Flyer for the 5th Annual Famous Dave's BBQ & Blues Fest - Autographed by Nikki Mallone, Ana Popovic and Corey Stevens.(Photos by: NYCDreamin)
On Saturday afternoon (06/13/09) the Gorgeous One and I set off for Minneapolis with a blanket, a few bottles of water and the camera to attend the 5th Annual Famous Dave's BBQ & Blues Festival. As in previous years, the action kicked off around noon but we were unable to attend the full day, so we finally arrived around 4:45pm just as Nikki & the Rue Mates were finishing their set on the second stage. We wandered over to the southern edge of Peavy Plaza and found a nice place to sit on the grass, not too far from the main stage. At 5:00pm sharp, an announcer from local TV station KARE-11 came out and announced the next act - Serbian born Ana Popovic, who has performed here previously several times at Famous Dave's uptown Calhoun Square location. She was a nice change from the usual assortment of old blues guys - easy on the eyes and a very talented guitarist as well. She and her band played for about an hour and a half, including a great Hendrix jam near the end of their set. The only complaint I had was that her keyboardist was mixed a bit too loudly and kind of overpowered Ana's guitar in the sound mix.
Ana Popovic and her band performing on the main stage.See Video of her performance HERE.About 45 minutes after we arrived, while Popovic was still on stage, the overpowering smell of clouds of BBQ smoke drifting through the plaza were making us very hungry so we walked over to the Famous Dave's booth and ordered up some chow. I settled on a Pulled Pork sandwich ($6.00). The Gorgeous One had more of an appetite - she got the 6-bone Rib Platter with a side of beans (which I ate for her) and a bag of chips ($16.00). We sat down on the sidewalk in front of Brit's Pub and enjoyed our food as Ana and her band continued to wow the crowd, which seemed very large for the early hour of 6:00pm.
The Famous Dave's BBQ Booth - where a heavenly smell of BBQ was produced throughout the day and into the evening - making the mouths of all those in attendance water with anticipation.
Our delicious food...waiting to be devoured.I'd guess this had to be the most heavily attended show in the festival's 5-year history as the plaza and surrounding streets were absolutely filled with people - the word must be getting out that this is a great festival, a not-to-be-missed event that seems to be growing in attendance every year. It's still no serious competition for the Chicago Blues Festival which runs the same weekend, but the Dave's fest is definately a growing event - I've watched the crowd size steadily increase in the 4 years I have been attending. The first few years the afternoon crowds were kind of smallish but this year the place was packed by mid-afternoon and the people just kept coming in large numbers all through the early evening.
The view from behind the main stage...After we were done eating, we found a good spot to sit, just behind the main stage, as Corey Stevens and his band kicked off their first of two brief sets on the second stage. I enjoy sitting behind the main stage as you can watch the performers set up gear, converse with each other and hang out. While Stevens and his group played, we watched the guys from Bernard Allison's band setting up on the main stage. Their drummer was doing a crazy regimen of stretching exercises that was pretty amusing to watch. Another good point of sitting in this spot is that you can see pretty much the entire crowd and both stages, albiet from behind. It makes for good people watching and there are always plenty of interesting people to watch at this festival. hippies, punks, homeless, yuppies, middle-class business men in suits, old, young, black, white - it seems everybody loves the blues. We watched a group of about 4 or 5 (seemingly) drunk white ladies dancing and shimmying along with some older geezerly-type dudes who joined in with them with little or no prompting. How were they dancing? Think of Elaine from that Seinfeld episode where she's dancing at her company Christmas Party and you'll get the picture.
As Stevens and company wrapped up their short set, The Gorgeous One and I moved again, this time to a spot right in front of the main stage so we could get a few good photos of Bernard Allison and his band when they came out. While we were waiting for his set to begin we managed to score a few autographs on our show schedule/flyer (see top photo). There was a merchandise booth set up just to the right of the main stage and all through the afternoon and evening the artists were visiting with fans, taking photos and signing autographs. We said hello to Ana Popovic as she signed our flyer. We told her we had enjoyed her set and she said that she and her band would be appearing later in the evening over at Famous Dave's in Calhoun Square. A few minutes later Corey Stevens, just off stage, appeared and we got him to sign as well and then I noticed Nikki Mallone (of Nikkin & the Rue Mates) standing nearby so we asked he to sign as well and she smiled and said "Thanks for coming!" as she added her name to our flyer. I was pretty jazzed about all this, thinking it would be nice to have as many autographs as possible on our flyer - but these were the only three we obtained. We didn't know it yet, but we would be leaving the festival shortly.
After a lengthy introduction from the KARE-11 dude, Bernard Allison, his band, and keyboardist Bruce McCabe began their set. We hung out in front of the stage for a bit, watching as they slowly worked their way into a blues guitar frenzy, taking several photos as they played through their first few numbers.
Blues legend Bernard Allison lays it down for the Famous Dave's crowd.
See video of Bernard Allison's performance HERE.
About 20 minutes into their hour-and-a-half set we headed back to the food area to get some Ben & Jerry's ice cream (1 large cup of Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough - price: $6.00) and found a place to sit down and eat. As we were eating we saw this older lady with her dog, who she was pushing around in a baby stroller - it was quite a sight and I had to take a photo of them. This might be the most spoiled dog in the world, he looked like he was really enjoying himself. The lady was pushing him along and she had also picked up some ice cream. She at down not far from us and I was watching them and the dog seemed to really want some ice cream. I kept waiting for the lady to give him a taste right from her spoon - it wouldn't have surprised me one bit if she had - but she did not. Poor doggy.
Ice cream finished off, we decided to work our way back around to the back of the main stage and as we were winding our way through the ever-increasing crowd, disaster struck. The Gorgeous One's choice of foot-wear, flip-flops, proved to be a bad call as I stepped on the back of her left one as we were inching our way through the crowd, walking very closely together. As I stepped down, catching the back of her heel, she was stepping up - the pressure of my shoe holding down her flip-flop just as she was stepping up caused the straps of her shoe to shift violently and pinch the area around her big toe in a very painful way that caused immediate redness and swelling. She pulled a muscle and was having difficulty walking as putting her full weight on her foot was now a very painful experience. We sat for a bit and hoped the pain would subside but it was obvious that further walking around the festival grounds was not going to be a very enjoyable experience for her. We sat for a bit more and decided it was best if we just headed for home instead of traipsing around for 3 more hours with her damaged foot. We were both quite disappointed at this development but it was what it was and we started off towards the car, Bernard Allison only half-way through his set, still jamming, the volume decreasing as we got further and further down the street, and eventually the sound of music gave way to the sounds of city busses, traffic, pedestrians and sidewalk diners.
We walked mostly silently, neither of us in the greatest of moods at having to leave the festival so early and miss the headliner, guitar-slinger Tinsley Ellis. As we walked up Nicollet Avenue back to the car, we encountered a guy who was 30-something-ish and looked to be homeless. He was giving his pitch for money: "Spit on me for $1.00 or kick me for $10.00." It was one of the saddest, most desperate and disgusting things I've seen or heard in quite some time.
And soon we were in the car, heading for home, hoping for a better experience next year.
*See the rest of the photos we took HERE.*Watch some of the music from earlier in the day here: Big Daddy Cade Tribute to B.B. King
*Read my review of the 2008 Famous Dave's BBQ & Blues Fest HERE.
(Image via: NYCDreamin Archives)
Flyer from the TicketMaster window from the morning tickets went on sale for this show. I was there quite early to secure my ticket...I needn't have bothered as attendance for this show was absolutely pathetic - less than 5,000 attended at an outdoor venue that could have easily held 30,000.
Print Ad (above) and ticket (below) for the show.
An unscratched "Instant Live" Game ticket that was handed out to those attending the show. I managed to score over a dozen of these things and do you think I won anything? Naw...
June 15th, 1985: The Aitkin United Methodist Church Youth Group prepares to storm Valley Fair. I'm the dork in the back row, second from right, with the bag of Gummi Bears.
Original Logo artwork for Mom's art business - Y. Collins Creations.
An original invoice sheet from Mom's second business, Y. Collins Creations.
"The Sportsman's Prayer" - A Y. Collins original...
She called this one "War Is Hell" - I think it was based on a painting she saw in a book someplace. This piece hung framed in the stairway of our home for many years.
Print Ad for 06/09/02 Urban Sprawl Festival in Minneapolis featuring the legendary (to me anyway) Flipp. The ad was designed by Flipp guitarist Chia Karaoke a.k.a. Kii Arens, who was/is an accomplished graphic artist. You may even know some of his artwork. Check out his cool website at 
City Pages "A-List" preview of the show.
A shot of the afternoon crowd rocking out to one of the earlier acts.
The "World's Worst Guitarist" belches after downing his beer.
Flipp in action - I miss these guys!
Print Ad & Ticket Stub to Judas Priest/Queensryche - 06/01/05
