Riverfront Jazz Festival-Dallas
by Boney James fan on 9/5/22The Black Academy of Arts & Letters Complex - DallasFor the lineup, the ticket prices were good for a weekend pass. However, they’ve had five years to get it right. There were too many technical issues where they had to keep adjusting for different instruments and this was for every set on the main stage. It took 1 hour between each artist to set up for the next artist. They were 2 hours behind schedule on Saturday the 2nd day. We didn’t stay for the last artist (Cameo) on Saturday night. We heard the group didn’t go on stage until 12:00, when the last artists on each stage were originally scheduled for 8:45 every day. The ticket taker, on Saturday told us that Boney James wasn’t coming. I was so disappointed. What she probably meant was Bob James had to cancel, because we learned that Bob James couldn’t make it and Lee Ritenour replaced him. I didn’t figure this out until Sunday just before the Masters of Smooth went on and the MC announced that “Boney” was going to be the last act. I enjoyed Paul Taylor, Michael Lington, Incognito, and especially Avery Sunshine (whom I’ve never seen in concert.) on Saturday. My husband enjoyed Robert Goasper on Saturday as well as the other artists. The Masters of Smooth-Marion Meadows, Gerald Veasley, Alex Bugnon (wish he had a piano instead of keyboards.), Poogie Bell, and JJ Sansaverino were great on Sunday. Karen White was okay, but she only sang one song at the end their set. “Mr. Boney James” 😀 made it all worthwhile. He always puts on a great show. I love how he interacts with the audience. I wanted to make this an annual event for my husband and I, but with so many technical issues, I don’t know if we’ll return next year. I know the artists were disappointed with the technical issues, but they worked through it. The venue was cold, but we dressed warmer for Sunday’s shows. There were quite a few people complaining about how cold it was.