Gourmet Blues Concert Series presents Thornetta Davis, with Bill Magee
The demise of the 12-year-old AimLoan.com San Diego Blues Festival after its 2022 edition was a disappointment for anyone who values this vibrant American music style, which helped lay the foundation for jazz, rock, funk, hip-hop and more.
While no new festival has been launched here yet, some veteran area music devotees are now seeking to at least partially fill the void with this weekend’s launch of the Gourmet Blues Concert Series.
To be held once a month at Humphreys Backstage Live, the series kicks off Saturday with Detroit vocal dynamo Thornetta Davis and San Diego music mainstay Bill Magee. The use of “gourmet” in the title refers not just to the musical fare, but to the series’ music-and-dining ticket package, which includes the concert and a three-course, pre-show meal at the adjacent Humphreys Restaurant.
Detroit native Davis is equally skilled singing blues, jazz, soul and gospel. Rock fans may know her best for her soulful backing vocals on Bob Seger’s 1991 album, “The Fire Inside,” and on several Kid Rock releases. She was honored as her hometown’s “Queen of the Blues” by the Detroit Blues Society in 2014, followed by proclamations from the State of Michigan and the City of Detroit.
It’s a less than wild guess that she and her band will likely welcome escaping the frigid Motor City, if only for a weekend, to perform at the Gourmet Blues Concert series kick-off show. San Diegans should welcome the rare opportunity to hear her perform here.
The series is the brainchild of AimLoan.com founder/president Vince Kasperick, veteran area music promoter Rosalea Schiavone and Shauna Auguirre, the savvy director of entertainment at Humphreys Backstage Live. The lineup will showcase Grammy Award-winners and nominees, and artists who have won or been nominated for honors at the annual Blues Music Awards in Memphis.
The caliber of artists booked so far is more than promising.
The lineup includes Sugaray Rayford, Dec. 8; Mr. Sipp, who last Friday earned a Grammy nomination in the Best Traditional Blues Album category, Jan 13; fast-rising DK Harrell, Feb. 10; and John Primer (who is nominated in the same Grammy category as Sipp), March 9. If all goes well, the series will be extended well into the new year, and — perhaps — beyond.
7:30 p.m. Saturday. Humphreys Backstage Live, 2241 Shelter Island Drive, Shelter Island $65 (reserved seat) $140 (seating in first two rows, plus three-course dinner at Humphreys Restaurant). (619) 224-3577; halfmooninn.com
Kelsey Fogerty and her famous father, rock legend John Fogerty, are shown in concert. His band members include two of his sons, Shane and Tyler.
(Getty Images / Getty Images for Capitol Concerts)
John Fogerty
Rock & Roll Hall of Famer John Fogerty could have retired with his rich artistic legacy intact immediately after his band, Creedence Clearwater Revival, imploded in 1972.
Happily, the storied singer, songwriter and guitarist is still making music 51 years later. I have never heard him fail to ignite on stage when performing the songs that are synonymous with his name, with one exception in 1989. It came during a one-off AIDS benefit concert at Oakland Coliseum Stadium, where Fogerty — who did not have his own band at the time — was unevenly accompanied by the especially ill-suited Grateful Dead.
Fogerty’s recent concerts have averaged about 20 songs a night, with Creedence classics — including “Fortunate Son,” “Proud Mary” and “Born on the Bayou” — accounting for three-quarters of the set list.
His band teams two of his sons, Shane and Tyler, with their proud, 78-year-old dad happily commanding center stage. The presence of ace drummer Kenny Aronoff in the lineup is an added bonus.
8 p.m. Saturday. The Events Center at Harrah’s Resort SoCal, 777 Harrah’s Rincon Way, Valley Center. $134.50, plus service charges. harrahssocal.com
The San Diego-bound band Fuerza Regida is shown performing at the 2022 Suenos Music Festival in Chicago.
(Rob Grabowski / Rob Grabowski/invision/ap)
Fuerza Regida
What are the odds that in barely a month-and-a-half period, two leading Mexican corridos tumbados acts would perform separate concerts at San Diego’s North Island Credit Union Amphitheatre — after death threats from drug cartels led to the cancellation of their respective October concerts in Tijuana?
It’s an intriguing distinction shared by 2024 Grammy-nominee Peso Pluma (who played the sprawling venue on Sept. 30) and the brassy band Fuerza Regida, which will be at the same amphitheater on Wednesday (and whose recent single, “El Jefe,” teams the group with Shakira).
The controversy sparked by Fuerza Regida and Peso Pluma has little to do with their music, which draws from regional Mexican and more contemporary pop styles. Rather, it’s the lyrics to some of their songs praising Joaquín “El Chapo” Gúzman, the imprisoned founder of the Sinaloa drug cartel.
That praise, evidently, does not sit well with some rival cartel members.
8 p.m. Wednesday.
North Island Credit Union Amphitheatre, 2050 Entertainment Circle, Chula Vista. $67.20-$403.200, plus service charges. livenation.com
