On this Fourth of July weekend, POW MAGAZINE attended Portland, Oregon’s Waterfront Blues Festival for the very first time. The Blues is not POW’s regular music focus. However, in this instance POW MAGAZINE was invited to the Waterfront Blues Festival to provide media coverage of the Vintage Trouble Band. Vintage Trouble was scheduled to perform two shows, one on the main Beaverton Blues Stage and then in the Marriot Hotel Ballroom after hours venue. They also appeared at a meet and greet session at the Music Millennium tent where their devoted fans could meet them in person and purchase CD’s and LP’s and have them autographed. POW was able to interview the band before their performances- check out the full interview below:
POW MAGAZINE is proud to be able to bring the events and happenings at the prestigious Waterfront Blues Festival along with coverage of Vintage Trouble to its readership for the very first time! The Portland Waterfront Blues Festival is in it’s 32nd year and is the biggest Blues Festival west of the Mississippi River. Only Chicago is larger. The Waterfront Blues Festival has four stages, blues cruises on the Portland Spirit cruise ship and after hours venues at the Marriot Hotel Ballroom and The Hotel Rose Lounge. The Waterfront Blues Festival hosts over 90 acts that range from Rock, Soul, R & B, Zydeco, traditional Blues and Swing, Mardi Gras marching bands, a dance and performance troupe and a fireworks show over the Willamette River. In addition, there were special events such as the Harmonica Blow-off featuring Jim Belushi (yes, THAT Jim Belushi), Zydeco dance instructions between bands and the Journey to Memphis Competition to determine which Portland band would represent the region at the International Blues Challenge in Memphis, Tennessee. This year’s Blues Festival ran for four days from Thursday, July 4th through Sunday July 7th and hosted over 100,000 visitors. The Portland Waterfront Blues Festival’s main purpose is as a fundraiser to help fight hunger in Portland through the Portland Police Bureau and Sunshine Division. The Sunshine Division works to combat hunger and provides free food and clothing to those in need.
Vintage Trouble is a high energy Soul, R & B, Blues and Rock sound all rolled into one. They play all of the highest level festivals and concerts such as Glastonbury. They have been featured on the Austin City Limits television show and have appeared on all of the late night TV shows such as David Lettermen, Conan O’Brien, Jimmy Kimmel, and The Tonight Show. They have appeared on tour with such legendary bands as The Who, AC/DC, Lenny Kravitz, Bon Jovi and The Rolling Stones, to name a few. They have released three albums since the band’s inception in 2010. They are originally from the Los Angeles area. Vintage Trouble is Ty Taylor on lead vocals and trombone, Nalle Colt on lead guitar, Rick Barrio Dill on bass and Richard Danielson on drums. On stage they are electric and Ty Taylor whips the crowd into a frenzy. Their sound is driving and hard, yet blends Soul, R & B and Blues grooves and riffs into a hammering rythem that holds the listener tightly in the pocket. When Taylor begins to slither, grind and slide on stage the crowd becomes spellbound as if a Hooded Cobra were about to strike. He holds the crowd like a ball of putty in his had and cajoles and molds them to his liking. He has been described as “James Brown on steroids”. That’s putting it lightly. He’s more like James Brown on NAPALM! Volatile and explosive is more accurate. Of all the acts at this year’s blues festival, Vintage Trouble easily whipped the crowd into the biggest frenzy. You can see more of Vintage Trouble at their website: www.vintagetrouble.com.
Check out a video from their live show below:
The 32nd Annual Portland Waterfront Blues Festival put it all together for four days of every kind of Blues, Soul, R &B and Zydeco acts imaginable. Throw in a fire works show, blues cruises and late night after hour shows and you had an unbeatable package. But none of it would come together without the efforts of the stage crews, countless volunteers, vendors, donors, benefactors, corporate sponsors, entertainers, performers and most importantly the throngs of visitors who came to enjoy the music and support The Sunshine Division’s efforts to fight hunger in the Portland community.
POW MAGAZINE would like to thank the Waterfront Blues Festival for inviting our readers to experience a part of the Waterfront Blues Festival through photography, video and written coverage. POW MAGAZINE and our Managing Editor, Sheena Salazar would especially like to thank The Vintage Trouble Band and their management team for arranging for POW MAGAZINE to interview, video and provide photographic coverage of their shows. You can see more of the Waterfront Blues Festival at the website: www.waterfrontbluesfestival.com
Story, Photos and Videos contributed by: Kurt Johnson
See the entire photo gallery below:
