Several Chula Vista-based bands will headline this weekend’s Gator By The Bay festival.
San Diego’s annual four-day zydeco, blues and crawfish festival takes place May 10- 13 at Spanish Landing Park, across from the San Diego Airport.
Amongst the hundreds of bands that will provide live entertainment, five will come from Chula Vista.
They include: Bobby Sanchez Combo, who will be performing at 5:40 p.m. on May 11; The Palomino’s will play the following day on May 12 at 3:10 p.m.; followed by the Bayou Brothers who will perform at 4:10 p.m. on May 12; The Stilettos will hit the stage at 6 p.m. on May 12; ending the run of Chula Vista-based bands will be The Sleepwalkers who will perform at 3:10 p.m. on May 12.
For the Bayou Brothers this will be their annual gig at Gator By The Bay.
Drummer and co-founder Ric Lee, 63, said the Bayou Brothers has performed at Gator By The Bay since the festival’s inception. Back then, Lee said they were the greeter band and have worked their way up to a main attraction.
The three-member band is known for its zydeco music and Louisiana bluesy sound.
This year, The Bayou Brothers will be joined by special guest soul singer Sharikan Muhammed.
“Our set is going to be like a three-layer cake,” Lee said. “We’re going to start with some old-time zydeco, and we’re going to go to New Orleans in the middle, and in the end, it will turn out to be a big zydeco, funk dance party.”
This will be the first Gator By The Bay appearance for the Bobby Sanchez Combo. The three-man band usually plays at car shows and summer concerts.
Lead singer Bobby Sanchez said he had been contacting Gator By The Bay organizers for several years to perform but for one reason or another they were not invited to play at the festival.
He said now that the band has the opportunity to play at Gator By The Bay, they will not disappoint.
“We’re going to hit them heavy,” Sanchez said.
The Bobby Sanchez Combo plays music from the 1950s and the audience can expect to hear classics from Jerry Lee Lewis, Little Richard, Ray Charles, Fats Domino and Johnny Cash and others.
Lee said Gator By The Bay always brings out the fun.
“It’s always guaranteed a great audience because it’s such a popular festival,” he said.
