Organised by Solid Entertainment, this reminded me of those coach trips where you travel from a local pick-up to a service station outside somewhere like Telford and everyone swaps to their coach to Amsterdam or the Scottish Highlands or the London Theatres & Markets trip. Only this was blues, rock and rhythm artists doing the rounds of festivals.
The Morningside (pharma company) Arena is a new indoor sports stadium next to the Grand Union Canal as it winds through Leicester, with a footbridge through to the beautiful Abbey Park, which proved a blessing for some of the acts. What can I say about the Arena - plenty of tiered seats and sit where you like, space for dancing, range of reasonably priced food and snacks, no queues at the bar and plenty of toilets.
Not an intimate venue, though. Not as bad as going to see Ray Charles at Birmingham NEC, but nowhere near as good as the range of pub, theatre and down and dirty venues at somewhere like the Colne Blues Festival (my personal favourite was always the Conservative Club with Winston and Maggie casting a baleful eye over proceedings). Still, we saw some good bands and my friend enjoyed his birthday.
Luke Doherty Band
We got there in time for the Luke Doherty Band - local, I would guess, and with a loyal following. They were certainly a lot of fun, with lead vocalist Paul Morgan's bluesy voice, drummer Simon Parratt's infectious enthusiasm and bass player Mal Preest channelling Rick Parfitt, Pete Townsend and Wilko Johnson (although with none of Wilko's aplomb). Guitarist Luke Doherty has an impressive blues background with lots of blues music mates.
*Luke Doherty Band playing Plastic Seas from their Night & Day Album.*Sometimes, I wasn't sure who I was listening to - was this Nine Below Zero or Bill Wyman's Rhythm Kings or maybe Stevie Ray Vaughan (especially when they were playing John Lee's Boogie). There was a funny moment when singer Paul said, "You can dance" ... Man, everyone in that room had a hip problem!
Verdict: I wouldn't throw them out of bed for eating crackers.
Ben Poole
Now, some irreverent resonances with Grace Poole, the drink-sodden keeper of Rochester's supposedly mad wife, Bertha, in Jane Eyre didn't help, nor did a characteristic head-thrust while playing which reminded me of Tommy Robinson, lately incarcerated after testing his suspended sentence for contempt of court.
Ben Poole and his band were talented but didn't do it for me. When he launched into a Gary Moore tribute after a couple of my-woman-done-me-wrong-and-let-me-down-badly songs, I understood the problem (for me). I know guys lurve Gary Moore, but if that Parisian Walkways ever comes on at any kind of dance, party, community event it kills the dancing. Everyone drifts off the floor, the guitarist gets high on his (and I've never seen a woman play it) own virtuosity and the men, well, they're in some kind of trance. Only Chuck Berry's C'est La Vie can break the spell.
Verdict: Trouble with Women
Stacie Collins Band
Fabulously entertaining crowd-pleasing rock/blues/country band with lead singer Stacie Collins charming the audience, men and women alike, and the the rest of the band displaying a nonchalant charm and confidence as only Americans can. The sound check was an event in itself with repeated "can I have some drums?" and "get me some guitar here, please?" They were a fizzing power-house from start to finish.
One of the nice things about the festival is that all the bands were very audience friendly: merchandise was on sale and bands were around for autographs, selfies, hugs. Stacie and her band members were great, you can see why they are really popular. They had plenty of time for their fans.
For me, the drummer was the outstanding performer - possibly of the whole Festival. The stage set-up was a little odd, with the drum kit tucked away in the corner, a little distant from the rest of the band players. Stacie managed this really well, (the choreography between all the band members was great) jumping up on the stand and singing to the drummer, pulling him into the performance. There was something about his presence which started to draw me and some of the playing sometimes reminded me of Keith Moon - that operatic style. As far as I have been able to find out, it was Brad Pemberton, but I'd welcome better information.
Verdict: I need a sit-down.
After a tea-break where we had, respectively, chilli and rice and nachos, and sausages and mash and nice cup of tea and a beer, according to preference, and a walk along the canal while the Groundhogs were on (sorry guys, but it was bad outside the arena), where we saw an enormous black rat and a very cute swan trying to take a nap, we took our seats to get down to business ...
Part 2 to follow. Shortly.