Bedford Blues & BBQ - 2018

A short review of another outstanding Bedford Blues & BBQ Festival. I have been going to this event for years and have never been disappointed. The food is always good, the beer is cold and reasonable and the music outstanding. It is always a fun crowd. Every year I wind up in a conversation with friendly strangers. The crowd ranges from infants to old geezers like me. 

Sunday is the big night and has the top headliner. A couple of years the star has kind of coasted through. Some years the Saturday night closing act has been better than the bigger name Sunday star, sometimes it's the Sunday early evening act that shines. This year, everybody was really good. In addition to the main stage, there were several pretty good lesser known bands who perform on the secondary stage. Nonstop music from around 2:00 until close to midnight
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On Saturday we got there around 6:00. Lil Ed was OK but to be honest, we were still checking out the craft and food vendors during some of his set. The laser show was something new this year. They had big smoke machines to help highlight the lasers, but it is Texas and the wind blows. Still, pretty cool. Ted Benoit did not disappoint. He did a solid set. 

I got there around 5:30 on Sunday, early enough to hear part of Buddy Whittington's performance. He is a local guy who spent 15 years playing with John Mayall's Bluesbreakers, a band Eric Clapton once played with. He rejoined Mayall in 2013 at the Bedford BluesFest for Mayall's appearance. Buddy plays the festival every year and is always very good. For me, the very pleasant surprise of the weekend was Samantha Fish. I had never seen her live but had heard her music and seen some YouTube videos. I thought she was OK, a better guitarist than singer. She has certainly improved. Her voice was much stronger, more on key, and less screaming. She has also beefed up her band. It had a couple of horns, congo drums, backup singers, an organ, and a violinist in addition to the normal bass and drums. Her performance was outstanding. The song selection and execution had the crowd rocking. I was talking to a guy before her set began and we agreed that her voice and presentation needed work. Then she started and we both looked at each other in amazement. Samantha was way above expectations. The second stage band, Wallace and Branch, was good too while we waited for the headliner. Kenny Wayne Shepherd had a couple of tough acts to follow but he was up for it. The guy can sing and he can certainly play a little guitar. Go see Samantha and Kenny Wayne if you have the chance. 

So, another enjoyable weekend at Bedford's premier event. I'm already looking forward to next year. For about 10 hours of music per day, it is $10 admission, $7 in advance online, and $5/day for a weekend ticket. Beers are only $5 or $6 and decent vendor BBQ and other food is reasonable. You can also buy tasting/voting deals for BBQ samples. There were 125 entrants competing this year, mostly professionals. This is not your backyard Weber grill competition. Beat that deal.

Come join us in Bedford next Labor Day Weekend. We'll have fun.

wjh