Bayfest, October 5-7, 2012 ~ Mobile, AL
Festival on the Bay
In the early 1500's the Spanish who
sailed in to Mobile Bay called it Bahía del Espíritu
Santo which means Bay of the Holy Spirit. And folks in
Mobile have always known that this place is different
than any other place you could live. It has a certain
spirit of music. And with Bayfest celebrating 17 years
in existence, they have continued to bring music of a
diverse spirit. This year's Bayfest Music and Arts
Festival had a lineup from day one that called to all
types of music fans of all ages. The weather was perfect
all weekend with a cool front that blew in a few days
prior. With 125 musical acts on 9 stages in this
historical town, Bayfest gave family and friends plenty
to do on the first weekend of October.
Day 1 had plenty of diversity for
all from local Mobile acts throughout the night starting
with a solid show from Phunk Blue Moon, and continuing
the fun with Jams Plus Media's very own DJ Trey Stein
performing with our good friend Chris Spies for a set of
beats and keys to dance the night away. As always, Roman
Street proved to be a crowd pleaser with their acoustic
aggressive sounds. Now no fear, there were also plenty
of heavy hitters from yesterday and today. The AT&T
Stage went totally 80's on us. And being in highschool
at that time, I was ready to break out my Members Only
jacket. Loverboy took the stage at 7pm, “Working for
the Weekend” with a strong rock sound that showed us
that they still truly love what they do. And we do too,
with a thick crowd to enjoy the tunes. Right behind them
was Rock Mama, Pat Benatar. She still has serious pipes
and could rock the crowd to their knees. Then came the
boys we used to skate to as youngsters. Journey brought
with them new lead singer Arnel Pineda, a Filipino
vocalist reminiscent of Steve Perry. And this dude
rocked it hard and hit every note. This highly popular
band is still rocking, with Neal Schon’s soaring guitar
work, Jonathan Cain’s signature keyboards, Ross Valory’s
echoing basslines, and Deen Castronovo’s solid drums.
And if Bayfest did not bring them, I would have never
had an opportunity to see their great show, with all
their hit songs and a splendid visual display. So how
would be the best way to end day one on the bay on a
cool night? Oh wait! Pretty Lights will work just fine,
thank you. The crowd stayed late to get their groove on
with this amazing mix-master and light show. Way to
roll, Bayfest. See ya tomorrow.
Day 2 for me ends with a hero and a
man I have seen 5 times, including my first show at age
10, Willie Nelson. But that would be much later in the
night, and we had a lot of great music to hear before
that show. Again Bayfest is great about supporting the
local bands and musicians from Mobile. And the list on
day two was solid with Mob Towne Revival getting their
funk on. Johnny No and Formerly Known were rocking it
out for the crowd. The always popular Ugli Stick rocked
heavy, and Grayson Capps held the crowd in the palm of
his hand. Now I had many people tell me they were really
impressed with Zombo Combo, who houses Keyboardist Chris
Spies and Drummer John Milham; with this band they have
very raw funk jazz and New Orleans style beats. The
heavy hitters, as on day one, were present and ready to
pump the people up. On the Coca Cola Stage we had back
to back sets from My Darkest Days, Buckcherry, and crowd
favorite Bush. All three bands were shredding the
streets on a Saturday Night. Bayfest has always been
great at bringing the classics, and there is no other
more classic then Willie Nelson. The last couple of
times I have seen him he was with his guitar player. I
mean I know Willie plays, but this old man was killing
it, solos and all. What a great night, Bayfest!
Day 3 comes on a much cooler day
with the temperatures dropping into the high 50's that
night. Now understand, here on the Gulf we get cold
weather; and it's called the 50's. And this cool day
had to heat up fast with the Renegades of Bluegrass,
Rollin' in the Hay. And hay, they were solid as always
covering the Carter Family and Johnny Cash as well as
their own "Opie and Me", a crowd favorite. Now the big
discovery of the
weekend
for me was Nashville's own Rayland Baxter. Sitting and
playing on his amp he brought nice melodic chords and
deep sounds. It was what Festivals are all about:
seeing bands and musicians you knew nothing about. He
was amazing. After Rayland came Mr. Sunshine, Michael
Franti and his band Spearhead. No matter where or when,
Franti is always going to make you dance and sing, and
make you feel like he would rather be nowhere than with
you. What a great entertainer and person. Now the
Bayfest folks decided to throw a monkey wrench at us all
with three acts on three stages all starting 15 minutes
from each other. So I will do a little bit of each,
starting with Grace Potter and the Nocturnals; and as
always, Grace looks and sounds amazing. A few rocks and
rolls later, we were off to Country Music’s new son Luke
Bryan with a crowd that flowed back for two blocks. So
it’s easy to say that Luke will be back to Mobile. But I
had to end with Mr. Soul and Memphis Music, Al Green.
What a sound, what a man, what a crowd. Al can still
pick you up and lay you down. This was a great way to
end this music weekend in my hometown. Thank you Bayfest,
we look forward to seeing the musical diversity you
bring us next year for your 18th consecutive year. We
will see you next year at the Bahía del Espíritu Santo.
Review and Photos By: Dale Taylor
Edited By: Rosemary A.W. Roberts
