Bands, Brews & BBQ entertains McHenry crowd

Pat and Wanda Corbley spent the weekend at the McHenry Bands, Brews & BBQ festival and they’ve attended the festival, with its former name, every year since it began.

Sitting under the canopy Sunday, they said they weren’t sitting in their usual spot, having arrived a little later in the day, but they still wanted to get there in time to see Kevin Purcell and the Nightburners, who took the stage at 2 p.m.

Kevin Purcell and the Nightburners is among the festival’s most popular bands, and a lot of attendees mentioned the band when asked what their favorites were.

“Kevin Purcell always knocks it out of the park,” attendee Sherri Messina said.

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The Wall of Denial Band entertains Sunday, Aug. 20, 2023, during the final day of Bands, Brews, and BBQ at McHenry’s Petersen Park. The three-day event was hosted by the McHenry Area Rotary Club and 100% of the proceeds will go to charities, such as Kids in Need McHenry County and McHenry Riverwalk Shoppes, among others. (Patrick Kunzer for Shaw Local)

The Blues, Brews & BBQ festival in McHenry has been going on for 12 years as a fundraiser for the McHenry Rotary Club, said event co-chairman Don Tonyan, but the festival changed its name to Bands, Brews & BBQ.

“We look forward to the barbecue. Can’t wait to come back next year.”

—  Gary Mertz, festival attendee

Tonyan said organizers wanted to attract bands that appeal to listeners of all different kinds of genres, and so they renamed the festival to reflect that.

While the festival has focused on blues historically, the Corbleys observed the lineup representing many genres last year.

“We noticed last year they were shifting away from blues,” Wanda Corbley said. “The name was still the same, so we were caught off guard.”

Attendee Sherri Messina, who sat in a lawn chair close to the stage, also observed a change in genre, saying she liked the blues.

“This should stay our day for blues,” Messina said.

Diana Mark, who is the event’s chairperson for music, said the gathering began as a blues festival because other events in the area, like the McHenry Fiesta Days, represented a variety of genres.

Sunday was relatively quiet at the festival, which organizers attributed to the heat in the area Sunday. Heat indexes Sunday climbed to 100 degrees in the afternoon, according to a social media post from the National Weather Service.

“I’ve been chasing ice because we ran out,” co-chairman Denis Buch said.

Many attendees who braved the heat said they were taking extra precautions, like drinking extra water.

One attendee who sat close to the stage was undeterred by the heat, having seen live music in Austin, Texas, when it was hotter than 100 degrees earlier in the summer.

“I learned how to deal with it down there,” attendee Steve Rose said.

Food also is a big part of the festival, and Gary Mertz and his family were enjoying barbecue under the shade, listening to music and enjoying each other’s company Sunday.

“We look forward to the barbecue,” Gary Mertz said. “Can’t wait to come back next year.”

The lines for food were short Sunday. Vendors said business had been slow, and they said it was likely because of the heat.

While most attendees staked out spots under the tent, scattered clouds and a small breeze from McCullom Lake brought mild relief sporadically from the sunlight for those in the open field right by the stage.

“I just went and sat in the shade,” Messina said. “Thank God for the clouds.”