On the 14,15 and 16th of July, Peer in
Belgium was invaded for the 22th time, by some of the world's finest blues artists! In this journal I'll try to give you an idea about how the festival was. It was my first time in Peer, but it will certainly NOT be the last time!
Friday 14 July 2006
On Friday, I only had the chance to see the last performance. My dad and I arrived quite late after a 3 hours drive, and had to put up the tent first. I'l give an idea about the other groups too, but be aware that this is only based upon other people's comments.
1.
Dr. Blue Beat (B)
This Belgian band, resident in Peer itself, had the honour to open the BRBF 2006. They bring a mix of
ska and
blues. According to some visitors, this band showed what it had in it's power, and created an exelent atmosphere to open the festival with.
2.
Julian Sas (NDL)
Also called, the 'JimiHendrix' of the Netherlands. After 9 cd's and 1 dvd in 10 years time, this Dutch trio has learned how to get the crowd on its side. The sale of cd's after Julian Sas's gig, gave proof of an exelent performance. Too bad I missed that one...
3.
James Hunter (UK)
This Brittish artist was at Peer before, in 1987 to be exact. In 2006, almost 20 years later, he came to the festival with his own music and band. His latest album 'People Gonna Talk' has been welcomed by different commentators. His music can be seen as a mixture of soul and blues. The comments on this gig say it all: "probably the best voice of the 22th BRBF edition!" and "James Hunter, the elite at Peer 2006!". I wish we would have driven faster friday evening...
4.
Irma Thomas (USA)
This 'big' lady of soul took the slot of Ronny Spector, who had to cancel her gig due to family reasons. Irma Thomas should be able to be a worthy replacement. It was the first performance that I was able to see, and the voice of this lady was awesome. Her covers of
Tina Turner could bring some movement in the crowd, and her big hit '
Break Away' was pure pleasure. Unfortunatly, her music style includes some slow songs, not beeing ideal to get a bunch of drunken blues fans in the mood for 100 percent. Irma Thomas gave all she had in her on that late hour, but her performance unfortunatedly will not be remembered as the bigest gig at Peer.
Saturday 15 July 2006
1.
Fried Bourbon (B)
This Belgian blues band had the difficult task to wake up thousands of blues fans, most of them having a hangover from the night before. The reputation of Belgian beer had done it's work. Fried Bourbon finished it's job with succes. The big enthousiasm of the singer and the lead guitarist were able to draw the crowd near the stage. Shaking asses and clapping hands followed shortly. I'm sure this band surprised alot of people that day, including me...
2.
Michael Messer & The Second Mind Band
(UK)
This man has a unique approach to blues. In his band, a young man plays the turntables. This combination should be a combination of blues, with a blink to
Moby and
Nick Cave. Although this sounds very attractive, this band could not keep me awake. My dad and I both fell asleep during the gig, that says it all I guess...
3.
Good Time Charlie (Norway)
This Norwegian band played the warm-ups for alot of big artists for 20 years. The band had a good sound and could bring a good atmosphere in Peer. Most of that was due to the good guitar player. This young man played the guitar as if it is the easiest thing there is to do in the world. The expression on his face, a constant smile, gave proof of his joy while playing. The voice of the band,
Arle Hjelmeland, could have been better in my opinion.
4.
Blunk! A tribute to
Luke Walter Jr. (B)
This tribute to Luke Walter Jr., the front man of
Blue Blot who died 10 years ago, was thé surprise of the festival for me. I don't know the music of Blue Blot, but the band as it plays now makes me want to know it. The new name of the group, Blunk!, is a mixture of
blues and
funk. The new lead singer, "N8n", wrapped up the crowd in no time. Blunk! really got the fans warmed up for the rest of the day. The rest of the band, including the nice backing vocals, gave an exellent performance too. Remember the name of this band, it's worth it!
5.
Matt Schofield Trio (UK)
Another exellent gig. Matt Schofield and his two mates, hence the 'Trio', duh, had my attention from the first till the last note. The guitar skills of Matt are amazing. This might not be surprising if you know that he played for
Lee Sankey and
Dana Gillespie and others. For guitar lovers, like me, this was one of the highlights of the festival. I'll be looking for a cd by this band!
6.
Susan Tedeschi (USA)
The later the evening, the better the artist. It must be true. This nice looking lady showed us that not only men know how to play some fat blues on the guitar. I never saw a woman do that before! My dad told me
Bonny Raid could do it though. The small remark I should make here, was the fact that Susan was not 100% focussed on her gig. The reason for that was that she kept on blowing up her amps (She blew up 3 amps in less than half an hour!), and while playing she was looking to her roadie istead of the public, which is in a sense normal, but less fun for the crowd...
7.
Bettey LaVette (USA)
Is this lady 60? I think not! Bettey Lavette, the real queen of soul, gave all she got! She danced and jumped around while singing with the nicest blues voice there must be. After each song, she had to pauze for a few minutes, so she could get her breath under control. Meanwhile, she told her nice stories about (her) life. The fact that she won the WC Handy Award with one of her cd's must have meant a big deal to her, as she reminded us a least 4 times to it! Her last song, the first song of her newest cd (
a capella), gave me goose bumps. A gig to remember!
8.
Gary Moore (USA)
An old man, over the top, with a weak voice, looking for some cash. That would be what I was afraid of right before Gary Moore came on. But boy was I wrong. Gary Moore lost nothing of his voice, and his way of playing the guitar was sharp, very sharp. He played his solo's almost exactly as on his cd's, if not better. He played all of his biggest songs:
Oh Pretty Woman,
Midnight Blues,
Still Got The Blues,
Parisienne Walkways and
The Blues Is All Right. He played those songs with so much feeling and care, that it is hard to believe that he has probably played them over a 1000 times. I saw
Eric Clapton live in 2001 and I remember that gig as the best I ever saw, but Gary Moore sure got close to it, if not next to it. I went to bed while singing: "I've got those midnight blues, tudumtumtum tum...".
Sunday 16 July 2006
1.
Quban Heels (NL)
My dad and I went biking on sunday morning and we had to take down the tent afterwards. We could not get back to the festival on time to see this first group. Quban Heels is known to play blues covered by a good sause of rock.
2.
Brother Yusef (USA)
This man played a solo gig on his guitar. These things are usually very risky performances if the crowd doesn't like it. But lucky enough, Brother Usef gave us some wonderful blues songs. He played the guitar with a lot of slides and around his leg he had a tamborine. It was the first time ever, that Brother Yusef performed outside the USA. That the Europeans like his sound was proven during and after the gig. The cd's he brought to sell in the small shop, were sold out in a few minutes. My dad was one of the lucky ones to get a cd and a signature of Brother Usef. Strong stuff this brother!
3.
B.B. & the Blues Shacks (D)
This group was anounced as the jumping and swinging moment of the festival. The band got some attention of the blues fans, but for me it did not have anything special. The perfect moment to take a nap, and I did.
4.
Nick Moss & The Flip Tops (USA)
True Chicago Blues.
Nick Moss and his band sure woke up the crowd, including me and my dad. The fat guitar sound coming out of Nick's guitar was nice and smooth. Although it was not the best band I had seen at the festival, it sure was nice to listen to it. The fact that Nick Moss won 2 W.C. Handy Awards should give you an idea about the experience of Nick Moss & the Flip Tops.
5.
Guy Forsyth (USA)
Guy Forsyth came back to Peer after his first presence in 1994. He plays a lot of different styles and doesn't like put labels on music. He showed us what that meant. He gave us a mixture of different music styles, including some nice blues. One of the remarquable moments of the set, was the part where he played a song, using a saw and a stick to play on a violin with. He stroked the saw on the side with the stick and he changed the tone of the sound by bending the saw. He started out by playing 'Somewhere Over The Rainbow' to show how it worked. Afterwards he played a whole song using that intrument. Awesome. The times he used his harps were amazing too. Not 100% blues, but a very nice performance.
6.
Barance Whitfield &
The Seatsniffers (USA/B)
The Seatsniffers are know to be one of Belgium's moost succesful bluesband, both national as international. With Barrance Whitfield, real name Barry White,they aded extra momentum to their music. Barrance has a voice like a canon and he is a boddomless barrel of engery. He jumped around on the stage like a nutter. The crowd was dancing and cheering like this was a party, and in fact, it was. THe Seatsniffers took care of the music, Barrence just added more good stuff. This gig was really fun and though it is no delta blues, it ure was welcomed by the fans.
The Fabulous Thunderbirds(USA)
This band gave a very good performance, although there was one part where the lead singer played a song on his harp. It lasted for like 10 minutes, and it was hardly a difficult blues riff. Next to that, the guitarist with his Fender Jaguar guitar looked like he ran away from some punk band. The other guitarist, on a Fender Stratocaster, had hands like he could dig with them, but still he played the guitar with much finesse! Amazing. This band brought a good atmospher, but most of the fans were getting tired of the weekend, including me and my dad.
The Neville Brothers USA
Sadly, my dad and I had to leave before this gig. We had an 4 hours drive ahead and I had to be at work at 8:30am the next day. My dad luckily had a day off. It was 11pm when we left... and yes I was tired the next day. I heard that the Neville Brothers were actually very good, but after 3 days of awesome Blues and Beer I didn't feel too sad to sit down in a soft car seat and try to keep awake to accompany my dad...
This weekend was a succes and certainly I will go back there next year, and the next year, and the next year,...
This is quit a long journal, hopefully you were able to read this far!
Greetings,
Neo
Julian Sas
