Ribfest recap

My 4th of July was spent at Naperville Ribfest on Tuesday night. I was worried I might be going alone as I sent out invites to 7 or 8 people and basically got maybe's from everyone. Let me assure you if you get ten maybe's, one will show up if you're lucky. But I hung with John and Ryan. And I should mention it was particularly helpful that Ryan showed up. I didn't expect him there. But he had volunteered at Ribfest on Sunday. And he was able to score free drinks for us. No not beer, drinks. I drank about 6 Dasanis and paid for the one I brought before he showed up. But it was 2 bucks, and I really thought that was decent for a festival.

When I first got in, I went to the ticket window to buy my 8 dollar admission fee. So I said to the lady inside the oversized porto-potty, "One please." She pointed to her left outside the window and drew my attention to a green piece of paper. She explained a family had brought their tickets ahead of time but had gotten one extra so they had a spare ticket. I could take it if I wanted. Easy decision there, wouldn't you say? So I saves 8 bucks and got in free and another 10 on drinks.

As for the ribs, well, we sampled about a third of the 17 vendors. Before John and Ryan showed, up I had already had a 4 rib sampler from Pigfoot with hot sauce. It wasn't that hot truth be told, maybe a little tangy. This was the only place that was voted into the top 3 of best sauce and best ribs. They were very meaty and the sauce had a nice bold flavor. Compared to previous years, I thought most of the ribs were meatier. I'd usually wind up with one portion that was mostly bony. Maybe I had good timing this year, I don't know.

So then we got a couple of full slabs and samplers. We got a slab from Armadillo's in Youngstown Ohio. Very tangy sauce. There was a little bit of a spice taste that came up your throat as the sauce went down. It was a very good aftertaste if you like a hearty bold BBQ sauce. I was very pleased. Then I got a sampler from 17th Street. Now I had heard about this place from my old college roommate, Anthony. He has family in Vegas and there are several locations over there as well as one in southern Illinois. The line was shorter than most places and I found out why. The meat was fine and a little chewier than the others I had. And they had a decent spice rub to shake on. But the sauce was lame. It seemed like the makers couldn't decide on a vinegar or tomato sauce so they went in the middle.

The Australian ribs were better than I remember them. They use apple and cherry wood to smoke. John got this as a sampler and I tried one. The thing is the hot sauce he got was too strong. I like spice but this reminded me of a buffalo style sauce. Howling Coyote's (a southwestern joint) was very weak. The ib was limp and it just tasted like pork and sauce.

Finally I hit Texas Outlaw's and I brought the guys a full slab. They won best ribs for the third time and it's easy to see why. The ribs were as full of meat as can be and the spice was perfect, strong but not overpowering. My only issue was they didn't have any sauce for you to put on like practically every other vendor did. For me, that hurt them.

My top 3
1) Pigfoot
2) Outlaw's
3) Armadillo's

Then it was time for the Charlie Daniels Band to play. Folks, that band can jam. Country, blues, southern rock, and gospel were all touched on over the 2 hour set. I loved hearing "Drinking My Baby Goodbye" and of course, everyone went crazy for "The Devil Went Down to Georgia." Charlie said, "We have time for one more song, what do you want to hear?" We all screamed Devil and Georgia! And he goes "Georgia On My Mind?" Then they ripped into his signature song. He also sang a chorus of "How Great Thou Art." Certainly not the prettiest voice who's ever sang that song, but that's not what gospel music is about. It's about faith, passion, and the willingness to share it with people.

I'm glad he played "Simple Man" a controversial song on crime in America. I remember in 1989 when that song came out and Charlie was on talk shows over some of the lyrics. For example:

As far as I'm concerned there ain't no excuse
For the raping and the killing and the child abuse
And I've got a way to put an end to all that mess
Just take them rascals out in the swamp
Put 'em on their knees and tie 'em to a stump
Let the rattlers and the bugs and the alligators do the rest

Hard to imagine that caused controversy isn't it?

"Long Haired Country Boy" and "The South's Gonna Do It Again" got big responses too. I was hoping to hear "Boogie Woogie Fiddle Country Blues," but that didn't happen. To bottom line this, country music duo Montgomery Gentry was interviewed a few years ago and Troy Gentry said "We tell new artists coming up 'If you want to learn how to entertain, go watch Charlie Daniels live.'" I can see why. For 70 or so years old, he and the band rocks.

We finished the night with Oberweis ice cream and a bus back to the car at Naperville North HS. We were just to tired to stay for the fireworks, so we caught the last bus that was running for another 2 hours. We were lucky to get it or we would have walked a long way.

All in all a good night. And for the concert, 5 waters, 14 or 15 ribs (a slab and a half), and ice cream, I only spent 26 bucks. Not too shabby.