Now the 2011 Tenby Blues Festival is becoming a memory, and a very happy memory for most of the hundreds of visitors who came and enjoyed a weekend of Blues based music in our historic seaside town.
The weather was kind to us and we were able to move around the town to all the music venues without umbrellas and raincoats. Since the weekend we have had many messages of thanks and support from faithful fans and new friends.
Some people said they enjoyed the free Blues Trail around the town more than the paid for gigs, which was pleasing to hear as ticket sales to the main venues were up on previous years. One performer who won unanimous praise was the young and brilliant Jamie Francis who came down from Cumbria to knock us out with his authentic take on Robert Johnson and Son House tunes played with fantastic technique and real feeling on Sunday at the Rugby Club.
In fact the closing sessions at that venue were all excellent, Whiskey River Boys and Whisky Business both won a lot of praise for their energetic shows.
The main Valero stage shows were all of high quality although some people thought that Hokie Joint on Saturday with their ‘gothic horror’ type show with hats and make up were not what they thought of as Rhythm and Blues.
Terri Shaltiel and her accompanist Leroy started the Saturday in very soulful style kicking off with a Son House song (Grinning In your Face) that had also featured in Skip McDonalds set the previous night.
Although the Hamsters gave us their all on Saturday it was 24 Pesos who most people enjoyed and told us so. 24Pesos charged through an hour of terrific slide driven blues that had every one talking the next day.
We send our thanks to all the many volunteers who’s help is vital to the festival Thank you very much from the core group of organisers. (We are all volunteers too!)
Here are some selected feedback quotes that we have received up to now:-
“I have only had the good fortune to attend your event for the past four years and on every occasion I have witnessed excellent performances by acts I would not otherwise have encountered. Keep up the good work……. Pat Grover & The Hawks – always turns in a consistent & solid performance with blues reminiscent of Peter Green’s Fleetwood Mac. Should be first name on the list every year and must be slotted in somewhere over the weekend.….”Jamie Francis – Great to hear someone so young inspired by music so old. A young man who clearly has talent and I hope achieves much success in the future.
Fran McGillivray & Mike Burke – Reproduced blues as originally played by long time dead pioneers/heroes. Always a sure fire winner for me.
In addition there were some performances that would more likely be found at a rock or folk/roots festivals but nevertheless were of a high standard and very enjoyable even if not to everyone’s taste.”
M
Just wanted to say thank you! For your lovely hospitality and a great festival!
We’ve had some great feedback from our performance at the Rugby Club, and made a few cd sales through the website since. And we saw some other great acts. So all in all, we couldn’t be happier.
Babajack
Really enjoyed the festival, 1st year for us. Enjoyed the good bands. Had 2 good late nights at the hotel Giltar late sessions, Eugene span some great tunes there(top man). Great all round, can’t wait till next year, cheers all.
C.M.
Did enjoy the live Blues trail around Tenby, Sicknote Steve, Pat Grovers Hawks, followed by Panic Station were my tops. Best venue for me was Tenby Bowling Club. Not too sure of Sat Night at the DeValance not bluesy enough for me. May just go for the trail next year and do Tenby RFC on Friday night. Good time though and enjoyed. Don’t forget The Blues is more than just a state of mind.
C.M.
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Also, we’re in the process of uploading pictures of the Festival and you’ll be able to see them on Flickr very soon.