The 30th Annual San Francisco Blues Festival was one of the finest events in the history of the Festival, with near-flawless performances aided by warm, sunny skies, that resulted in a huge turnout of enthusiastic blues lovers who reveled in the atmosphere of the Golden Gate Bridge with its famous sailboat-studded blue bay.

The blues weekend opened with a huge, free harmonica blowout on the City's waterfront on midday Friday with explosive blues harp performances by James Harman, Johnny Dyer, Paul DeLay and Mark Hummel. Huey Lewis, a harp player in his own right, showed up and stuck around to see the entire concert. He later returned on Sunday to see the Steve Miller set.

Saturday's concert was a tightly packed set of contrasting styles that nicely reflected the many styles of blues... Howard Tate's performance was for many the weekend's high point. Introduced to the audience by Elvis Costello, Tate didn't disappoint as he sang through a set of incredibly inspired classic soul that has wowed audiences everywhere he has performed during the past year or so...Otis Taylor was equally dramatic for completely different reasons. His blend of one-chord blues aided by guitar feedback and other electronic blends, coupled by penetrating songs of life's misfortunes, totally captured the audience's imagination. He left the stage with the audience begging for more...Toni Lynn Washington's set swung. Her combination of blues and traditional R&B grooves proved a huge hit. Where has she been! She was a huge discovery for most... Jody Williams, in from Chicago, tore the place up with vintage Chicago blues guitar. Backed by the West Coast's vintage little big band - the Johnny Nocturne Band - Williams soared through a set of pure high octane guitar blues. Mid set, guitarist Williams brought on vocalist Ms. Dee, formerly of the Johnny Otis Band, for a surprise number that gave the set a pleasant fullness...Little Charlie and the Nightcats were easily the San Francisco crowd favorites. Their combination of tight jump blues and personable humor-shaded songs have made them one of the best contemporary blues ensembles of the modern era. Their musicianship has no equals!...New to Blues Festival audiences was Reverend Rabia who, backed by harmonica player Virgil Thrasher, gave a deeply inspired set of traditional acoustic blues with tributes to forgotten heroes like Memphis Minnie and Leadbelly. It also left the audience with a sense of the historical past, that blues is a basic folk form to be enjoyed...The MoFo Party Band opened the Saturday concert with a stunning tour de force performance reminiscent of the early Charles Ford Band. Up from the Fresno valley, where the group has long been favorites along the Highway 99 stretch, the MoFo's are primed for the big show... And best for last, ending the Saturday concert, was the hugely popular and soulfully dynamic vocalist-guitarist Robert Cray who has been a San Francisco favorite since the late 1970s. Cray's patented silky, deep soul ballads brought the house down as Tate before him had done. It was a one-two punch that perfectly ended the first full concert day in its memorable conclusion.

Sunday's schedule was set up for a full day's tribute to the legacy of Chicago blues...The Stars of Glory, an all-woman gospel vocal group from Richmond, California, opened the morning with a riveting, down-home set of vintage gospel that had the crowd on its feet at the start. What a way to start a day! ...Steve Freund's set of classic Chicago-inspired blues got the blues tone going right away for the then-growing crowd that would swell as the afternoon rolled on. Freund, who spent several decades performing in Chicago with many of the greats, including Sunnyland Slim, quickly established himself on Sunday as the master of the idiom that he has become....Big Time Sarah joined him for her own set and by then the concert was in full swing of traditional Chicago blues. Sarah was a new presence for the majority of the audience, who had not seen her perform in San Francisco previously and she quickly won their approval as she had the week before at the Monterey Jazz Festival... Robert Jr. Lockwood followed with a Delta-driven set of 12-string guitar blues that featured a tour de force "Stop Breaking Down." His presence gave the afternoon deep depth and just imagining 70-plus years of performing history was simply wondrous. What stories he could tell and did, including shutting down a CBS news cameraman who was "unauthorized" to videotape one of his performance moments!...James Cotton hit the stage blazing. Backed by a heavy-hitting ensemble of veteran players, Cotton wailed through the harp mic and all of a sudden it was like the late 50s all over again. Classic Cotton, masterful all the way with more deep presence on the stage that left the blues mindset reeling further into the wave of historical influence... Otis Rush was in top form also. Inspired would best describe it. Carlos Santana was there in spirit for Rush's set. He had sent over an autographed white Fender Strat as a gift to Rush, and Otis in return sent one back to Santana as well, with his signature. Otis played masterfully, and backed by Steve Freund, the two guitarists lit up the stage. This set would prove to be a joy by all accounts.

The last two hours of Sunday afternoon and early evening were dedicated to the much-anticipated 1960s Chicago reunion of Steve Miller, Charlie Musselwhite, Elvin Bishop, Barry Goldberg, Harvey Mandel and Nick Gravenites, along with vocalist Marcy Levy. The set took on a super-session feel at the start -- a super jam not unlike the glory days of the Fillmore Auditorium - where all had performed in the late 1960s. All had met in Chicago in the mid-1960s and had drifted west to San Francisco in the wake of the Butterfield Blues Band. Miller played superbly, with a deep feel for the music that has always inspired him. Joined by James Cotton, the two soared in their mutual respect for the music that brought them together. Muddy had to be on their minds. Elvin Bishop quickly showed why he has become such a crowd favorite and how truly he is one of the very best blues guitarists on the scene today. His opening number was nothing less than earth moving. They may have all met in Chicago way back, but make no mistake, this gathering was strictly a San Francisco affair. Nick Gravenites did "Born in Chicago" in memory of Paul Butterfield. Harvey Mandel then took over the spotlight with a driving set of instrumental pyrotechnics that had the crowd on its feet. Charlie Musselwhite was equally dazzling, lending deeper depth to the already-developing momentum of the reunion set that was beginning to feel like old times again. Barry Goldberg - a member of Musselwhite's first Chicago band and a key ingredient of the Electric Flag with Mike Bloomfield - soared on the B-3, lending a heavy line to the rhythmic beat of the late Sunday afternoon San Francisco super blues jam. This was, after all, a homecoming; a party; and no better way to bring it all home in a fitting ending of 30 years worth of San Francisco Blues Festivals. It may have been one of the best endings of all times, but there was no doubt it will be one of the most memorable.