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Friday
14th March 2003 Evening click here
Saturday
15th March 2003 Lunchtime click here
Saturday
Evening 15th March 2003
Papa George www.papageorge.co.uk
Saturday
evening was a sell out and started with Papa George, on the side stage. The
auditorium lights were dimmed, Papa George dressed in a smart dark suit and hat,
and his shinny National Steel guitar being picked out in the spot light. This
resembled a film scene from a Chicago club in the 1930’s.
Papa George played a mixture of traditional and self penned songs from
his ‘Being Free…ain’t no crime’ CD. From Robert Johnson’s ‘Come on
into my Kitchen’ and the ever popular ‘Walking Blues’ to Papa George’s
reworked for acoustic Blackjack. The guitar sound was authentic and complemented
by Papa George’s deep blues
vocals.
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Volunteer helpers Danny and Tristan on Saturday night.
We couldn't have done it without them. If you would like
to volunteer to help in any way including collecting money for
this years nominated charity 'Chilterns MS Centre' -
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The
J.Fordaway Band (second festival set)
www.jfordaway.com
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Tonight
more people were in the auditorium early on and once again seamlessly the
music made the transition from the side stage to the main stage.
The J.Fordaway Band appeared again for the second night but this
time cruised into their set with Help the Poor and Robben Ford’s
‘I’m your Man’. Keb Mo’s ‘Muddy Water’ again proved to be a
favourite and was followed by a bouncy Robert Cray’s ‘Guess I Showed
Her’
The
Fordaway’s have a knack of playing a tight impressive set without much
apparent effort. Not the
usual blues singer, Steve Norchi has a smooth quality to his voice not
often heard on the blues circuit. Bob Moore excelled with his guitar
playing on Prison of Love and Robert Cray’s ‘Night Patrol’. To wrap
things up a quick burst of Lucky Petersons’s ‘Good Thing’ followed
as on the previous night with JB Lenoir’s ‘Talk to Your Daughter’. A
good crowd reaction and straight back to Papa George for a further 20
minute set of acoustic sounds from his National Steel guitar.
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City Josh & the Big 3
www.motorcityjosh.com
The next band,
Motor City Josh and the Big 3 from Detroit, USA were at the festival on
recommendation and to look at them you would think, well they are a young
band and maybe good for their age. Well age didn’t come into it, they
were good in their own right. Starting with self penned ‘I Live the
Blues’ you could be forgiven for thinking this is an insincere title but
from the start up it was evident that Motor City Josh does live the blues.
This song although not remarkably original could have been written many
years before Josh was born. Second up was ‘These Funkin’ Blues is
Killing me’ with some great blues lines sung by Josh with his old blues
voice on young shoulders. The funky feel of Albert King comes to mind. The
number never really finished with Josh laying right back teasing the
audience before the whole band fired up again into ‘I got News for
you’ showing just how Josh understands blues guitar, not just copying by
gone masters but feeling the blues with passion.
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The
whole band play with an abundance of energy and real enjoyment rarely seen
in older blues bands. It’s not just a one man show as bass and drums
play their part superbly and Josh’s kid brother plays some fine guitar
as well. Not wanting to stop and take a break the band roll into ‘Big
City Hillbilly’ another self penned and traditional sounding number
which would have had Albert Collins feeling at home. Cleverly they burst
into a little bit of country before finishing this medley with Catfish
Blues. Motor City Josh is a character as he agonizes and squirms over
those guitar lines, asking questions with his guitar and looking for
answers with the expressions on his face. The whole band give 110% effort
and would have played on all night but had to finish sometime, so
with ‘Buckle up, it’s the Law’ they brought their 50 minute set to
an end. The audience didn’t hold back in their appreciation. One member
of the crowd said they were ‘a surprise and a revelation!'
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| Motor City Josh's facial expressions were a big talking
point but not as much as his entertaining guitar playing.
See what we mean - what's going on there
Josh c |
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The
Raffle
Then
came a break from the music to try and raise even more money for Teenage
Cancer Trust. The raffle took place culminating in the main prize of a
Boss Digital Recorder worth £649! At first it appeared there was no
winner until through the crowds came two young lads holding up a ticket.
They were both only around 15-16 and play in a band together called
‘Last Caress’. They came to the festival with their Dad and both had
£5 which they spent on raffle tickets. They couldn’t believe their
luck!
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The
Auction
The
auction followed the raffle and was conducted by Richard Green of Tring
Market Auctions. Items bid for included signed memorabilia from Paul Jones
and the Blues Band, Bernie Marsden and his Band, Paul Lamb & the King
Snakes, Papa George plus a limited edition Who DVD with Royal Albert Hall
back stage Who artist passes and a box of 10 new CDs.
Rocking
the Blues T Shirts in Red (L & XL sizes), as modeled by Derek White
(right), are still available but only with 'Rocking the Blues' on the
front. We have sold out of those that list the bands for 2003 on the back.
Cost £8 plus £1 P&P. Go to Contact Us
page for address to send cheque made payable to 'Rocking the Blues'
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Derek
holds up a signed photo of the blues band and a 'Fat City' tour booklet
signed by Paul Jones (thanks Paul) whilst Richard Green from Tring Market
Auctions encourages the bidders - thanks Richard. The auction raised £150
for Teenage Cancer Trust. |
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Bernie
Marsden and his Band www.berniemarsden.co.uk |
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With
the expectation of Bernie Marsden taking the stage just about everybody in
the venue crammed into the auditorium. Then the house lights dimmed and
Bernie Marsden and his band took to the stage to rapturous applause. With
a quick introduction from Bernie of “Are
you ready” the band started up with a ‘Blues Brothers’ horn blowing style instrumental 'Soul
Finger' leading in to ‘Working for the CSA’ from the ‘Blue Boy’
CD. Next followed the slow bluesy ‘Funny People’ with sax solo from
Bill Wyman’s Rhythm King’s player Nick Payn. Bernie also excelled on
this number with some fine blues licks from his superb sounding Gibson
335. Keeping the slow blues going Bernie and Nick Payn, this time on
harmonica, brought in ‘Key to the Highway’ which also featured rolling
blues piano from Nigel Neill.
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had been coping with the vocals admirably but felt it was time to
introduce female vocalist Helen Hardy and together they shared vocals on
George Jackson’s ‘Down Home Blues’ again from the 'Big Boy Blue'
album. Taking up the pace further Helen sung lead vocals on Freddy
King’s ‘Tore Down’ with Bernie playing an impressive solo which
really proves he has the blues (I’m sure Freddy King would agree, if he
was still with us - maybe he is). This number had it all with stops and
horn stabs, vocal interaction, a laid back subtle passage, sax solo,
swirling organ and striding, walking bass lines from John Gordon. The
crowd showed their appreciation in no uncertain terms. Bernie then took
time to say a few words about one of his guitar idols, Peter Green by way
of an introduction to the beautiful ‘ Loved Another Woman’ which
Bernie had previously recorded on his ‘Green and Blues’ CD. Bernie
expressed the beautiful guitar lines perfectly with sensitive heart felt
vocals from Helen Hardy.
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The
set rolled on with songs by Junior Parker and BB King’s ‘The Thrill is
Gone’, followed by the slow ‘Place in my Heart’ with haunting horns and
trumpet solo by Gabriel Garrick. To get the feet tapping down hill to the end
the band played Wilson Pickett’s ‘Hold on I’m Coming’ and
finished on Sweet Home Chicago to the delight of the audience who were
now up for a party.
The
cheers echoed round the building and eventually Bernie Marsden appeared on his
own with guitar in hand. Although there were many blues fans present, there were
also local people out for a good live music night and probably a few Whitesnake
fans, hoping to hear Bernie play some old Whitesnake numbers. They were not to
be completely disappointed as Bernie played and sung on his own the huge
Whitesnake hit ‘Here I go Again’, finally being joined by the rest of the
band to end with ‘Knock on Wood’.
To
say everybody had a good time would be an understatement! Roll on next year!
The End
Remember if you want to
order any photographs taken at Rocking the Blues at Tring by Steve Kramer please
go to Picture Gallery for details.
To go to the review of
the Saturday lunchtime Guitar Workshop and the Blues Jam Session click
here
or to go to the review of Friday evening
click
here
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