Buddy Guy opens Harvest Jazz and Blues Festival

21st year of Fredericton’s popular Harvest Jazz and Blues Festival kicks off with renowned blues musician Buddy Guy

The music was hot in the Budweiser Blues Tent with 75 year old blues guitarist and singer Buddy Guy.

Blues fans in wheelchairs will have to content themselves with hearing the artists since there was no place they could actually see the stage or artists.

The Festival organizers ignored the need to accommodate anyone in a wheelchair or people who couldn’t stand for two hours. We got to stare at the backs and butts of the crowd who filled the Festival tent.

Buddy Guy has been known for blistering fast guitar runs and he wasn’t slowing down last night as he ripped into “74 Years Young”

Hoochie Coochie Man performed life by Buddy Guy in 2010

Buddy Guy is a great example that the best in life is not just for the young.  For a man who spent his life perfecting speedy guitar playing, he showed last night that getting the groove is more important.

Sure he blazed through Hoochie Coochie Man but his real strength was getting inside the groove of his material. We were definitely hearing a blues great last night. To prove he had control, he stopped the audience in their tracks without losing a beat.

Garrett Mason and Keith Hallett

Opening for Buddy Guy were the Maritime boys Garrett Mason and Keith Hallett.

Garrett Mason is the son of Dutch Mason and has being playing the blues for decades. He actually played on the stage with Dutch Mason in his later years.

Mason is an accomplished blues guitarist. The crowd was smaller for the opening act and we could see their performance.

Garrett Mason on Diddly Diddly Daddy

Also on guitar and singing with a howl and growl was boy wonder Keith Hallett. Hallett is an accomplished slide player among other things. Some may not favor his mannered singing but I found him entertaining.

Keith Hallett – Preaching the Blues

The videos are from YouTube. There was no way to record last night since I couldn’t see and security was picking on people with obvious video cameras.

Accessibility is the law and good business

It’s 2011 and accessibility is not rocket science. People with disabilities deserve access to public places like everyone else.

All the concerts at Magnetic Hill in Moncton, NB have accessible features like bathrooms and an elevated viewing stand so people who can’t stand can enjoy the concert too.

Concerts in Halifax, NS are accessible. The Dutch Mason Blues Festival in Truro, NS is accessible.

I emailed the folks at Harvest and they confirmed that the main tent was accessible. So how does it end up not accessible?

A quadriplegic in a wheelchair last night gave up when the crowd encircled him. Even tightly parked next to the bleachers I was getting kicked, jostled and tripped over. And I couldn’t see much.

Strictly from a commercial point-of-view the organizers are discouraging their audience from attending.

16% of the population is disabled and by age 65 that jumps to 42%. Most of the people last night were aging boomers pushing into that time. I saw a few wheelchairs but lots of people walking with canes.

In the US, no one would put on a festival without accessible features. You can’t do it in Nova Scotia or PEI and I’m sure it’s the law in NB as well.

Try checking out services for people with disabilities on the Harvest Blues website. They aren’t even listed.

I wrote the Festival organizers today leaving my phone number for their comment. If they reply, I’ll post it.

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