“I know St. Louis knows about the blues,” guitarist and vocalist Lil Ray Neal professed to the crowd before playing a riff instantly identifiable to the musical style.
The crowd that gathered under the Eads Bridge last Friday for the kickoff of the weekly concert series Blues at the Arch didn’t need any further prompting or explanation – they erupted with applause and shouts to co-sign Neal’s remarks, and his impressive skills familiar to most journeymen blues musicians.
Understated in his performance style, Neal let the music speak for itself. He and his band did right by the genre with a set of songs that made effective use of the chord progressions and wailing vocals that all walks of life have managed to connect with in the century since the sound laid the foundation for all future forms of American music – from jazz, country, rock, R&B and even hip-hop.
Before Neal’s set, local blues legend Big George Brock served as yet another reminder that St. Louis and the blues have gone hand-in-hand since the very beginning, thanks to the 1914 W.C. Handy classic “St. Louis Blues.” The song forever merged the city with the music, but the city also created a signature sound for itself along the way.
The concert series, which takes place every Friday in August, local blues veterans are paired with national acts. The concert series is a collaboration between the National Blues Museum and The Gateway Arch Park Foundation.
“Last year’s inaugural Blues at the Arch was a huge success,” said Dion Brown, executive director of the National Blues Museum. “We are excited to work with Gateway Arch Park Foundation again to bring this concert series back which joins two things that St. Louis is known for: blues music and the Gateway Arch.”
Blues at the Arch is the first concert series to take place in the newly renovated Arch grounds, part of the $380 million CityArchRiver project to renovate the national park and surrounding area in downtown St. Louis as a connected, inviting and exciting urban destination.
The show takes place in the North Gateway, which is at the north end of the park, near Laclede’s Landing.
“We are incredibly thankful for the success of last year’s Blues at the Arch and excited to bring it back with the National Blues Museum,” said Ryan McClure, director of communications for Gateway Arch Park Foundation. “This year, the concert series will be in the North Gateway, which is a perfect setting for this type of event with its natural amphitheater. We believe people are going to fall in love with watching concerts in this venue just like they have in other parts of the Arch park area.”
Green McDonough Band, Joe Metzka, and Mark “Muleman” Massey are the featured entertainment for August 18. The series will close out with Marquise Knox and Dexter Allen on August 25.
Blues at the Arch Concert Series takes place at 6 p.m. each Friday in August at the North Gateway area of the grounds just under the Eads Bridge near Laclede’s Landing. For more information about Blues at the Arch, visit www.bluesatthearch.com.
