B.B. King and Etta James kept it traditional, but Los Lobos and G. Love added new flavors to this year’s Doheny Blues Festival.
By CHRIS NIXON
Special to The Orange County Register
"Just throw your hands in the air, and wave 'em like you just don't care." It's a well-worn refrain heard at rap shows from coast to coast. Standard practice, really.
Take a closer look at the events unfolding in Dana Point on Saturday. The band: G. Love & Special Sauce. The locale: The Doheny Blues Festival.
Sporting a '70s wide-lapel lemon-yellow suit, lead singer Garrett Dutton strutted across the stage with hip-hop bravado while spitting rhymes in his thick Philly accent. In contrast, he also picked crunchy blues riffs and blew a mean harp (strapped around his neck John Lee Hooker-style).
G. Love & Special Sauce's performance at the 9th annual Doheny Blues Festival implied a sea change in the seaside festival's focus and scope, drawing the youngest crowd of the weekend.
Born on back porches in rural America, the blues has never shied away from embracing trends. Electric guitars, rock, funk and soul all have extended the genre's possibilities.
Event organizer Omega Entertainment knows this and Doheny 2006 reflected it, moving from strictly traditional blues to happy co-mingling with modern influences.
Blending new subgenres with time-tested favorites, this year's festival embraced both the blues and its musical progeny. G. Love's Saturday show provided the most obvious evidence, but other bands appeared willing to bust out of the 12-bar blues formula during the two-day fest at picturesque Doheny State Beach in Dana Point.
SoCal stalwarts Los Lobos brought some East L.A. flavor to the proceedings, tipping their collective caps to Long Beach's Brad Nowell with a cover of Sublime's mellow reggae tune "Pawn Shop."
David Hidalgo and the boys kept true to their Latino roots, busting a bit of cumbia in their Saturday set on the main stage.
Meanwhile, on the tiny Backporch Stage, James Hunter and his six-piece band blended soulful ska, '50s rockabilly and old-school R&B. With shows on both Saturday and Sunday, the English crooner turned in impressive performances with his great pipes and spot-on band.
Oakland's longtime funk and soul maestros Tower of Power dragged the definition of blues back to the era of disco balls and Studio 54. Ripping, chunky guitar riffs by Trey Stone (George Clinton, Bootsy Collins), David Garibaldi's quintessential funk drum lines and the soulful vocals of Larry Braggs gave new life to the band's classic tunes, like "What Is Hip?" and "Knock Yourself Out."
As the wind kicked up and the skies darkened on Sunday, John Hiatt - with his strummy roots-rock and country twang - jammed with the North Mississippi Allstars on the Renaissance Stage.
Blues originators also graced the bill, with Etta James headlining Saturday's festivities and the Chairman of the Blues, B.B. King, holding court on Sunday evening. King is celebrating his 80th birthday this year by doing what he does best: hitting the road and spreading the gospel of the blues. King - who won his 14th Grammy this year for his album "80" - closed out the festival Sunday with his trademark style.
As is tradition at King's shows, his veteran backing band warmed up the crowd with a couple of jams. Before B.B. (for "Blues Boy," a nickname he garnered as a youth in Memphis) picked up his beloved Lucille (his patented Gibson guitar), Dana Point Mayor Lara Anderson proclaimed May 21 as "B.B. King Day."
Though seated throughout most of his set, the entertainer showed why he's called "King of the Blues." The crowd adored him as he told stories and ran through a set of his signature tunes.
James - known for her ballad "At Last" and the R&B classic "Tell Mama," among many others - looked svelte and sexy during her smoking 90-minute set.
The singer is fresh off losing 200 pounds after stomach-stapling surgery. She seemed to enjoy her new frame by literally bumping and grinding through a selection of her songs and a couple of covers (Rev. Al Green's "Love and Happiness" and Otis Redding's "Hard to Handle").
As James danced with her young grandson onstage Saturday night, the 68-year-old singer seemed to make a point: The blues must respect its past while embracing rock, soul, funk and even hip-hop to ensure its future.
Even if it involves waving your hands in the air.
Chris Nixon is a music writer based in San Diego.
