THE 3RD BLAKEY MUSIC FESTIVAL
Once again making the jaunt up on the moors to the Lion Inn for the festival it's amazing to think that the 1st festival happened 9 days before the DVD shoot at The Mean Fiddler. Mostly Autumn have grown somewhat since then and the Blakey Music Festival has grown with them. Starting in the beer garden that first time in front of around 300, it quickly went into the second year for a late afternoon start in the car park in front of over 700.
Now extended to 2 days( well, 1 night and 1 day) with the full day attracting in the region of 1,000 people it is clear to see that the festival is rapidly growing along with our heroes.
The festival is no longer just about Mostly Autumn though, with many of the artists on show over the 2 days being regulars to the Lion Inn, the event has become a celebration of a venue that has a special place for live music.
After last year's impromptu session on the eve of the festival it was decided that it would be appropriate to have a more official night for the eve of the festival proper and as such it was Wednesday afternoon when we arrived at the Lion Inn to be greeted by our host Paul Crossland and the members of Mostly Autumn's extended family who had arrived before us.
WEDNESDAY 23RD JULY
John Prendo, a veteran of last year's festival, provided over 2 hours of excellent blues-rock and he received a great reception from a decent sized crowd. The set was further enhanced late on when BJ joined the band for three numbers and gave us a chance to watch 2 superb players in action.
Tonight was also a chance to socialize, with many friends and familiar faces from up and down the land in attendance as well as the majority of Mostly Autumn, the night became an extremely pleasant 1st act of this years event.
THURSDAY 24th JULY
Last evening's wind and rain had well and truly gone and with the forecast boding well we settled ourselves for what was sure to be a long day.
Driving in yesterday it was already apparent that major improvements had been made to the site. Now out beyond the car park and on the adjacent field the site was bigger and better. A large marquee at one end faced to a very impressive stage. With lessons learnt from past events this was the first time that a proper stage had been erected and having a proper stage certainly added to the feel that this was going to be the best event yet.
Starting promptly at 2pm we were treated to 8 artists in as many hours all playing around 45minutes and with the change-overs happening like clockwork we were never short of entertainment.
The best on the day were ( in no particular order ) Four Day Hombre, Gina Dootson and Banoffi though it has to be said that all the bands from a wide variety of musical styles were excellent. The weather stayed clear though it did get pretty breezy at times and a bit cold but the rain stayed away and the music warmed us all day.
The crowd built up all day and got larger with each subsequent act and by the time Mostly Autumn hit the stage the original estimate of 1,000 was looking a little conservative. Initial reports after the show suggested the final tally was going to be in the region of 1,300. A great feature of the crowd was the amount of families in attendance and that added to a fantastic atmosphere all day.
It is always a feature of Mostly Autumn's shows at Blakey that the band are here to have fun. Some of the shackles of promotional touring are thrown off and some songs are played tonight that we are unlikely to hear on tours these days.
Passengers is still the main thrust of the set but we are treated to all the jigs in a set that visits all of the albums and we are treated to nearly 3 hours of classic Mostly Autumn.
The sound was stunning from all points in the arena and an excellent light show complimented the music all night.
There is always a surprise thrown in at Blakey whenever Mostly Autumn play and today was no exception. Alongside the Floyd classic Comfortably Numb we were treated to an outstanding performance of Deep Purple's Smoke on the water. Only learnt a couple of days before and played with the blessing of Ritchie Blackmore it has to be said that it was a real highlight of the set.
Mother Nature, including fireworks, ended the night at around 1a.m. The fireworks, which were due to go off at the end of the song, went off early during the band introductions but it was right that the last fireworks were on the stage in the shape off Mostly Autumn.
The night did not end there and everyone went off to celebrate a superb show until well into the night.
The organisation on the day was first rate and that for me made the day. The Blakey Music festival is well and truly on the map.
I'll leave the last word, as I should, to Bryan Josh who said after " what a fantastic day that was".
Amen to that.
Paul Turner
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