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Long Beach Blues Festival 2009
Soulful blues tunes filled the salty air around Rainbow Lagoon in Long Beach once again as the Long Beach Blues Festival returned for it's thirtieth year. Local Jazz station, KJAZZ 88.1FM has been responsible for bringing the most well know blues acts to music hungry crowds. The fans return every year - some make it an annual pilgrimmage, some a family tradition, and some for their first time - and the large draw has made this event one of largest blues festivals in the nation.

This year's line-up featured a mixed cast of legends and up-and-comers that did not dissappoint. Day one was a feast of hard driving guitar oriented blues rock. Youngsters Homemade Jamz Blues Band wowed the crowd with their youthful brilliance. Tiny ten year old drummer Taya Perry and her "older" brothers - just in their teens - left many jaws dropped as they played with a proficiency that belied their age. Hill Country Revue and Bettye Lavette joined the Homemade Jamz Blues Band as openers. Just before sunset, Blues Foundation hall of Famer, Johnny Winter showed that he's not slowing down one bit by delivering some deliciously fierce blues riffs on his guitar. The evening brought on favorites the Funky Meters and headliner Kenny Wayne Shepherd.

Sonny Landreth kept the guitar driven blues going for day two, but that was unique for a day that featured a ton of vocal virtousity. Crowd favorites the Blind Boys of Alabama made a return to the mainstage at Long Beach - their first since 1993. It was obvious that the fans loved the boys. As they left the stage cheers and chants urged the group on for more. Such blues goodness would be a tough act to follow, but R&B legend Mavis Staples was up for the challenge. The characteristic and unmistakeble voice of Miss Staples charged the audience with energy. Rocking and a rolling, she finished her set with a sing-along rendition of the hit "I'll Take You There." Finally to close the show, was the indubitably suave and majestically smooth Bobby Womack. The holiday crowd danced with boundless energy as Mr. Womack crooned to them R&B favorites. A fitting ending for a fantastic festival, the thousands attending the show left fully satisfied.

With so much talent and an ever-growing and appreciative crowd, it's no doubt that Spider Ranch Productions is proud to be part of this unique event. As Spider Ranch owner and general manager Alex Moran puts it, "This is one hell of a show. It's a unique opportunity to work with some great musicians. There are some great new acts up there but there are also some legends that have been at this for several years. They're still playing at a top level and they're still a huge draw. We look forward to it every year and we feel priveledged to be involved."

A true fan of music, Alex takes pride in being able to produce live sound for such blues reknowned artists. "We want to make them sound as great as they are," he says. To do that, Spider Ranch built their sound reinforcement around two MacCauley Monarc MLA6 line arrays. Driving each line array were three Lab.gruppen PLM amplifiers. The set up surprised more than few people backstage. Many of the guest engineers shook their heads in disbelief that so much audio force was being driven by just six amplifiers.

Alex feels good about the results. "You know, they bring us back, so that's a vote of confidence. But for us, the real guage is the fan reaction. Few fans will say that the lighting was nice or the sound was good. Instead they talk about the artists and how great the music was. That's what it's all about. It's about making the artist look and sound fantastic. If we do that - and I really think we did - then we did a good job."
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