Mr. Sipp featuring Castro Coleman (aka: “The Mississippi Blues Child”) plays at Allentown's BLues, Brews & Barbecue festival July 23, 2022. (Craig Larimer)

I’d been looking forward to this year’s event since last year’s ended.

Allentown’s Blues Brews and Barbecue has become one of the best summer parties in the Lehigh Valley.

The combination of great music, refreshing beers and delicious grilled foods is a recipe for success from the get-go, but you also need plenty of hard work, prep, planning, and heavy lifting to make an event like this a winner.

The City of Allentown crew made it look easy. I know that it was not.

In fact, as the team of Mayor Matt Turek, and event managers Liz Martin and Maggie Walters introduced the closing/headline act at 8:30 p.m., they didn’t even let us see them sweat.

Saturday’s sunny and bright Hamilton Street festival was another smash hit. Here are the top moments from the weekend’s bash:

We arranged for drop-off and pick-up beforehand — so we could thoroughly enjoy the variety of tasty beers on hand at the festival.

It was hot. Really hot. The forecast called for temps in the high 90s. But I had a plan. I brought my 30-oz Yeti tumbler cooler with me to keep filled (alternately) with ice water, then beer, then ice water, then beer.

I had a plan to beat the heat at the Blues, Brews & Barbecue event. I brought my 30-oz Yeti tumbler cooler with me to keep filled (alternately) with ice water, then beer, then ice water, then beer. (Craig Larimer)

Worked like a charm. If you have one, I’d highly recommend using something like this over typical festival mugs — which offer helpful handles, but don’t insulate nearly as well as my magical little cooler.

I simply poured each 16 oz plastic cup of beer I purchased into the Yeti, and the contents remained cold until the last drop — which didn’t last very long in Saturday’s swelter.

Actually, a welcome and steady breeze swept through the downtown’s tall buildings and corridors the entire day — making for a very pleasant outdoor encounter. As long as you were seated in the shade, the afternoon’s atmosphere was quite nice.

We arrived at Sixth and Hamilton around 2:15 p.m. — just in time to catch the final 30 min or so of Craig Thatcher, Cliff Starkey, Pete Fluck and the gang doing their thing just outside of Bru Daddy’s.

Side note: We spotted Thatcher’s ensemble playing the night before along Main Street in Bethlehem. With a 15-hour turnaround between steamy gigs, clearly these pros know how to pace themselves. Saturday’s performance was on par with what you’d expect from one of the Lehigh Valley’s top guitar players. Solid.

Thatcher managed to slip in a little of Hendrix’s “Third Stone From the Sun” into his rendition of Santana’s “Black Magic Woman.” A clever little touch that made us smile.

Both the Haze Daddy New England IPA and the Hefeweizen (German wheat beer) were a perfect start to the day. Both were bright, light and refreshing.

We enjoyed a few of these selections throughout the day outside and inside the 732 Hamilton Street pub. We even decided — after a stroll up/down/around the festival — to chill down in the AC at the bar as we enjoyed round later in the day.

I really like this place. It’s got good energy, looks great, and the staff was welcoming, helpful and eager/quick to serve.

Mr. BBQ 911 prepares ribs at Blues, Brews and Barbecue festival along Hamilton Street in Allentown.

At around 3 p.m. I spotted the sign at Mr. BBQ 911′s stand which read: “You need no teeth to eat our beef!”

As I walked up to the food vendor, a friendly gent was gathering chicken and ribs from a row of massive coolers. He heard me playfully repeating his business’ slogan as I approached.

“Like the sign says,” he insisted. “You need no teeth. The meat just falls off the bone!”

I had to try this. I went with the combo platter: ribs, jerk chicken, burnt ends baked beans and cornbread. Certainly enough to share, but so delicious that stingy type would be forgiven.

The sign didn’t lie. The tender smoked meats were lightly pulled, pinched and nibbled away with only the slightest effort. Yum yum yum!

About a dozen napkins and two dozen lip smacks later, I was full. So good! Every toothless bite.

Bluesman Jose Ramirez’ best moments were when he hopped down in front of the stage with his guitar to play among the crowd. He even handed the picking duties over to a young man in the front row. Ramirez fingered the frets as the little guy strummed his heart out. (Craig Larimer)

As the Arts & Entertainment Editor, I made it my business to know who and when the featured acts were performing at BB&BBQ.

But I had not heard Dustin Douglas, Jose Ramirez, or Veronica Lewis play before. What a special surprise treat this was.

Each played with conviction, grit and fire.

Douglas’ rowdy guitar style was a little dirty, even — but in a really good way. I wish we had arrived to the stage earlier, to catch more of his show.

Ramirez’ best moments were when he hopped down in front of the bandstand with his guitar to play among the crowd. He even handed the picking duties over to a young man in the front row. Ramirez fingered the frets as the little guy strummed his heart out. It was a brilliant exchange.

Veronica Lewis won the afternoon with her mixture of keyboard-driven blues, stroll ragtime and beautiful melody-making vocals. Lewis’ soulful sound is a blend of Jerry Lee Lewis, Fiona Apple and Gwen Stefani. The combo works really well for the 19-year old from New Hampshire. We arrived as strangers and walked away as fans. I’m looking forward to catching her in the future.

Veronica Lewis won the afternoon at Allentown's Blues, Brews & Barbecue festival with her mixture of keyboard-driven blues, stroll ragtime and beautiful melondy-making vocals. (Craig Larimer)

Simply put, Mr. Sipp featuring Castro Coleman (aka: “The Mississippi Blues Child”) was sensational as the evening’s closing act at Air Products Plaza stage. Before the show began, we were teased by Coleman’s soundcheck riffs and noodlings as he and the band set up and tuned in.

Even during warm-up, I could tell that Allentown was gonna be in for one heck of a show.

The band was amazing. Every member. The drummer William West smashed the daylights out of his kit. He was tight, locked in and super powerful. Bass player Jeffrey Flanagan played with equal measure of smile and cool as he and West provided the spine for Mr. Sipp to mess around with.

Keyboard player Tee Burns provided concrete support, along with more than a few flashes and sparkles along with essential backing vocals and harmonies. It all worked so well.

Coleman was dazzling and is a true original blues machine. His distinctive style and voice reminded me of the best of BB King and Buddy Guy. He was unstoppable with his strong left hand, clean touch and incredible joy and energy.

He has the hardware to back it up. Coleman was the 2014 International Blues Challenge Winner and was named 2014 Gibson Best Guitarist. In 2015, he was Jackson Music Awards International Male Blues Artist, Blues Artist of the Year, and Entertainer of the year. And in 2018 he won the National Blues Artist of The Year award.

During his dazzling show, Coleman even took an extended detour with his wireless guitar as he strolled offstage and among the crowd for a bit of mingling, dancing and dozens of selfies. He made about 100 new friends as he mixed with audience for 10 minutes or more. It was a sweet, sincere, and special gesture. The hundreds of fans were touched by the affectionate display. Everyone loved it.

Coleman even tossed in a little Hendrix-esque sampling of “The Star-Spangled Banner” and a patriotic salute near the end of the band’s final song.

The rollicking performance was the perfect ending to a pretty perfect day.

Morning Call Arts & Entertainment Editor Craig Larimer can be reached at 610-778-7993 or at clarimer@mcall.com

Follow Craig on Twitter @cklarimer and Instagram @larimerc

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