San Francisco Blues Festival 2008

The Mannish Boys returned the San Francisco Blues Festival for the first time since 2004, and as usual, brought along a few surprises – but more on that later.  The Mannish Boys core band is as strong as ever, with a hard driving rhythm section of Richard Innes and returning bass player Ronnie James Weber (who appeared on their debut CD but hasn’t toured with them regularly until recently), and a powerful triple guitar line-up featuring Kid Ramos, Kirk “Eli” Fletcher, and Frank “Paris Slim” Goldwasser.  Long-time frontman Finis Tasby continues to handle much of the vocal work, but now is joined by an equally talented and dynamic vocalist in Bobby Jones; each seems to benefit from the presence of the other, and it’s easy to imagine a little bit of good natured rivalry and oneupsmanship, with the audience as the ultimate beneficiary. As always, MC/harp player/vocalist Randy Chortkoff holds the show together and keeps things moving with spoken introductions and transitions, creating a near-seamless revue which spotlights each featured artist, assuring that everyone has enough time to strut their stuff. 

The Mannish Boys closed out the second day of the festival, under sunny skies and near perfect weather at Fort Mason.  Each of the three guitarists took turns leading the band, meshing seamlessly with each other, and inspiring each other to greater heights with each solo; neither Ramos nor Fletcher sing, but Goldwasser took a turn at the mic and had the crowd rocking with a driving down home blues.  Bobby Jones then took over on vocals, and had the crowd on its feet with his powerhouse vocals, as well as a dynamic stage show, which at one point had him lying down at the lip of the stage and singing directly to those up front in the audience.  Finis Tasby then took to the stage and proved again why he’s considered by many to be one of the greatest living blues singers, as he effortlessly led the band through a blues tour that ranged from deep down Mississippi delta blues through uptown West Coast sounds. 

Then it was time for the special guests.  Singer/guitarist Mike Zito joined in on guitar for the end of Tasby’s performance and contributed some incendiary blues guitar soloing; it’s a credit to the level of musicianship assembled onstage that with no fewer than four world-class guitarists all on stage at once, each player found his own space within the music, and created a whole that was bigger than the sum of the parts.  After this, the Mannish Boys cleared the stage and Zito brought out his own drummer and bassist, and this trio took the music in an entirely different direction with one of his soulful originals, a Hendrix-y excursion that felt just right at that time and place. 

Then it was time for another change of pace, as the Mannish Boys rhythm section and guitarist Kirk Fletcher returned to the stage to back up Bay Area favorite Elvin Bishop, who was joined by his trombone player Ed Early, and briefly, also by his dog “Spotty”.  Bishop performed several songs from his new Delta Groove release, and proved why he’s such an audience favorite; his casual, good ol’ boy rapport with the crowd, coupled with the deeply bluesy guitar licks he cranks out with such apparent ease, made his brief guest set seem much too short.  But the surprises weren’t over quite yet; at the end of his set, Bishop called up the dynamic young singer/harp player John Nemeth, who guests on Bishop’s new CD, along with Finis Tasby and Bobby Jones, for a rousing version of “The Night Time Is The Right Time”, to close things out the set and the day’s festivities on just the right note.

In all, it was another resounding success for The Mannish Boys and crew, and another great day for the San Francisco Blues Festival.