Rock N Blues Fest Tickets

the entire show was great although sitting in the fourth row, it was a very loud so I moved to the back of the theatre.

I thought the show was good. It has been almost 40 years that I have seen some of these groups. The guitarist who accompianed the artists was amazing. It sought of brought you back to the Woodstock era. One problem is that people constantly took pictures with their cell phones and that was distracting.

Kim Simmonds had a short set. Could have stood more of him. Peter Rivera reminded me why Rare Earth was so cool in the day. Vanilla Fudge still kicking it. Carmine Appice, what a treat to see him again. But Edgar, Wow, who else can cut heads with a killer lead guitarist using only his vocal chords? Speaking of which the band was really tight. I've tried to look up members, to no avail. Guitarist was awesome and rhythm section was spot on. I may be getting old, but I'm so glad I got to know this music when music really mattered. And I'm glad I got to hear it live one more time. Sure missed Johnny though. RIP.

the show was very good ,they all played there hits and they did not mess around between bands,I wish Kim Simmons would have had more time he was great as always and just getting wormed up.

I have seen Johnny winter over 30 times the first being June 1, 1973 at Madison Square Garden. I missed him terribly being at this show. This show did him more than justice. Kim Simmons was disappointing . Never connected with the crowd and got a bit sarcastic about it. I was glad he was first and gone. Peter Rivera was next. Never realizing that the drummer was the singer for Rare Earth. He came out and looked like a business man and I thought uh-oh this is going to be a drag. The exact opposite happened. He sounded great, strong voice and great drumming chops. Got the crowd roaring, clapping and singing along with him, loved him. Vanilla Fudge was next and these guys delivered a set of music that was flawless, timeless and driving. Their harmonies were spot on and their musicianship was over the top. Mark's voice and keyboard playing was inspirational, Vince's voice and guitar playing were as moving as they were 47 years ago, and Carmine by far one of the greatest and influential drummers in Rock history played with the flair and style he always had and who knew he could sing so well. Flawless performance. Edgar Winter closed the show with a heartfelt and explosive set a music he dedicated to Johnny. He delivered and then delivered again and again and again. His band who had various member perform throughout the night with the other acts was phenomenal. The guitarist was inspirational, the bass player a virtuoso, drummer driving and the keyboard player was great! Go see this show!

Every act was fantastic. Edgar Winters band is great, the played with everyone and had an awesome sound. The tribute to Johnny at the end was amazing.

Show was good. There was a ground hum coming off guitar amps. All musicians were on and seemed to be enjoying evening and audience participation.

The acoustics in the Theater were terrible. The sound level was louder than any concert I have ever been to. We had to move our seats from the 10th row to the upper balcony. The bass was so loud in the lower level that it fell let someone was pounding on your chest. The upper level bass level was much less but the level of the music made it sound like noise. We were able to get some ear plugs which really helped. It seemed like the stage hand and the sound guy didn't know what they were doing. The concert was okay. Not worth the money. Edgar Winter was great.

It was an amazing show. Too bad it was such a small audience. A lot of people really missed out.

There was a melancholy mood to the crowd at Waukegan's Genesee Theatre prior to the start of the 2014 version of the Rock N Blues Fest Sunday night. Of course the obvious answer to why, was the sudden passing of the headliner of the show Johnny Winter. You had a feeling it would take a supreme effort from everyone in the show to bring the quality up to the standard that Johnny would want. The opinion of this observer is the artists hit a ball that would have cleared Waveland Ave. at Wrigley Field. There were a few negatives to start with. I think the Management of the Theatre made some critical mistakes before the show even started. The first item that was missed was the lack of advertising. There was very little advertising in the papers(No notice in the "Weekend Section" of the Daily Herald) The second item was a BIG lack of respect for Johnny was putting on the Marquee Johnny Winters Tribute with a added s to his name( The error was changed just before the show started) The lack of advertising was a big reason of a house about half full. I am sure quite a few people returned their tickets after Johnny's passing. The third item that was troubling was that no one filled in for Johnny, such as a special guest ( Buddy Guy comes first to my mind) for at least one song. I can't believe that there wasn't an artist willing to come up to Waukegan from Chicago to honor the man that patented the Slide Guitar to what it is today. Now on to the show. The show started right on time, which is very rare for Rock And Blues shows anywhere. Kim Simmonds of Savoy Brown came out and gave a rousing 1/2 hr. show with no encore(Which would be the rule for the night, even though the crowd called for one for every artist) I think the manager of the theatre had a hot date the way they pushed the artists through the show. Next was Peter Rivera of "Rare Earth" fame. The Lead singer and Drummer of one of the quinsential 70's rock bands. Again he played a Hard Driven 1/2 hr. set with all the biggest hits of the R.E. Catalog. He opened with "Big Brother" and galloped through the songs "Get Ready", Born to Wander, And finished with the huge hit "I Just Want To Celebrate" The interesting thing about the show was how they used the Bass player, and drummer and Rhythm Guitar player from the Kim Simmonds set.(More on this later) Next on the stage was one of the first Psychedelic bands of the 60's "Vanilla Fudge" Lead by Drumming Legend Carmine Appice, the band did a (surprise) - 1/2 hr. set that included their biggest hit "You Keep Me Hanging On" Closing the show was Johnnys younger Brother Edgar Winter. My first time seeing Edgar in years, was a Supreme Pleasure. The man was energized, anxious, and pumped to show that the people that bailed on the show that they made a HUGE mistake. Edgar's band was lead by an amazing guitar player who unfortunately, I didn't get his name. They did all the hits you would expect, "Free Ride", "Hangin Around", "Frankenstein", with great Vim & Vigor. The highlight for me was the "Outstanding Long Version of "Tobacco Road" As in all the other performances before them, there was no encore. I had never been to a concert with no encore. The crowd was stunned, and didn't want to leave. In closing, The show was excellent, but had a chance to be ALOT BETTER.

A great tribute to Johnny Winter, a must see show!

Love, love love Kim Symmonds - he was great - would have liked him to play longer; wasn't all that impressed with Peter Rivera or Vanilla Fudge but Edgar Winter is an amazing musician - awesome to see him and worthwhile enduring the 2 middle acts to see and hear him.

One or two original members of Savoy Brown, Rare Earth, Vanilla Fudge, and the full current Edgar Winter Band. Those old time rockers really put on a show and the back ups, which were the current members of the Edgar Winter Band, were terrific. They gave it their all. I want to give special Kudos to the Vanilla Fudge guys. They were very interesting, a little different from the rest, and very entertaining and musical. We also super liked the drummer for Rare Earth.

The tribute to Johnny Winter was a fantastic show! Loved every minute of it! Also love the intimacy of a smaller theatre and Genesee is so beautiful! Only thing that could've made it better would have been if Johnny Winter was there.....

This was a well worth it show to see. I can't believe how great all the musicians were, but the most exciting beside Edgar were the Vinilla Fudge. I get it now. I never knew how great this band was live. I turned to my friend during the show and told him I finally got it tonight, I finally understood why so many people in the past have told me how great this band is. Edgar was also amazing and I would highly recommend checking him out. It was a great tribute to my hero Johnny Wimter!

The first act (which I did not know much about) Kim Simmonds of Savoy Brown, played blues rock and performed a few cuts from his new solo album and then did one song from Savoy Brown. I was very impressed with his guitar playing. The second act was Peter Rivera (formerly of Rare Earth), who played the drums and sang a few of the hits from the Rare Earth days, Hey Big Brother, I Just Want to Celebrate among them and some guy in the crowd (probably drunk) yells something incoherent out in between songs. Third up was Vanilla Fudge, who performed a few songs from their 1967 debut album and performed "Shotgun" from a follow up. The last act of the night was Edgar Winter (younger brother of Johnny Winter, who recently passed away and was supposed to be the final performer). Edgar performed his signature hits "Frankenstein", "Free Ride" Tobacco Road" (a track he recorded with Johnny years ago), and he closed out his set with a few tracks from Johnny's career with and without Edgar. He is a fine performer in his own right. The show ran 2 hours and 40 minutes and I think I got my money's worth. Highly recommend everyone to check these guys out.

A waste of time and money except for the first act

Opening acts went on much too long and were mediocre. Where was the Tribute to Johnny Winter? They barely mentioned him until Edgar Winter came on. A few days before the concert I spoke with box office staff who assured me that all performers were going to do/say/play something special in his memory. Poor volume control on the bass. Felt like the filling in my teeth were going to vibrate out of my mouth. The announcer's voice was totally garbled. Edgar was his usual brilliant, but the wait for him was endless between the boring opening acts and the insanity going on in the seats next to us during the entire concert. Drunk, pot smoking, screaming unruly people in seats next to us on our left and the row in front of us. We spent too much money on those seats to have the evening ruined. Where was the Bergen PAC staff assuring that ALL paying customers were not bothered by unruly, pot SMOKING, screaming drunks!?!?Stick to MPAC. Better managed.

The entire Rock'n'Blues Fest show was fantastic. Kim Simmonds from Savoy Brown has a fluid blues rock style and a gorgeous tone. I very much enjoyed the three new songs he played. Peter Rivera is a rock solid drummer and has a great soul voice. The Rare Earth set was loads of fun. Their mix of Motown sound, with a hard rock edge is a nice blend and especially suited to rock out live. Vanilla Fudge's sound--booming and bombastic--is not exactly my cup of tea, but there's no denying the power of the heavy bottom end that double-bass master Carmine Appice lays down. The harmonies those guys sing, are an extreme and oddly welcome counterpoint to the otherwise heaviness of their music. Lastly, Edgar Winter is no less than a blues/rock g-d. I'm not sure if his vocal moves are considered scat signing but they were amazing and the guitarist he had playing with him--who also accompanied some of the other bands--played blues runs and licks that would have Clapton admiring him. Special mention should be made of the backing musicians--Edgar Winters' band--several of whom played with each artist. Particular note to the bassist, Koko Powell who did a phenomenal job supporting each band, quite a feat when considering the diverse musical styles represented.

Canned heat was fabulous, although the crowd was way too mellow and didn't give them the Kudos they deserved. I always enjoy Rick Derringer and have loved him since I was a teen, I also appreciated his reference to Jesus in Still Alive and Well, since as Christians we are to spread the Word and being a Christian does not mean we cannot Rock and Roll. Also, Pat Travers brought me back with Boom , Boom , Out go the Lights. I LOVED IT. My husband thought Edgar Winter was the best. It was great to see Ten Years After and the new lead was great, but no comparison to the late great Alvin Lee, especially on I'm goin' home. All in all, it was a great show and a wonderful way to spend a Wednesday evening. What a blast from the past and Rock and Roll and Jesus Christ are still alive and well !!!