Blues festival begins with first concert Saturday

Saturday afternoon the Bloomington Blues Festival kicked off at 4 p.m. with the first band, Gordan Bonham. The crowd, made up of frolicking young kids doing cartwheels, dancers, long-time blues fans and people out walking their dogs, collected around the stage in Bryan Park sitting on blankets and lawn chairs to listen to some local blues.\nThe Blues Festival was the first of a series of free events that are planned through the summer at Bryan Park.\n"(The City of Bloomington, Parks and Recreation) are now celebrating the 20th year of the summer series," said Community Events Coordinator Leslie Kaiser. "We really hope for the public to become aware of the series and all it has to offer." \nThe second band, The Nor-Tones began playing around 5 p.m. and shook things up a bit. Although the Nor-Tones are now a Bloomington-based band, they said they are used to playing unfamiliar cities. Singer Cathi Norton has been with the band for nearly 30 years and has toured the country. She said although they are used to playing out-of-state, recently playing Chicago Bluesfest, it was great to play for her hometown and all of her friends on such a beautiful day. \nAlong with being able to hear local music, one could also stop by the table set up by Bloomingfoods Market & Deli. Bloomingtonfoods Operations Manager Pete Kinne said they often set up tables to promote community events associated with the Bloomington Department of Parks and Recreation. Bloomingfoods presents natural food to the public in an accessible way. One could pick up a dinner at the booth, with options of shrimp and sausage jambalaya or vegetarian-friendly jerked tofu. Vegan cookies, banana bread, organic coffee and juices were also available. \nThe third band to take the stage was Code Blue. Within a few moments the presence and vocals of Bobbi Lancaster drew a crowd of dancers. The band was recently featured on the Live From Bloomington CD, but mainly played cover songs such as "Mustang Sally" and "Hound Dog." \nTwo concert-goers who often took stage on the dance floor were Sharon Stefanek and Steve Hedges. They said they had heard many of these bands before at Blues Night at the Vertigo Nightclub, and they came because of their love of blues music. \nThe two said the bands had great sound, short delays and the event seemed to be planned out well. \nThe event with a rhythm and blues band, The Dynamics. Bloomington is planning more events to come in the Performing Arts Series for the summer.\nFor more information on the upcoming Bloomington Performing Arts Series visit www.visitbloomington.com/att_cul_theat.html.