This band is always proficient and this time they chose to play some stuff we’ve not heard them do before Like “Road To Hell”, “(I Just) Died In Your Arms”, “I Want To Break Free”, “Dancing In The Dark”, a Eurythmics track I can’t remember the name of and a real surprise for me was Bryan Ferry’s “Let’s Stick Together” followed by a surprising James’ “Sit Down”, not too sure if that was a first.
Naturally they played some Rainbow, Deep Purple, Bon Jovi, Who and Bad Company and as always finished off with their classic Pink Floyd “Comfortably Numb”…now that had them cheering and clapping however you’ll have to wait until Saturday November 20th to see them again.
Finishing off the successful Rock N Blues weekend from the south of the county were The Backstreet Blues Band. We don’t get to see these guys very often and more’s the pity for that since they were simply outstanding rattling off the very best songs from Cream, Jimi Hendrix, Robert Johnson, Chuck Berry, Rory Galagher, Freddie King and Led Zeppelin amongst many others.
Two sets over 21/2 hours had the busiest night of the weekend thoroughly entertained with tight, flowing musicianship and I have never seen Phil use the harmonica so much, he obviously enjoys this instrument and is very comfortable with it. The crowd was dancing, the beer was flowing, the air was heavy with 12 bar blues and none of us wanted them to finish but, as always, all good things must come to an end and that was it, sadly the inaugural LudaFest Rock N Blues Weekend was over.
It will be back!
Opening up the Bank Holiday Sunday night were experienced local musicians Mick and Lynne Stones in their new guise as a Pretenders tribute act and what a delightful 45 minutes or so it was.
Surprise, surprise, their first song was “Back On The Chain Gang” and it easily flowed into further well-known Pretenders songs such as “Don’t Get Me Down”, “Brass In Pocket”, “Don’t Get Me Wrong” and “I’ll Stand By You”. Considering much of this music is from quite a few years ago the younger regulars were not only loving it, they also knew most of the songs and were singing along and dancing to all of them and not surprisingly since it is very easy to forget just how good this music is.
Once they have a few more tracks under their belts we’ll just have to have them back again for another performance.
Can it really be 7 months since these guys were last here? This is a true blues-rock afficionados night and Egypt delivered quality and enthusiasm in bucket-loads as they trawled through classic songs by Howlin’ Wolf, Robert Johnson, Led Zeppelin and seemingly the most popular bands’ song of the weekend “Baby, Please Don’t Go”…how long was it? Don’t ask, 15 minutes, maybe longer, who cares, it was superb.
With Egypt’s close connection to The Groundhogs it was inevitable that such classics as the “Split” series would be played along with “Cherry Red” and performed in style they were. With Eric Chipulina on guitar/vocals, Alan Fish - bass/vocals and Peter Correa on drums, their sound was simply incredible considering they had to set-up the sound themselves when their sound engineer’s car broke down!
Writing about breaking down, have you ever seen anyone change a broken guitar string without interrupting the song? Eric Chipulina did and many did not even realise it! Needless to say after two sets and just past half midnight, Egypt kicked into their final encore, the legendary Jimi Hendrix track “Voodoo Chile”…what a classic way to end a very special night and the band knew from all the smiles in the bar they had delivered precisely what the regulars had come for.
I have no doubt Egypt will be back, as yet I do not know therefore keep an eye on the calendar.
You know you’re in safe hands when asking Starvin’ Sid to open a Rock N Blues Festival weekend. Not only do you get a tight, crisp sound, you also get three very experienced musicians who really enjoy what they are doing whether it be some classic rock or blues covers or even some of their own penned songs.
As ever the skins are in safe hands with Olly and Sid’s guitarmanship and story telling are always guaranteed to raise loads of laughs but is it me but in the second set did Jazz seem to play his white double bass more than his guitar? It really does not matter, the sound he generates from this home-grown piece of kit is just amazing and so entertaining to watch. We even had a guest harmonica player appear on stage to join in with the 1961 Howlin’ Wolf blues standard written by Willie Dixon, “Little Red Rooster”…more please.
Of course all good things have to come to and end but not before were treated to a tremendous version of the classic 1935 Big Joe Williams “Baby Please Don’t Go” popularised by Van Morrison’s Them in 1964…what a great night, thanks guys, unfortunately we’re going to have to wait until Saturday October 9th until we see them again.