The 2014 Raytown Arts and Music Festival

The music ranged from good to great, the art was nice to stunning, and the pulled pork was very, very tasty.  The crowd size was good considering this is the first time for this event, but not fantastic given that Brewer & Shipley are a fairly famous musical act.  As expected, at least half the crowd did not show untill it was close to time for Brewer and Shipley to perform. This was their loss, because the R & B acts that opened for them were about as good as it gets.

CJ Walker, AFU Feat & KC Kelsey. and Linda Shell and the Blues Thang were listed as separate acts, but in reality the separation was more a matter of about when they showed up to join on stage.  These people were smoking hot, some of the best rhythm and blues I have witnessed outside a stadium or large concert venue. I have paid good money to see big names who have not delivered as well as what we were served for free in Kenagy Park.

The second actual act was “Sharp Dressed Men” and they are best described as a ZZ Top cover band. They did a good job of covering ZZ Top and a little beyond. Their guitar work was solid. The sound was cranked up a little beyond what my already damaged hearing (from standing next to the speaker towers in the 60’s) could endure, so I did retreat away from right in front of the stage.

Brewer & Shipley closed the event and gave a polished performance.  The sound suffered a little from being outdoors and feedback problems that were cleared up fairly early.  The criticism may be a bit unfair, in that I recently saw them perform at Community Christian Church. It is always easier to set up sound indoors, especially when the auditorium has been designed for perfect acoustics by Frank Lloyd Wright.

The food trucks offered a nice variety of choices.  The pulled pork was very good and reasonably priced.

Here is a short look at the event with focus on the crowd. Short video clips of the musical acts and Marching Falcons are being edited and will be posted this week.