Chris Beard played his first show in Rochester in nearly three years Thursday at the Riverside Festival Site (corner of Court Street and Exchange Boulevard) as part of the city's Party in the Park concert series. His homecoming (of sorts) was welcomed warmly, and Beard appeared humbled as he shuffled through an hour of solidly performed blues for a crowd that swelled in size throughout the night.

Toward the end of his set, Beard credited his father, blues guitarist Joe Beard, by saying, "he taught me everything I know, but not everything he knows." And it was evident that the younger Bear still has a few tricks of the trade to master. He didn't nail every note he stretched for, but he did stretch for notes, which let him create some remarkable musical moments. He also worked the dynamics all night by bringing the solos down to a whisper, then screaming a bent note or two as the drums snapped back into solid time.

When Chris Duarte started his set to cap off the night, he shook and rattled his way around the stage both literally and figuratively. With plenty of animated facial expressions to go alongside his frantic lead lines on the guitar, Duarte bent traditional blues solos and went on small tangents where he danced around altered notes while the band maintained the blues foundation. It was in the same vein as a performance Stevie Ray Vaughn might have given. Duarte shook every ounce of soul out of his guitar and sang a night of raspy lyrics about big-legged women and other blues staples.

Next Party in the Park concert: Thursday, July 3, The Joe Beard Blues Explosion, John Cole Blues Band, and Steve Grills.