Weekend was the best Bluesfest yet

Published: Sunday, July 13, 2008

A sea of music fans, young and old, gathered at Windsor's Riverfront Plaza this weekend for Windsor's annual Bluesfest.

"It's great to kick back, listen to the music and relax," said Kelly Briffa, his toes tapping to the music. "They bring in some pretty good acts as far as blues goes."

Many in the crowd raved that the festival is a summer highlight they take in each year. Others, like Angela DeRose, were experiencing Bluesfest for the first time.

"This is a really nice venue," she said. "There are a variety of different types of people here just having a good time."
DeRose came to Bluesfest to hear songstress Ana Popovic, who performed Saturday night.

"I love the way she handles the guitar. She is spunky," DeRose said. "I heard good things about her, and I'm really enjoying it."

Bluesfest celebrated its 14th year and "totally rocked," said organizer Ted Boomer.

He said Popovic "just tore it up" and was a highlight of the three-day event.

The first annual Bluesfest Idol contest was also a crowd pleaser, Boomer said. Alysia Therrien, a 19-year-old University of Windsor drama student was crowned the first-ever idol, but other finalists who performed Sunday night also had people on their feet, dancing and singing along, Boomer said.

Sunday night acts also included  Steve Burnside and the Marquis,  Eric Sardinas and Jeff Healey's Blues Band, which played a tribute to the late band leader.

"It was a huge success. The crowd went nuts," Boomer said. "We had over 30,000 people come over the weekend. I think we even had more people here than last year."

"This is the biggest crowd I've ever seen here in all the years I've been here," said Steve Taylor of Kingsville. "You can see blues appeals to everyone when you look at this crowd."

Taylor and his wife Marie were at the festival to see Saturday night headliner David Wilcox. The two were hoping he would play some of his older tunes, like That Hypnotizing Boogie.

"I remember going to see him play in bars in Toronto back before we were married," said Marie Taylor. "It's been about 27 years since I last saw him play."