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VENDORS.  There were perhaps 8-9 merchandise vendors scattered around.  I did manage to find one that said he was there last year and it was pretty bad. He frowned when I asked him.  Well.....this show has been in existence for  7 years now and this is all the vendors they have been able to acquire?  Uh uh uh.  Something wrong here.

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FOOD.  They only had a few food booths there and a lady informed me that there were several more last year.  Uh uh uh.  Something wrong here.  I went across the street to Lucky's in the AM and picked up donuts and coffee.  Around 1:30. I ran (no no no...I walked) over to Subway and picked up a sandwich and a salad.  Not bad, actually.

               

ENTERTAINMENT.  I think that the music was pretty good and much better than some of this rubbish we have had at other events.  This is a Blues Festival and the music was good.  However, most of the people never left their seats during the entire day except to....well, you know.

 

 

LONG HOURS.  Sales were sporadic throughout the day and the only times when sales came was when there was a break in the music.  Sometimes people entering the festival would buy and some exiting bought also.  We had a few mini-spurts and did manage to catch the fee the first day.  Not terrible.  Not good. though.  The crowd was very nice though, but I guess that $15 entrance fee killed any chance of a lot of them buying.

 

THE CHEAP SEATS.  What is this. Wrigley Field?  There were around 15-20 people sitting across the street watching the entertainment.  Also people sitting right outside the entrance. Are these suckas cheap or what?  They brought their chairs and sat there butts down for a good part of the day.

 

THE BIG SURPRISE.  The weather was nice much of the morning and into the afternoon. when it began clouding up and getting a little breezy.  At 4:50. we actually had a sudden downpour of rain.  Wow.  I have never seen it rain in this part of California in July.  Amazing. 

 

FARMER'S MARKET.  I guess they moved the weekly Farmer's Market over to Watkins in the next block from us.   I'm impressed.  That place was packed - 50 booths.  Alive!!!  Much more life there than what we had over in our booths at the Festival.  Highly recommend this Farmer's Market.  It's come a long ways over the years.  I bought some fruits there and some Kettle Korn, which I ate to keep me awake at times.

 

CLOSING UP.  I considered closing up at 6:40 when there were was virtually nobody around the booth area and the music was going to finish at 7:00.  I wondered if some of the people were going to walk by the area on the way out and maybe...welll.... like buy something?   At about 7:00 the fat lady sang (just a saying, okay) and the people stood up and began exiting, half of them with the chairs sticking to their butts.  Before they left, the police had to use crowbars to pry them off the people's backsides.  Anyways, ALL the people went out the other way.  So much for that idea. Shame on me....I should know better.  I already knew they wouldn't buy and I guess I was dreaming.  So many times I get taken in by this, but I just keep hoping.

 

SUNDAY.  Nice day weather-wise.  Some clouds in the sky, but okay.

 

THE CROWD.  May have been a few more people than Saturday, but couldn't really tell for sure.   Sales were extremely sluggish and I was saved by my sales of Michael Jackson T-shirts.  Unfortunately I only had one design and I didn't have XXL, which would have sold pretty good.  MJ certainly sang my tune.  People generally had the opinion that the press, etc., were picking on him and will never let this thing rest.  Sorry to say, look what he was accused of?  I have mixed reviews of him, but one thing for sure, he's one of the greatest two performers of all time.  A very versatile and entertaining dancer and singer despite the strange tendencies.

 

VENDORS.  On the most part, did rather so-so.  Not great.  I came up with a little profit, but not much.  If you have to travel more than 60 miles for this one, forget it, stay home.  I guess that one vendor did a one-day show and another one booked up at 1:00 and took his stuff.  Gone.  I looked at his booth, empty.  I don't blame him.  I thought about it several times and I kept asking myself 'why am I here?'  Anyhow, they had placed that guy in a back row which had poor traffic flow. 

 

MUSIC was pretty good and it certainly wasn't the Blues that made me depressed.  People enjoyed the performances and many sat around all day long.  But that's the problem; they never got up to check out the action in the vendor section.  I would be exagerrating if I said that 10 percent actually got off their tubs, looked around and checked us out. 

 

FOOD.  Not much to choose from in the food section.  Had my son run down to Togo's two blocks away and pick up some delicious sandwiches.  The Italian is my favorite. That held me until it was hasta-la-vista time.

 

VALUE OF THE SHOW.  Based on the number of people walking through the booths, etc., I would place a value of $75 on this event.  They've been doing it for seven years now and all they actually had were 8 vendors and that says a lot in itself.  I talked to 4 of them and 3 were new.  Not much else to do this weekend.  I did not care to do the Brentwood Cornfest.  $50 for electricity, $50 for city fees, hot weather, carnival hours, etc.  Uh uh.  No thank you.

 

PROMOTERS, ETC.  Gwendolyn was extremely nice and very pleasant to deal with.  I feel sorry that she only had a little more than a handful of vendors but this is a show that a lot of vendors would not do.     People really do not go there to buy and just want to pay their 15 samoles and listen to the tunes.  Nothing wrong with that.  Music was good.

 

WILL I BE BACK.  Conceivably.  Half my sales were MJ shirts, so I really have to ponder this one.  Maybe sell crowbars next year. This show is always just before our Oregon trip and it's nice to pick up some extra gas and food money right before.  We have previously stayed home this weekend and we have tried the Brentwood Scornfest in the past, but many things wrong with that one.  You think the $350 booth fee is high?  How about the $50 fee for a city permit?  Or how about the $75 for electricity.  If that doesn't get you, how about the long, hot hours?  Or how about the drive home on Vasco Road at night with the high beams of cars hitting you in the eyeballs?  How about the fact that sales are very low and they have a carnival going on and that pulls sales away.  If all that doesn't get you, how about the police going around threatening vendors with $3,000 fines if they don't stop selling at 6:00PM on Sunday.  I know you want to get everybody out of there, but isn't that a little bit over the line?  What are you going to do?  Bash them in the heads with your clubs and throw their stuff over the fence?  Uh uh uh.  

 

 "Uh hello, sir," said Officer Dombrowski while stuttering to the older Chinese guy selling his bamboo plants.  "Would you be so kind as to pack your things after you are done with these 20 people in line.  Please."

 

 
HISTORY: The Bay Area Blues Society will bring the Blues of Russell City
back to the public in the form of a festival, lectures and archival musical showings.  This is a historical event.  This little town of African-American's who migrated here from the deep south was one of the proving grounds for many blues musicians. Russell City, an unincorporated area of Hayward, California is about 12 minutes from the City of Oakland.  This community of modest houses and small farms along the bay is now gone.  During it's heyday, Russell City was a down home community, known for it's clubs with dirt floors, bootleg electricity and a steady stream of musicians playing a style of Delta Blues.