[xDGx]

Looks like I may have posted a Portland Jazz Festival pix instead of the Portland Blues Festival pix. Here is the Blues Festival sampling: 2007

View of the Safeway Waterfront Blues Festival site as seen from the south end, at the Miller Stage. The Safeway Waterfront Blues Festival is the largest blues fest west of the Mississippi, featuring more than 125 stellar artist performances on four stages.

2006

Boaters gather on the Willamette River as blues fans pack Portland’s Tom McCall Waterfront Park for the 2006 Safeway Waterfront Blues Festival.

2005

View of the Credit Union Stage from the Miller Stage on the southern edge of the festival site. In the distance lies the Hawthorne Bridge, and beyond that, the A&E Front Porch Stage.

2004

View of Miller Blues Stage (far left) looking past the Hawthorne Bridge. Boaters stake out prime anchorage spots a week before the festival's opening night.

2003

Chicago pianist Pinetop Perkins, a veteran of Muddy Waters´ band of the 1970s, celebrates his 90th birthday at the Waterfront Blues Festival. Perkins, backed by Portland´s Paul deLay Band, is joined on the Miller Stage by saxophonist Kaz Kazanoff of the Texas Horns, and Australian guitarist Fiona Boyes, winner of the 2003 International Blues Competition in Memphis.

So the bottom line is the Blues Festival does pretty well pack the park, draws tens of thousands, and does so OVER FOUR DAYS. http://www.waterfrontbluesfest.com/index.html Did Obama really double or triple a four day draw which packed the park in just one afternoon? Inquiring minds...

[xDGx]

Digging deeper, the Blues Festival (’largest West of the Mississippi’) runs 4 days this year with >100 performances on four stages and is expected to draw 120,000+

http://www.waterfrontbluesfest.com/history/fastfacts.html

Starting from 3PM Thursday July 3rd and ending at 1AM July 7th.

And Obama pulled more than half that total attendance in just a few hours! Yah, those estimates might be a teensy bit on the high side... ;)