On saturday evening, August 15th, Big Brother & the Holding Company took the stage at Saint Paul's Riverfeast Festival. They came ready to rock and rock they did. Just prior to BBHC's arrival another, shall we say legendary act, Shawn Phillips, performed for the very appreciative crowd. He was in great voice, played a good mix of acoustic & electric tunes, and had the crowd buzzing about the performance.

But now it was time for BBHC. The band hit the stage running and didn't let up until they closed. They opened with Down On Me and Lisa Battle showed the crowd that she can belt out the blues with the best of them. From there the band went into Combination of the 2, I Need a Man To Love & Save Your Love. The crowd was fired up and the band had established a great rapport. Between songs band members talked to the crowd about the setting, the sound system (which was great) and the weather. It seems some band members remember Minnesota being a bit colder.

As the show went on, each member was introduced for their unique contributions to various songs. The appreciative crowd was a mixture of aging "children of the 60's," generation X'ers, and curious teens. During the set, the band played a good mix of old & new tunes as well as blending blues, rock and ballads. Each band member is obviously a master of his instrument and demonstrated their abilities throughout the evening.

Lisa Battle is not Janis Joplin nor is she pretending to be. Lisa is an excellent singer in her own right and has added a dimension that just enhances the sound. Of course the originals, Peter Albin (bass), Sam Andrew (guitar) and Dave Getz (drums) still can make amazing music. The "new guy", Tom Finch, did an incredible job on lead guitar and quickly became a crowd favorite. Perhaps the highlight of the show, however, was the patented Getz drum solo which led to some great psychedelic guitar work by Finch and Andrew and finally into Summertime and followed shortly thereafter by funked up versions of Baby It's You and Chain of Fools.

The show ended all too soon with Ball & Chain and an encore of Piece Of My Heart. Then it was on to Milwaukee to treat the folks in eastern Wisconsin to this great sound. This band has put together a winning combination and if they come to your town, by all means, get to the show. You won't be disappointed. I for one am hoping they get back to the twin cities real soon.

RiverFeast Set List
JW's BBHC Photo Gallery