When? Fri 09/05/2008 - Sat 10/05/2008
Where? Festivaltent Sportveld
On Friday, May 9th, just around 19.00 hrs, Lefthand Freddie had the honour to open the festival. The night before there already was room for some drinks, while enjoying live blues music in the local pub. But the 'real work' was due in the festival tent. For Freddie, these kinds of openings are no problem at all. With his experience playing both local gigs and international venues, he's the perfect act for a small pub audience, as well as a reasonably filled festival location. Freddie's set is pretty tight, which holds the same for his bass player and drummer. 'Let's go back to the blues' is what he shouts, just before jumping into an amazing vocal intro, accompanied by his own slide guitar. Goose bumps at this early hour… promising for the rest of the festival.
Next up are the Bluescrowns, featuring Liz Mandville. Liz is a lady with a great voice, who also knows how to master her guitar pretty well. The Bluescrowns started their set with an instrumental, and give a warm welcome especially to the people coming from Limburg, Zeeland and l'Esprit (Rotterdam). 'Born on the Bayou' is one of the pieces that keeps resonating. An extra long version, brought with lots of soul in the vocals. Pure joy for the ears. The Bluescrowns are allowed to play an encore. (On Sunday, we would see Liz and her band again in Zottegem, where they played together with the Nimmo Brothers in De Blauwe Wolk. Once again, this was a real showcase from this party animal...)
Then, it's time for the homecoming concert of the Juke Joints. For these local guys, it's once more a piece of cake to overtake the audience. In fact, this band can't do anything wrong on these occasions. Apart from their traditionals, they played a very soulful 'Bad News on the Line'. Another goose bumps moment... 'Home Town' is played as a slow version, featuring a bass solo. There's also a new song on the set list, 'Time Will Tell'. I'm sure we'll be hearing this song back in the future. The two brothers of Homemade Jamz, scheduled on Saturday, play along on this song. The public couldn't care less... Kempe finishes the rather short set with 'Stand By Me', boosting the spirits when everyone is singing along.
When Guy Forsyth hits the stage, we're anxious to see what will happen next. We've seen several times, that a band playing after The Juke Joints, only succeeds in seeing people leaving the venue. Guy, however, has other plans. He's prepared to go all the way to entertain the audience, and this plan works out from the very beginning of his set. Until the last moment of his set, the ambiance remains great. The trio started with a marvellous a-capella intro, making the concert very tight with Daan Prevoo joining in on the saxophone. Guy is pretty all-round. He sings, plays the guitar and harp, thus building a set with lots of variation and nerve. Even Liz Mandville joined the stage.
Under a blue sky, we set out for the first notes on Saturday. This time, it was Phil Bee and The Buzztones who had the honour to open the festival. This group already exists for a couple of years, and in spite of the heat in the tent, succeeded in building a party for all attendants. As the crowd slowly filled the tent, it became clear that everyone liked Phil Bee as an opener for this second part of the Blues Festival in Kwadendamme. A tight, and by moments very sensitive guitar, alternating with the Hammond sound, made it into a very distinctive 'Phil sound' for this Saturday. (We saw Phil performing in a different line-up, doing some covers from Hendrix...) Phil and his Buzztones are given an encore right away.
For the fans, there's a smaller tent named 'The Juke Joint Stage', where a band named 'The Blue Clay' performs a crossover between hillbilly and country music.
For me, it's a short wait until the 'nervous' guys from Big Blind enter the stage. They would play a short set on this festival, and were expected later that evening to open for 'his greatness' Johnny Winter. Quite some respect for these guys... But they had no intention to leave Kwadendamme with a feeling of second best, and they did their very best to entertain the public. In a high tempo and full of passion, they succeeded in impressing almost everyone in Kwadendamme, which wasn't too difficult given the fact that the larger part of the audience really likes the rock 'n' roll side of the blues music. Their performance really stood like a house. 'Now I Cry' started in a slow tempo, and through a drum solo, it continues in a much higher tempo – really nice. In the next song, the prime role goes to the harp playing. Big Blind obviously enjoyed playing on this festival, and even though they should have left somewhat earlier for their gig in Amsterdam, they take the chance to play an encore. 'Fuck Paradiso... we'll be some later...', is what they jell through the speakers, followed by 'Back to my old Neighbourhood'. A great show, leaving me with a big impression, even thinking back on it right now. Genuine proof of quality, in this case.
Outside, we had the chance to see Ralph De Jongh for half an hour. He's also playing with hundred-plus-percent passion, and he brings an unequalled version of 'Sympathy For The Devil'. For this song, he abuses an electric guitar, with lots of distortion, turning this song into a very catchy version of this classic.
Back on the main stage, it's time for the boys and girls of Homemade Jamz, ready for their debut in Europe. This family band was discovered about a year ago in the Mississippi delta, and booked right away for this festival and the festival in Raalte. The boys are 16 and 13 years old, and their sister is only 9. But it's amazing what they came up with, not in the least the show they're providing. The guitar and bass guitar are made from exhaust pipes from big USA cars, with extra lighting and chrome. When the boys make a walk through the public near the end of their set, you can only follow the lights to know where they really are. Most of the songs are classics, but played with youthful enthusiasm. There's even time for 2 encores. 'Boom Boom' and an instrumental piece.
Sugar Ray Norcia & the Nervous Fellas enter the stage after these youngsters, and he also brought a very tight set. I remember a perfect interpretation of 'Five Long Years'. Sugar Ray further had a real harp combat with Johan de Roos. Not only was this perfectly played, but also very entertaining. Also to Sugar Ray, an encore was granted. During the encore of Sugar Ray, I went back to the Juke Joint Stage, to catch up with the second part of Ralph de Jongh. This guy knows how to get an energy boost just from some chips and other junk food... 'I believe I Dust My Broom' is an almost hysterical version. An electrified 'Hounddog' was played in a very catchy way. The gigs of Ralph are pretty energetic, as well for himself as for the audience. Ralph ends his performance with the Jagger/Richards/Faithful song 'Sister Morphine', sliding into 'Going Down', the old Freddie King classic. He played 'Stop Breakin' Down' as an encore.
Afer this, it was show time for The Sean Carney Band feat. Gene Walker. Gene sure knows how to play the saxophone. He told us earlier that day, that blues is his true love. The guitar has a jazzy touch, and mixed with Gene's sax, the sound of this band is full of swing. Marcel Scherpenzeel confides me that this is 'the only way' to play West Coast in the right way.
Which is the perfect link to the gig of Marcel Scherpenzeel's Rory Gallagher Tribute. I've mentioned on several instances that Marcel is nearby the best interpreter of Gallagher's work. The unpolished sound, the vocals... it's just great to watch this band. You would even forget that there are still LP's from Rory. The regular drummer had an injury, so Peter Kempe filled in. Also Sonny Boy joined in for 'The Loop'. It became a nice tribute, and we enjoyed listening songs like 'Do You Read Me', 'Million Miles Away', featuring a great intro. And, as many other act on this festival, there was an encore with 'Just A Little Bit'.
Indeed, we did only have a little bit of time left, before the main act of the festival was about to finish this 16th edition: The Mofo Party band. The word 'party' is pretty well in place, as it turned out to be a big party... A fat groove and 100% fun on stage. Not only the music was great, but also this show was filled with all tricks in the book. A bass player standing on his upright bass, while the guitar player plays the bass, and the singer playing the guitar that is still around the guitarist's neck. Think of a guitar player walking' through the audience, while playing his solo. Without any doubt, someone will have turned this moment into some photographic masterpiece. It looked fantastic, whilst making no compromises to the sound.
In my opinion, the organisation made the right choice hiring this band as main act. In any case, I went home with a good feeling, still enjoying it the next morning.
It makes us curious for next year's edition. Also a big hand for the organisation – yours truly!
Translation by: Rumble
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