All smiles after blues festival in Lakewood Ranch

It was a quiet, cool morning Dec. 7 at Waterside Place, as music fans crossed the footbridge onto the Waterside Park island for the inaugural Lakewood Ranch Blues Festival.

Then, with the very first note, Chicago blues artist Melody Angel burned through the opening set with a flamethrower of selections, injecting energy into a sleepy morning crowd to set the tone. The small crowd was up and dancing to Angel's "Say It Ain't So" before she took it up another notch with the Jimi Hendrix version of "Hey Joe."

"It was fun because I didn't know what to expect," Angel said. "You catch the vibe and the energy is the thing. The energy from the crowd was there."

That energy, and the size of the crowd, continued to build throughout the day. About 750 fans attended the inaugural event.

South Pasadena's Linda Laplante travels to blue events around the country and she was impressed.

"I'm happy to see such top-name acts," she said. "This is a nice venue and it is different in a positive way. Of course, it's nice to be outside and to be able to see the water. Then you are sitting on grass instead of dirt."

Palmer Ranch's Jeff Hoffman said he used to attend the Bradenton Blues Festival, which folded after last year's final event. Producer Paul Benjamin basically took the festival to Lakewood Ranch.

"It would be a shame if we didn't have this blues festival," Hoffman said. "And I like it better here. This is top notch."

Event Co-Producer Morgan Bettes-Angell said she was dealing with the usual inaugural event hiccups, but that she was "super pleased."

Will there be a second Lakewood Ranch Blues Festival?

"Absolutely," she said. "This will be an annual event."