At the eighth annual Great South Bay Music Festival, held just yards from the Atlantic Ocean, 16,000 fans enjoyed three days of music, food and crafts on Long Island’s beautiful South Shore.

Every year, the festival brings together a mix of local, regional and national bands, including this year’s headliners: Taking Back Sunday, moe. and Sunday night’s closer, B.B. King.

After a bit of drizzle early Sunday morning, the skies cleared for a tremendous final day of music highlighted by notable performances from Long Island’s own slide guitar master, Kerry Kearney, as well as the legendary Commander Cody. Always a crowd-pleaser, the Fabulous Thunderbirds did a vibrant set of blues that featured Kim Wilson’s consistently impressive vocals and thunderous harmonica sound.

While the sun set on the horizon, Anders Osborne kept the energy level high for an hour before the festival closed with a lackluster performance by B.B. King. Although his band cranked out a rousing 15-minute lead-in, King took the stage and devoted ten minutes to introductions and audience banter before playing a note. Although he rallied and continued to play his classics, the crowd was thinning. When he finally sang, “The Thrill Is Gone,” it truly was, along with many festivalgoers, providing an unfortunate end to an otherwise exciting three days of music.

– Brian Cady