob limb with you, Vertigo - Grand Rapids audiences

are extremely ignorant of what they're listening to. Don't even get me started

about the synching of the Johnny Winter band a couple of Celebration on

the Grand's ago - there were more guitars and horns and keyboards playing

than there were players on the stage, as well as more harmonies going

than mouths that were singing - and yet all the people around us were

screaming and dancing and lighting joints and getting drunk and absolutely

oblivious to their being musically fooled.

At Meijer Gardens - do people really know what their listening too, or is it see

and be seen? It appears to be the later, although there's nothing wrong with

buying tickets just to hear some music and be outdoors with friends - I get

that. Every performance in GR seems to get a standing ovation,

whether it's earned or not, as if that's the sophisticated thing to do. I blame

the schools for cutting the art and music programs, but beyond that, I blame

the culture for the spoon feeding of what we should like and accept as good

and the public for putting up with it and giving it a standing-O. Stop accepting

mediocre as the standard and think for yourselves.

Rant off.

[mejane]

To add fuel: Harleys suck. Harley=Nike. Real (good) bikes are made in Europe!

Viva Moto Guzzi!

[MAU]

To add fuel: Harleys suck. Harley=Nike. Real (good) bikes are made in Europe!

Wrong - real bikes are made from the ground up in your garage.

[GRDadof3]

Vertigo, I couldn't agree with you more about the music being sold as the blues

downtown. I haven't gone to the event for 2 or 3 years in a row just for that reason.

I knew what to expect with Jimmy Dillon and so I wasn't disappointed, and

I enjoyed the performance in spite of the company I had with me. But too

many of the blues acts on Wednesdays in the past have been too much

Stevie Ray Vaughn and not enough Howlin' Wolf.

Real blues is VERY dirty! Full of innuendo - what couldn't be expressed out

loud was very often done as metaphor. Real blues makes you want to thump

your head to the side as you just drop your eyes downward and absorb the music

of sex and sorrow and love and loss. Real blues music played well always makes

me want to take my clothes off - okay, sorry for the visual, but that's how it

SHOULD make you feel - not like flailing around, arms and legs akimbo and

call it dancing.

Is there any real, great new blues music written today? Not so much. Seems

like the time is ripe for it, but it appears those voices choose rap as the venue

these days. The blues is done best, in these times, by those artists who can tap

into the likes of Muddy Waters, Son House, Robert Johnson, John Lee Hooker,

Big Mama Thornton, and so on.

Open your CD's and take a look at who really wrote the songs on albums by

The Stones, Clapton, even occasionally The Beatles, and you'll see these names.

The white guys were the ones who took the songs and made the money.

There are some people today who continue the traditions really well -

John Hammond, Mem Shannon, Betty LaVette, Guy Davis, occassionally Keb Mo',

and many others, but they often do it best when they are covering the

greats from the past.

I'll go out on the music snob limb with you, Vertigo - Grand Rapids audiences

are extremely ignorant of what they're listening to. Don't even get me started

about the synching of the Johnny Winter band a couple of Celebration on

the Grand's ago - there were more guitars and horns and keyboards playing

than there were players on the stage, as well as more harmonies going

than mouths that were singing - and yet all the people around us were

screaming and dancing and lighting joints and getting drunk and absolutely

oblivious to their being musically fooled.

At Meijer Gardens - do people really know what their listening too, or is it see

and be seen? It appears to be the later, although there's nothing wrong with

buying tickets just to hear some music and be outdoors with friends - I get

that. Every performance in GR seems to get a standing ovation,

whether it's earned or not, as if that's the sophisticated thing to do. I blame

the schools for cutting the art and music programs, but beyond that, I blame

the culture for the spoon feeding of what we should like and accept as good

and the public for putting up with it and giving it a standing-O. Stop accepting

mediocre as the standard and think for yourselves.

Rant off.

The "Blues on the Mall" is definitely not real blues, but I don't think they'd have nearly the turnout if it were "real" blues. Call us a bunch of unsophisticated rubes, but there's not a hot market for misery around here (unless you like to read the local news)

[mejane]

The "Blues on the Mall" is definitely not real blues, but I don't think they'd have nearly the turnout if it were "real" blues. Call us a bunch of unsophisticated rubes, but there's not a hot market for misery around here (unless you like to read the local news)

The blues ain't misery, the blues is life - hot, joyous, sad, sorrowful, and everything

in between. It ain't all about a bouncy beat, baby. And I disagree about the turnout -

almost anything free, or easy comp tickets, draws a crowd in this town.

[GRDadof3]

The blues ain't misery, the blues is life - hot, joyous, sad, sorrowful, and everything

in between. It ain't all about a bouncy beat, baby. And I disagree about the turnout -

almost anything free, or easy comp tickets, draws a crowd in this town.

I don't know a lot about blues, so I'll cede your point. I'm a big fan of guitar music, especially classic guitar, so I'd love to see a festival similar to South by Southwest in Austin, or maybe even some alternative Bluegrass, like Bela Fleck.

[mejane]

I don't know a lot about blues, so I'll cede your point. I'm a big fan of guitar music, especially classic guitar, so I'd love to see a festival similar to South by Southwest in Austin, or maybe even some alternative Bluegrass, like Bela Fleck.

Amen, Dad! I'm a huge acoustic singer/songwriter fan. Would love to get a version

of The Wheatland Music Organization here, with Blissfest: http://www.wheatlandmusic.org/home.asp

[Nitro]

Is there any real, great new blues music written today? Not so much.

T-Model Ford is probably the best raw blues artist today. Gotta love a guy that didn't even cut his first record until he was over 70.

[Veloise]

...

Real blues is VERY dirty! Full of innuendo - what couldn't be expressed out

loud was very often done as metaphor. Real blues makes you want to thump

your head to the side as you just drop your eyes downward and absorb the music

of sex and sorrow and love and loss. Real blues music played well always makes

me want to take my clothes off - okay, sorry for the visual, but that's how it

SHOULD make you feel - not like flailing around, arms and legs akimbo and

call it dancing.

...

Author, author!

[Veloise]

Looks like a hot & steamy night, with everyone hanging out in the shade.

[Nitro]

Looks like a hot & steamy night, with everyone hanging out in the shade.

Best show of the year tonight. Nick was awesome.......but only for the clothes wearing, George Thorogood music loving types........

[mejane]

Best show of the year tonight. Nick was awesome.......but only for the clothes wearing, George Thorogood music loving types........

Thanks for the laugh this morning, Nitro! For the well being of the general

populace, it's a good thing I don't listen to the blues every day!!!

[Nitro]

Thanks for the laugh this morning, Nitro!

Not a problem!!

[AlexPKeaton]

I also agree about Blues on the Mall. I haven't attended a show in a couple years because, quite frankly, they're boring as hell. It's just pointless guitar wankery. I love the guitar, and I love a good solo, but put some feeling into it!

And I'll have to disagree with the Harley comment, sort of. Yes, Harleys are overpriced compared to the equivalent Japanese bike, but there's something to be said for the sound they make and the culture that surrounds them. Personally, I'm not a big heavy cruiser fan, but I do appreciate them. My Harley of choice would be a V-Rod. And now I'm totally .

[GRCentro]

Best show of the year tonight. Nick was awesome.......but only for the clothes wearing, George Thorogood music loving types........

I enjoyed the show last night too. The big guy has great voice.

I would consider myself an avid blues fan. I listen to a wide selection of blues/folk/rock artists. Still, I don't see any problem with most of the performers at Blues on the Mall. It certainly isn't "real, pure, original" blues (if there is such a thing), but then again, no one there is pretending that they're the next Muddy Waters. It's just a good time in the city for everyone.

My BIG complaint, however, is the sound mixing! Many of the performers are quite talented, but we can't even hear them well. The board is almost always maxed-out at an unneccesarily high level and we lose half the sound in a huge, muddy, booming blah. Two words: hearing damage. Still, there's always a few people who stand three feet away from the speaker towers!

[gvsusean]

i was there last night, it was alot of fun, granted I was kinda drunk withall the bikers, i knew the harmonica player

[Veloise]

Theheckwiththemusic! We have some new sideshow attractions:

Jugglers

Tour de France wannabethere (nice hair, dude!)

Duct tape! (I was trying to shoot the smiling guy, in his lovely black & red Dracula cape.)

Wacky piercings! (Hope he has a disclaimer card for airline security)

Birds!

If it's too loud out front, try this angle.

[GRDadof3]

Are ripped jeans making a comeback, because man that brings back memories from 1986.

[GRCentro]

Theheckwiththemusic! We have some new sideshow attractions:

That's for sure! I laughed out loud thinking about earlier UP commentary about a girl leading a guy on a leash. Last night I saw a girl with three leashed lads. Everytime she stopped, they all went to their knees and bowed.

(Veloise, was that you yesterday evening at Olive Express?)

[Veloise]

That's for sure! I laughed out loud thinking about earlier UP commentary about a girl leading a guy on a leash. Last night I saw a girl with three leashed lads. Everytime she stopped, they all went to their knees and bowed.

(Veloise, was that you yesterday evening at Olive Express?)

Yep.