This year is Zoo Bar’s 40th Anniversary, adding extra special excitement to the annual Zoo Bar Festival (ZooFest) held on 14th Street between O and P Streets in Lincoln. The three-day festival features many blues artists that are well familiar with Zoo Bar and its 40-year history. Many positive memories and statements of the bar were shared by various performing artists throughout all of ZooFest. As Tinsley Ellis (pictured above) said: “Ain’t nothin like the Zoo Bar!”

ZooFest features primarily blues artists–in traditional Zoo Bar fashion–but the festival does not stay confined to any walls of any specific genre. ‘Blues’ as a music form is a foundational one for American music and the festival did a good job bringing in acts that were connected to and influenced by blues music but not necessarily described as blues music. Rock, rock and roll,  country, jam/funk rock, rockabilly, jazz and hip-hop are some of the types of music that were represented at ZooFest.

For a portion of the festival days, a large portion of the audience is of a certain demographic, but  seemingly, as the nights went on, the crowd diversified. ZooFest brought in artists that would attract a wide audience. Acts at the end of each night seemed to reach out to a younger crowd, such as Universe Contest on Thursday, Self-Righteous Brothers on Saturday, and Sidewalk Chalk on Saturday night.

ZooFest Day 1, Thursday, July 4, 2013: I wasn’t there and I wish I had been. Universe Contest played in American-flag-printed male thongs and I missed the show.
Day 1 Lineup:
1:00 PM: Lloyd McCarter
3:00 PM: James Harman & The 44’s
5:00 PM: John Primer
7:00 PM: Terrance Simien & The Zydeco Experience
9:00 PM: Josh Hoyer & The Shadowboxers
11:00 PM: Universe Contest

ZooFest Day 2, Friday, July 5, 2013:
Band 1: Mezcal Bros
This local band was upbeat, light-hearted, and blues fused with snappy, fast rock. The Mezcal Bros’ music was certainly toe-tapping. Between the pace of the music and the enthusiasm of the band, this set was a fun one to watch, listen and/or dance to.

Band 2: Tinsley Ellis
This solid three-man band slowed down the pace and emitted a more classic, hearty blues sound through downtown Lincoln. Their music was soulful and sexy. The Atlanta-based band was chatty with the crowd and told them to come see them next time they perform at Zoo Bar. After seeing this performance, I know I will.

Band 3: Junior Brown
Rather than toe-tapping, the music from this Texas- based act was foot-bouncing and overwhelmingly quick. The music was of the country persuasion and was certainly was an adjustment from the prior, but get comfortable and this band is nothing but loveable. This band was a crowd-pleaser as Junior Brown himself is a quick-witted, good-humored personality which shines through in his performance and interaction with the crowd as well as through some of his comedic lyrics.

Band 4: The Paladins
Things pleasantly shifted again when The Paladins played their rockabilly sound with heart, soul and sweat.

Band 5: The Self-Righteous Brothers
These guys were just…bad-ass. The band consists of seven guys, and although they’re not exactly young guys, they possessed a large and endless amount of spirit, energy and all-around good vibes. It was obvious everyone on stage was in their element and in true enjoyment. In turn, the audience loved them right back. “Mister Righteous” and “Sonny Righteous” took half of their three piece suits off, and somewhat openly drank beer and took puffs of cigarettes during the show. You could say that the act was more on the wild side in comparison to other acts on Friday and it was also by far the most fun and lively. It would have been silly for ZooFest to choose not to close with this band on Friday.

ZooFest Day 3, Saturday July 6th:
Band 1: Freakabout!

Band 2: Tijuana Gigolos

Band 3: Walter Trout

Band 4: Dave Alvin and The Guilty Ones

In my opinion, ZooFest saved the best of the festival for last–that being both The Dirty Dozen Brass Band and Sidewalk Chalk.

Band 5: The Dirty Dozen Brass Band
The Dirty Dozen Brass Band is one of the particularly hyped bands of ZooFest. Dirty Dozen formed in 1977 in New Orleans. The band is brassy and it is dirty. So many of the bands at ZooFest roused and interacted with the audience, but Dirty Dozen might take the cake. A couple of times during songs, the band invited and pulled up random female members from the audience to join them on stage, dance and have a good time. The band knew how to have a good time, perform well and put on a great show. They produced a smooth, upbeat, jazzy and bluesy sound perfect for dancing to, and dance people did.

Band 6: Sidewalk Chalk
Sidewalk Chalk is an extremely talented and fairly young eight-person group from Chicago featuring brass instruments, soulful female vocals, rapping, and even tap dancing. This jazz/soul/hip-hop group is a cannot-miss act. Sidewalk Chalk has performed at Zoo Bar in the past and continue to return (August 15 at Zoo Bar, in fact) because Lincoln gives them a massively positive response and good turn out at each show they play. This includes the show at ZooFest on Saturday. The MC, Rico Sisney, told the audience more than once during the show how much he loves Lincoln and how much the band loves playing here.