Photo by George Lauby Hoyer leading Son of 76

Photo by George Lauby Jim Curry

Photo by George Lauby Part of the Gigolos' rhythm section

Photo by George Lauby Hoyer on baritone sax

Photo by George Lauby Jake Blues

Photo by George Lauby James Burke

Photo by George Lauby Earl Cate

Photo by George Lauby Jason Davis

For two hours Saturday night, Jake and Elwood Blues brought their cool moves to the stage of North Platte’s two-day blues festival.

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The Bluz Brothers of Chicago paid tribute to Jake and Elwood and their rhythm and blues band. Jake and Elwood were personified by John Belushi and Dan Aykroyd of Saturday Night Live fame, and the pair disappeared from the scene in the 80s after two movies and hundreds of live shows.

The Bluz Brothers got together to carry on the tradition.

The 8-piece group contained a full brass rhythm section -- sax, trombone and trumpet -- and of course, Elwood on harmonica, electrifying the crowd.

In all, the audience listened to live blues music for nearly eight hours Saturday at the Lincoln Highway Park on West U.S. Highway 30, as promoters Louis and Diane Herrick transferred the former blues festival at Arnold to North Platte.

The Arnold festival ended last summer after 18 years when promoter Dave Birnie of Broken Bow's KBBN radio and his team decided the time was right to stop producing the festival there.

The Herricks jumped at the opportunity. They asked perennial performer and crowd favorite Jason Davis to come to North Platte. Davis agreed. Then the Herricks found the Bluz Brothers and the festival started to take shape.

A sparse crowd endured 100 degree temperatures during the afternoons and early evenings, sitting in the shade of cottonwood trees. The Herricks rigged high pressure water nozzles around the beer garden to cool the atmosphere.

More fans arrived at dusk.

The Moon Cats of Ogallala opened the festival Friday, and Josh Hoyer took the stage next with his band, Son of 76.

Son of 76 is from Lincoln. They were named Best R&B/Soul at the 2008 Omaha Entertainment Awards and have three CDs to their credit.

Hoyer brought out Jim Curry of North Platte to play the saxophone on several songs, and Curry received a warm welcome from the hometown crowd.

The Son of 76 show in North Platte is one of their last as a group, with members agreeing to go different ways.

Hoyer played keyboard and handled the vocals for the Son of 76 and he came back to the stage to blow the sax for the Tijuana Gigolos.

The Gigolos laid down smooth grooves with heavy rhythms sprinkled with accents on sax, guitar and keyboard.

The festival continued Saturday. James Burke, formerly of North Platte, started the show at 5 p.m., backed by Khameron Andrews and Randy Hunter. Burke lit the stage last year when he made cameo appearances at the South Loup Blues Fest in Arnold. He delivered a solid performance in North Platte.

Jason Davis took the stage at 7 p.m. Davis has hardly missed a blues festival in west central Nebraska in 18 years. The crowd favorite started his career in Lincoln and took it to Arkansas. Now he performs with Earl Cate, often listed among the top guitarists in the U.S. Their band is called Earl and Them.

The Tijuana Gigolos returned at 11 p.m. Davis came to the stage to add his electric guitar and charisma to the show, and the Gigolos boogied until nearly 1 a.m.