festivaLs

remarking ‘I hope Sarah doesn’t put that in Blues Matters!’ – well, Mister James, I might have been merry, but I was still listening!

Saturday

months ago and I have to say his playing has matured incredibly over that time, whether performing his own material or well-chosen covers, Laurence is definitely a young man to keep an eye, or rather, ear, on. He was joined on stage for a few numbers by Barry Pethers on bass – Barry, who usually plays in the Ben Poole band, is a staunch supporter of this festival, and over the years has become one of Matt’s right hand men. He couldn’t resist a guest spot, and could also be seen behind the bar, ferrying supplies, and performing in his own set Pethers and Friends.

The evening was brought to a close on the Butcombe stage by The Stuart James Band.

Fronted by Stuart himself, his brother Simon on bass and Rob on drums, the band treated us to a set of energetic and raw blues, that had the crowd dancing into the night. During his set, Stuart took advantage of the ‘merry’ state of the audience by proceeding to change a number of the songs lyrics to those of a slightly more salacious nature – at one point

After a night under canvas and a hearty breakfast, provided by the Star Inn at a very reasonable price, we were off to a flying start with The Dave Raphael Band. Behatted Nick Hyde, (who had a fractured foot) told the audience ‘we will soon have a new album out – the artwork and photography are done, we just need to write some songs to record’. The band played a mix of self-penned songs and a sprinkling of covers, my favourite of which was High on Music by Larry Garnner – a reggae song all about The Blues. The reason I mention that Nick was wearing a hat, is that Saturday at Bentworth Blues Fest has traditionally become ‘Hat Day’ and I’m pleased to say that many of the crowd sported an amazing selection of titfers including a chicken, and a pink-sequined cowboy hat – both worn by fellas!

The highlight of Saturday for me was The Ben Poole Band, now a favourite on the festival scene, Ben delivered a scorching set of mainly self-penned songs, including one guitar break played using only one hand, but the highlight for me and, I can safely say, the rest of the crowd, was his rendition of Hey

Joe , by Jimi Hendrix, which brought the entire applauding crowd to their feet. When I first saw Ben Poole, his band was a three piece, now, along with Barry Pethers on bass and Craig Bacon on drums, the addition of Sam Mason on keys, and Amy Eftekhari on backing vocals, has made the band a phenomenal success, and Ben is now in demand all over Europe.

My last act of the Festival was Clare Free on the Garden Stage, whose set comprised of a few well-chosen covers, but mainly her own songs written about people she’d met and situations she’d lived through, songs and blues from her heart. Clare led her band through this emotional set on her trademark blue Fender – it was then I realised I’d not seen another guitar-playing female lead at this Festival! Come on ladies I know you’re out there. And so ended my first visit to Bentworth Blues Festival, congratulations again to Matt and his team, I enjoyed the festival so much that the dates are already in my diary for next year.

sArAh reeVe