Lucerne Blues Festival 2-11 November

I have been a bit remiss to inform readers of the excellent Lucerne Blues Festival which is taking place this week especially because my old friends Willie Walker & The Butanes led by guitarist Curt Obeda are on the bill.

I have just picked up the photos of a brunch where Willie and the Butanes performed yesterday courtesy of the festival organisers.

Willie & The Butanes

Curt Obeda

Willie & John Lindberg

Willie & The Butanes appear on the main concert bill on Friday 9th November and I will report back on the concert next week.

The festival is one of Europe's premier blues events:

The presenting of the "Keeping The Blues Alive“ Award by the American Blues Foundation to the Lucerne Blues Festival confirms the outstanding quality of the program. The 13th edition of the festival is going to bring again different varieties of Blues at highest level to Lucerne. Together with the top-class cast, the tribute concert for Johnny “Clyde” Copeland will cause a sensation.

Ko Ko Taylor

It is fantastic that Koko Taylor, the charismatic, undisputable queen of the Chicago Blues will perform in Lucerne. But this will only be one of many enthralling concerts. By now, Blues fans and journalists speak of the best Lucerne Blues festival of all times. From November 2-11, Lucerne will experience a varied firework of Blues, which only consists of highlights.

Sonny Rhodes

A unique experience will be the tribute to Johnny “Clyde” Copeland. This concert in honor of the Blues legend, who died 10 years ago, arose exclusively at the request of the Lucerne Festival organizers. The most successful Swiss Bluesman Philipp Fankhauser and the American Sonny Rhodes, who has played with Copeland for a long time, will celebrate the music of their deceased friend. The renowned CrossCut Label, which is well-known for its high claims of quality, will record the concert and publish it on CD.

A change in the line-up of Big Pete Pearson’s band pricks up your ears: The substitute for the impeded guitarist Johnny Rapp is no lesser than Bob Margolin, who is well-known and high appreciated for his earlier appearances in Lucerne. He is a further enrichment of the fantastic program.

After the big success of last year’s edition, the Blues Support Stage in the Casineum will be on the program again. Newer or still unknown bands have the possibility to present themselves to a competent audience. On Friday and Saturday a band will play in the Casineum at the Grand Casino Lucerne from 11.00 p.m. till 1.00 a.m. This year the bands are The Chargers and Blues NETTwork, who will convince the audience with the quality of their music. The “Blues at school” event in co-operation with the high school Reussbuehl still belongs to the supporting program: musicians of the festival will familiarize the students with a deep understanding of the Blues culture.

Billy Branch

As every year, the Lucerne Blues Festival will start with a free concert at the Adagio in the Hotel Flora Lucerne (Friday, November 2nd, starting at 8.00 p.m. with Billy Branch and The Sons Of Blues). For the festival opening concert at the Grand Casino Lucerne on Wednesday, November 7th, starting at 11.00 p.m., no entry fee has to be paid as well.

The ticket price for one concert evening is CHF 64.00, the festivalpass for all three concert evenings (Thursday, Friday and Saturday) costs CHF 135.00. The tickets can be ordered online on http://www.bluesfestival.ch/.