Do you know where I was in 1981? Not even in the plans, because my parents were not yet adults at that time. And Ireneusz Dudek, known mainly for his activities as Shakin’ Dudidecided to organize the first edition Rawa Blues Festival. Nobody probably thought then that such an initiative would last until 2024 and that we would celebrate it 42nd edition. The Katowice Spodek resounded with the sounds of blues from 11:00.
Initially, it happened on the side stage, located in the halls of the facility – after passing the food court and stands with books, vinyls and merch – where lesser-known bands fought for the opportunity to perform on the main stage, already located on the Spodek album. I was always positively surprised by how many people were interested in a de facto foretaste of the performances, but it cannot be denied – blues has a very universal, magnetic energy.
The duo opened the performances on the main stage at 3:10 p.m Boogie MamaThat is Natalia Abłamowicz on vocals and Dominik Abłamowicz on the keys. And it was a perfect opening – a show that if you have a good instrumentalist and a brilliant vocal, you don’t need anything else to be happy. It’s amazing how much talent can be hidden in very niche projects that will appeal to only a few people. Then they appeared on stage Stonage Full of Sunwinners of the side stage, whose concert was undoubtedly very surprising. Each member of the quartet seemed to be a completely different person, but it worked. Even though I felt more than blues in this post-grunge, I was very intrigued by the thought of where it would all go in the future.
It offered a completely different vibe JJ Band – a band led by a renowned blues guitarist, Jacek Jagus. Due to the great love of the music for Tadeusz Nalepa’s work, it was crowned with an album “JJ Band and Friends play songs by Tadeusz Nalepa”there were also covers of the founder’s work Breakout. I admit that as a person who – due to my origin – grew up with Nalepa’s music, I had real chills when I heard the reinterpretation “Rivers of Childhood”. Something beautiful. As wonderful as Grzegorz Kapołka quartetwho invited Roman “Pazur” Wojciechowski for a joint cover full of improvisation “It’s a Man’s, Man’s, Man’s World”.
The first foreign star to appear at the 42nd edition of Rawa Blues Festival 2024 was Canadian The Commoners. Although the host of the event, Jan Chojnacki, talked a lot about Americana and blues, I can’t help but feel that Canadians also loved guitar journeys. Jimmy Page. At 5 p.m. I had the impression that we had gone back in time to the 1970s, when hard rock guitar stars eagerly used the blues foundation to play something of their own.
It contrasted quite nicely with the lone performer after them Charlie Parr. The Austin, Minnesota native sat in a chair on stage with the appearance of being caught midway between sets. With only a resophonic guitar, he told his stories about life. He cared about the melody and rhythm, but what impressed me most was the amazing, pure vibrato with which he wonderfully accentuated emotions contained in his stories.
You could immediately feel who the star of the evening really was. During the 40th anniversary of Shakin’ Dudi’s artistic activity, the Spodek stage was definitely the most crowded. This is hardly surprising: for many people present at the concert, Ireneusz Dudek’s project is the music of youth. Many of them decided to come to the concert with their own children, giving them gifts blues legacy in its entire spectrum…
40th anniversary of activity? Given the energy the musicians showed, it would have been very easy to lie to everyone. Both Ireneusz Dudek and his instrumentalists are people invariably young in spirit. Shakin’ Dudi’s performance, starting at 7 p.m., quickly warmed up the audience to such an extent that it wasn’t particularly difficult to spot people who decided to make much bolder dance moves than rocking in place. I guess that the hearts of many were won by a very expressive saxophonist, Łukasz Sosna, who from time to time engaged in joint choreographies with Irek Dudek.
What about the music itself? Of course, there were also the greatest hits. The Spodek Hall was filled with singing during songs such as: “It’s 10:30”, “Ow sha la la la” or – especially – “Oh Ziuta”. They also appeared on stage Jan Borysewiczwho joined the musicians to play with them “Packaging”. The guest appearance might have seemed a bigger surprise Paulina Przybyszwho in turn joined Irek Dudek and his crew for two songs: – “It’s you, sweetie” and “I feel so good here” – creating an unforgettable, charmingly flirtatious vocal duo with him.
The Silesian blues legend, Maciej Radziejewski, who usually lives in the United States, also appeared and joined the band for “Guests Are Coming”. At some point, Krzysztof Głuch, a keyboardist and co-founder, also joined the musicians “Golden album” Shakin’ Dudi. And guess what? It was such a good concert, so full of pure positive energy, that after an hour it was easy to feel dissatisfied.
If it seemed that there was nothing left to collect after Shakin’ Dudi, he appeared on stage with his entourage Castro Colemanalso known as Mr. Sipp with yours Epiphone Casino. They made perfect use of the atmosphere created by their predecessors to hit just as hard. Besides, it was already known when they started the performance with the song “Let’s Have a Good Time”.
It was undoubtedly a good time – a very energetic performance, full of swings (those dances performed by Mr. Sipp with his bassist will remain in my memory for a long time). It was also blues definitely different from what we could hear during the performances of other musicians – very much influenced by the soul tradition, sometimes even funk, such as Funkadelic and Parliament. A huge plus is the artist’s excellent contact with the audience. At some point, anyway Mr. Sipp decided to go down to the audience to play a guitar solo among them.
Finishing their performances on the main stage Blood Brothers they played much less intensely. Mike Zito and Albert Castiglia they opted for a more relaxed version of blues rock. Although it must be admitted that songs such as “Hey Sweet Mama” they can instantly make you dance. Musicians collaborating with the legendary Joe Bonamassawho is a co-producer of their album, captivated us on stage with their chemistry and dialogue at the musical level. I just wonder why they left the strongest blow, the most full of crazy, unresisting energy, only for the encore. But this is really a minor gripe, as we have had to deal with blues musicians of the highest class.
It is extraordinary that the Rawa Blues Festival, after 42 years of activity, is still doing great and still attracting people. Although it’s easy to see more and more gray hairs, it’s hard not to appreciate how many people came here with their entire family. Moreover, there was no shortage of young people who were able to appear here from the grassroots. I noticed both people from Generation Z who stood out with their outfits, and young adults who were just as eager to look at the rap or metal vinyls at one of the stands as they were at blues. So what? Blues is still going strong, right?