The sixth annual Big Blues Bender went off with a bang from September 5-8, 2019, at the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas. That blues music festival made a smart move from its original home (downtown Vegas’ Plaza Hotel) into the Hard Rock, and the new venue was a definite upgrade. The terrific lineup and cool, rock-and-roll-focused resort drew thousands of diehard blues lovers, who traveled from around the country to enjoy live performances by world-class talent – both old school and new.
The event promoters scored bigtime with the move to the Hard Rock. The music-themed venue’s incredible array of rock memorabilia set the mood, then its state-of-the-art concert venues, beautiful pool areas and various food and beverage options added up to it being a great location for the Big Blues Bender. Guests enjoyed easy access to the five stages – three inside with air conditioning and two at luxurious, tropical swimming pool areas. With triple-digit temperatures cooking the place all weekend at the desert location, the amazing performances made the pools the literal hot spots, both on and off stage, all weekend.
Placing all the amazing musical talent at the festival within the hotel property created several unique collaborations, sit-ins and one-off performances over the course of the weekend. And happily, many of the musicians mingled with the blues-loving attendees, signing autographs and posing for pictures when they were not on stage performing. It made the event intimate and special.
The convenience, comfortable seating at every music venue and awesome array of blues talent attracted an affluent, older audience – not the typical crowds that are found at most music festivals. The deep-pocketed attendees readily spent big money on the event, buying tickets, hotel-room packages, food, booze and merchandise, in addition to playing some of the casino games.
The music was unquestionably the biggest selling point of the event and the talented lineup really delivered. This year’s headliners were Gov’t Mule, Robert Cray, Little Steven and the Disciples of Soul, and Tab Benoit. All are top-notch blues performers and were just the tip of the iceberg of stellar musicians playing all weekend.
Gov’t Mule was the Thursday night headliner in The Joint, the Hard Rock’s largest music venue that seats 4,000 people. Warren Haynes’ band has been playing blues-based southern rock and jam music for over two decades. Haynes and his bandmates always honor the blues greats of the past during their live performances with inspired, original songs and carefully selected covers.
Their Thursday night set included a guest appearance by Jimmy Hall, who sang and played harmonica during the band’s renditions of Robert Johnson’s “32-20 Blues” and Blind Willie McTell’s “Statesboro Blues.” The band also performed great versions of The Allman Brothers Band’s “Soulshine” and Blind Willie Johnson’s “Dark Was the Night, Cold Was the Ground.”
Earlier in the day, guitarist “Monster” Mike Welch joined Southern Hospitality at the Paradise Pool stage for some fast-paced tunes. Brilliant violinist Anne Harris joined the band for a few songs. Jonathan Long, Guitar Center’s 2011 “King of the Blues” winner, performed with his trio at the Casino stage. Long demonstrated his amazing talent in front of a loud, appreciative audience. Larkin Poe, led by sisters Rebecca and Megan Lovell, impressed the crowd at The Joint with fine vocals and rousing slide guitar solos. Their covers of Ram Jam’s “Black Betty” and Son House’s “Preacher Blues” got loud, enthusiastic cheers from a very happy crowd.
Friday’s long list of fantastic artists culminated with an excellent headlining set by Robert Cray at The Joint. The five-time Grammy Award-winner displayed his great vocal range and guitar skills on select tracks from his storied catalog. He also did fine covers of Bill Withers’ “The Same Love That Made Me Laugh” and Doc Watson’s “Sitting on Top of the World.”
Earlier that day, guests at the intimate Vinyl stage saw stunning performances by both Johnny Sansone and J.P. Soars and The Red Hots. Sansone played solo for much of his set. He sang, told stories about life in Louisiana, played guitar, accordion and harmonica. Guitarist Albert Castiglia joined him for the conclusion of the set. A while later, J.P. Soars and The Red Hots played a set of super, high-energy tunes. Soars is a fantastically talented guitarist and his version of Muddy Waters’ “Gypsy Woman” nearly tore the roof off the place.
Saturday was another sweltering day outside. There was such a strong lineup at the Arctic-like, air-conditioned Joint that it was hard to go anywhere else. Little Steven and the Disciples of Soul headlined. Steven Van Zandt definitely knows how to put together a band and put on a spectacular show – the legendary guitarist has honed his skills touring with Bruce Springsteen for decades. It has certainly taught him how to captivate an audience.
Little Steven’s 15-piece band with backup singers, multiple horns, guitars, percussion and several additional artists put on quite a show. Little Steven sang and wailed on his electric guitars and he included highly choreographed lights, dance steps, marches and lots of schtick – it was all very theatrical. Highlights included Van Zandt’s guitar solos, as well as beautiful organ solos by Lowell “Banana” Levinger, an original member of The Youngbloods, and some incredible horn arrangements.
Johnny Sansone hit The Joint stage for Saturday’s opening set, along with the incredibly talented Bender Brass Band players. Sansone played more of his Louisiana roots music that was enhanced by that five-piece dynamic group led by saxophonist Jimmy Carpenter, who also acts as the music director of the festival. The Bender Brass acted as “artists at large” for all four days of the festival, sitting in with musicians who wanted some exemplary horn players along for the ride.
Victor Wainwright & the Train followed Sansone. Wainwright is a multiple Blues Music Award winner and the brilliant vocalist and keyboard player from the band Southern Hospitality. His namesake band played up-tempo songs with fantastic guitar solos by Pat Harrington and “Monster” Mike Welch. The highlight of the show was “Thank You Lucille,” a song that Wainwright dedicated to B.B. King and his famous guitar.
Houma, Louisiana, swamp-blues master Tab Benoit and his band played next. Benoit has performed at every Big Blues Bender and was introduced by event producer A.J. Gross as “The Mayor” of the Bender. It was also “Dress Like Tab” day, so many in the audience wore flamboyant shirts similar to the outlandish style Tab wears during every performance. Benoit played several of his signature songs. After saying he would take requests, some knucklehead in the audience yelled out “Freebird.” Benoit laughed, said, “No way, but I’ll play my Freebird,” and proceeded to blow away the audience with an epic version of his song “Night Train.”
Sunday was the last day of the Bender and a stellar sequence of performances led up to a much-anticipated theme show called “One Night on Yasgur’s Farm.” Before that amazing all-star set, several memorable shows went off. Four-time Blues Music Award winner Kirk Fletcher played a hot show at the Vinyl stage. The former lead guitarist for The Fabulous Thunderbirds played several soulful, energetic tunes.
Over at The Joint, Ruthie Foster put on a mesmerizing performance with her band. The multiple Blues Music Award winner and Grammy nominee showcased her heavenly vocals and poignant guitar playing. The crowd could not get enough as the band performed several of her songs along with a slow, sultry rearrangement of Johnny Cash’s “Ring of Fire” and a show-stopping version of The Staple Singers’ classic “The Ghetto.”
The next act was supposed to be The Allman Betts Band – the group that includes singer and guitarist Devon Allman (Gregg’s son) and guitarist Duane Betts (Dickey’s son). Unfortunately, Allman had a medical emergency and had to cancel just weeks before the festival. Mike Zito, a former bandmate of Allman’s in Royal Southern Brotherhood, stepped in to fill the slot.
Zito is a fabulous singer and guitarist and his Big Blues Band put on a great show. They did a wonderful cover of “Midnight Special,” that traditional folk song recorded by several artists, including Johnny Rivers and Credence Clearwater Revival. Zito played killer slide guitar solos on several tunes including “Let’s Make Blues, Not War.” Special guest Sarah Grace, the 16-year-old phenomenon from NBC’s “The Voice,” came out to sing a tune. She was very soulful for such a youngster and impressed Zito as well as the audience.
The final set at The Joint was the themed show that always concludes the Bender. This year’s “One Night on Yasgur’s Farm” was a tribute to the fiftieth anniversary of Woodstock and a celebration of peace, love and music. Southern Hospitality’s Victor Wainwright acted as bandleader and master of ceremonies – he introduced each song, providing fascinating factoids about the original performance during Woodstock, and then presented the guest artists performing each tune. Large video monitors on both sides of the stage showed mesmerizing original footage of the Woodstock weekend. Many of the Bender musicians made appearances during this special set, including the Bender Brass Band and other “at large” artists.
Sara Grace joined the All-star band and played trumpet before belting out a Janis Joplin tune, then Annika Chambers and Terri Odabi followed that performance with a moving duet on Joplin’s “Piece of My Heart.” Jimmy Carpenter took over lead vocals on Arlo Guthrie’s “Coming into Los Angeles.” Johnny Sansone sang The Paul Butterfield Blues Band’s “Everything Going to Be Alright.”
Albert Castiglia came out for a scorching version of 10 Years After’s “I’m Going Home.” Jimmy Hall sang Canned Heat’s “Going Up the Country” with inspired support from violinist Anne Harris. Ruthie Foster and her band came out to perform a beautiful version of Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young’s “Long Time Gone.” Celebrating his 80th year, Guitar Shorty came out next. He received a warm welcome and got a “Happy Birthday” crowd singalong before he launched into Jimi Hendrix’s “Hey Joe.”
J.P. Soars and Albert Castiglia did an excellent version of The Who’s “Summertime Blues,” followed by a guitar duel between Tab Benoit and Mike Zito on Credence Clearwater Revival’s “Born on the Bayou.” Las Vegas-based singer and guitarist Chris Tofield did a spot-on version of Joe Cocker’s “With a Little Help from My Friends.”
When festival producer A.J. Gross came out to say they needed to wrap it up, Wainwright invited all of the musicians in the wings onto the stage for the grand finale. They launched into a huge singalong version of The Band’s “I Shall Be Released,” as the still-packed audience joined in. With nearly 40 artists on stage and many happy members of the crowd swaying, hugging and singing the lyrics, the Woodstock tribute and sixth Big Blues Bender came to an exhilarating end.
However, since it was Vegas and there are no curfews, things did not really end there. All of the horn players and several of the other musicians marched off the stage and into the audience for a New Orleans-style second-line parade. They led the crowd through the hotel lobby and out to the Paradise Pool area where Tab Benoit and his band were set to lead the Bender Ramble – an anything goes, multiple guests, blowout pool party.
Benoit played some of his songs and some blues standards, with each song boasting sit-ins by many of the Bender performers that had delighted the crowds over the four-day festival. The Ramble went into the wee hours of the morning and the night owls out by the pool kept the party going.
Big Blues Bender is a fantastic niche music festival that is already taking early deposits for 2020. The big mystery is where the event will take place. The Hard Rock Hotel & Casino was recently sold to the Virgin brand and will relaunch sometime in 2020 as the Virgin Hotel Las Vegas. Big Blues Bender personnel do not know yet if the reconfigured property will host next year’s festival. But regardless of where it finds a home, the Big Blues Bender will be the place to be in September 2020 for Blues music lovers around the world.
Live photos courtesy of Andy J. Gordon ©2019.
