Southampton Heat of Battle of The Blues Bands

The Concorde Club in Eastleigh near Southampton is a music venue with a long, long history of hosting some of the top jazz names in the world. The nearby Ellington Lodge is named after jazz great Duke Ellington and all the rooms are named after musicians.  In the club and its associated restaurant, there are dozens of photos of jazzmen and women and some of them are great guitarists, Diz Dizley, Herb Ellis,  Barney Kessell and others. The blues men and women who appeared at the club on Monday 24th in the southern heat of the Battle of the Blues Bands competition for a place on the Fredricton, New Brunswick, Canada, Harvest Jazz and Blues Festival, had no need to feel intimidated by those names; without exception they held their own and in some cases were simply outstanding.

The evening was opened by Lee George, one of the organisers of the competition (there are five heats around the country and a final in London on 29th March) who started the proceedings by welcoming the bands and making the  very welcome announcement that the process was non profit making and that any proceeds would be donated to the charity Veterans Aid. That includes sales of tickets for the final which are  available for £ 8 in advance or £10 on the night with all proceeds going to Veterans Aid. Tickets can be purchased here: http://www.the100club.co.uk/ or herehttp://www.wegottickets.com/event/106939 .


Each band was assigned 20 minutes and they were expected to mix own originals with covers. The order of performers was drawn by lot. 

Richard Clarke

First up was the Richard Clark Trio who gave use a set that was stunning in its technical ability.  Clarke is a fine guitar player with a super tone and was ably accompanied by Alexander Comley on bass and Neil Burton on Drums. The set was a very welcome opener to the evening although a tad short of interaction with the audience. I'm sorry to say that although he played fine, Mr Comley seemed to be somewhere else.

Mr H

Mr H, comes from south Wales.  A solo act with a good deal of roots experience, he is an accomplished guitarist (working with a stomp box) who has a penchant for what is sometimes called Trance Blues (or Hypnotic Blues) with repeated guitar phrases driving the vocal. Mr H has a fine bluesy voice but strangely chose to sit at the side of the stage rather than the centre.

Paint it Blue

Next up was Paint it Blue, a five piece band from Bournemouth fronted by singer Hannah Robinson. with Peter “Pedro” Quintin (Guitar) and Ed Fish (Harmonica). They are backed by a mature rhythm section - Ian Walker (Bass) and Marcin Dyba (Drums).  Quintin is an accompished axeman, who played a stunning solo in their second number that was so good it seemed, for a while, to put Hannah off her vocal stroke. Some nice harp work from Mr Fish filled out the sound  but as before the band was 'distant' from the audience.

Jim Blair (Hip Route)

Hip Route come from Swindon and the band is fronted by virtuoso lap-steel player Jim Blair who did some of his own material ("Wishing Pool' is a terrific song) and included in the set a stunning version of the Beatles song 'Let's Come Together' with some super steel work and pedal effects.  Supported by Jon (bass) and Steve (drums) (sorry no last names) the band gave a super set that had the audience rocking along.  Despite a ' it was nice to hear you clapping' to the audience after 'Together'  there was little audience rapport.

Dan Sowerby (centre) and band

A different cup of tea was Dan Sowerby.  An accomplished slide player (resonator  and Strat) he is also a fine singer and did what was later described as an effortless set, most of the time with a smile on his face. He has an open personality that he is able to project and daringly even did an instrumental piece (Voodoo Slide(?)) that was delightful. Some of his guitar work is intricate in the extreme.  With an unnamed (stand-up) bass player and drummer the set was hugely impressive and even included some 'bring down the volume' quiet bits that added hugely to the dynamic effect.

Stan Cockeram (Riverside)

The Riverside Blues Band from Lymington, Hants gave us some Chicago Blues with a vengeance.  Fronted by Stan Cockeram who is supported by harp man Paul Vause, and bass and drums, the set was fun and  a great way to finish off the evening.  Including some original material,  the band seemed to have a good time, but it must have been purgatory to have to wait for more than 2 hrs to get on stage.

By and large the evening was simply wonderful and demonstrated that there is a wide range of  simply outstanding musicianship on show in the UK.  The winner Dan Sowerby, will appear in the final, and the runners up (Paint It Blue and the Richard Clarke Trio) will have video placed on the website at www.tourismnewbrunswick.co.uk.  The same will be the case for the first two runners up in each heat and a public vote will take place between 1st and 28th February 2011.  The single winner of that vote will appear in the final in London.

FWIW, any and all finalists should try to interact a bit with the audience (Buddy Guy says that 90% of blues music is fun) and taking 20 seconds to introduce band members will never come amis.

Finally, I am told that it is possible that the Concorde club will be hosting more blues events. That would be good for everyone.

THERE ARE MORE PICTURES AT http://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Concorde-Club/107455139292578