AUSTIN, Texas -- The sixth annual Fabulous Thunderbirds Riverfest turned out to be a summit meeting of some of America's finest guitarists.
The daylong event, despite intermittent downpours, brought a series of magnificent performances by the likes of Doug Sahm, Bonnie Raitt, Carlos Santana, Joe Walsh, Jimmie and Stevie Ray Vaughan, bringing the crowd of diehard Texas rock 'n' rollers to their feet time and time again.
Unexpected combinations of musicians and inspired jams were the order of the day.
Carlos Santana joined the Neville Brothers for an inspired set, then later jammed with the Thunderbirds in a spectacular session. Bonnie Raitt added her slide guitar to Joe Walsh's wall of guitar sound.
Santana, the Neville Brothers, Raitt and Walsh all joined the brothers Vaughan for an awesome show-closing jam session.
The event, which began in a much more modest fashion in 1982, has reached magical proportions as it has evolved into one of the most-anticipated celebrations in this music-loving city.
Joe Walsh arrived earlier in the week and was the host of a daily radio slot on festival sponsor WLBJ, using his offbeat sense of humor to great effect. The night before the concert the Neptunes and Bill Carter and the Blame warmed up for the Riverfest at clubs on opposite sides of town.
The Neptunes kicked things off at Riverfest with a blistering set that climaxed with the no-holds-barred numbers 'Nocturnal Habit' and 'Johnny Speaks Spanish and He Carries a Gun.'
On 'Johnny,' guitarist Jake Flack threw himself down and writhed around the stage while playing a fierce solo, and keyboardist Pete Gordon climbed on his piano and began slamming away at the keys Jerry Lee Lewis style.
The Neptunes, one of the town's younger bands, represent the vitality and drive that has been a hallmark of Austin rock over the years.
The man who's been there through it all, Doug Sahm, was up next with a set that provided a little thumbnail history of Texas music, from the blues of T-Bone Walker and Jimmy Reed to the Tex-Mex sounds of '96 Tears,' 'Wooly Bully' 'La Bamba' and his own 'She's About a Mover.'
Sahm made numerous references during his set to the stars of the Texas rock 'n' roll scene over the past 20 years, evoking Roky Erickson and the 13th Floor Elevators at one point to the delight of the cognescenti in the crowd.
'All the lovable madness that went down then, now it's normalcy,' said Sahm.
Raitt followed Sahm with a great set spiced by her sparkling slide guitar work. 'The blues is alive and well in Austin, Texas,' said Raitt, who proved the point with covers of Sippie Wallace's 'You Can Make Me Do What You Want Me To' and the traditional 'Walking Blues.'
The crowd was into the swing of things despite the bad weather, dancing around in the mud and rain in front of the stage and parking in a variety of boats behind the stage on the Colorado river.
As the afternoon progressed things got hotter -- the Neville Brothers had the whole place dancing to their irresistible New Orleans funk, even the musicians, who crowded around the stage and urged them on.
When Santana joined the Nevilles onstage and eased one of his lyrical guitar solos into the mix the excitement level jumped another notch.
Walsh followed with a tour de force performance covering two decades of hits, a moving instrumental version of 'The Star Spangled Banner' a la Jimi Hendrix, and a set-closing jam with Raitt on the Freddy King classic 'Going Down.'
After a brief instrumental set from Santana, the Thunderbirds took the stage and pounded out a tough-edged set of Texas blues and r&b. By the time they started playing 'Tuff Enuff' Stevie Ray Vaughan was onstage with his older brother's band whipping his characteristic lightning leads into the night air.
Santana joined in, then Raitt, and finally, on Little Milton's 'I Feel So Bad,' Walsh stepped into the fray and the crowd of guitarists built an interlace of surging leads, the likes of which hasn't been heard since the 'Layla' album.
The T Birds ended the night with one final whoop of celebration, a foot-stomping rendition of 'The Crawl.' It was a day to remember, proof that great musicians can still exercise enough control over their surroundings to do things right.
