Having been rolling on since 1998, the 20th consecutive Big Wheel blues festival turned up with another weekend providing a packed line-up of international talent and top class musicianship.

Featuring two nights of live music, the Big Wheel festival took place in the Promenade suite at the Villa Marina over Friday and Saturday night, along with a sun-drenched afternoon in the Villa gardens.

Included on the bill was a varied mix of new a returning talent, such as the brilliant 50s skiffle group Rob Heron and the Teapad Orchestra and the southern American blues style of pianist Dale Storr.

Both nights were headed by two heavy blues acts, the British guitarist Laurence Jones and the Detroit rocker Marcus Malone, who both delivered high-energy performances.

The weekend was completed by a raw and powerful performance by the UK Blues singer Elles Bailey, who treated the crowd to an emotional set.

This year marked the end of the current Blues festival committee, with long-time members John Barker, Dick Best and Pete Christian stepping down.

Speaking after the festival, Pete said that he felt it was time to try to get new blood into the festival, and that this year’s event was a great one to bow out with.

’We’ve just had a terrific weekend,’ said Pete.

’We had good crowds in for both nights, and we were blessed with the weather in the afternoon.

’Rob Heron was absolutely superb. It was acoustic playing at its finest. They were a member down, but it didn’t show, and I’d have them back time and time again. Lawrence Jones was very good, very tight band and went down a treat.

’Dale Storr really is the best New Orleans piano player in Britain. He was absolutely superb, and he showed it this weekend by being an absolute professional.

’Elles Bailey was terrific, and really engaged with the crowd. She had great energy, and a great voice, and played mostly her own stuff. She is a really great songwriter.

’Marcus Malone played out with a high octane blues rock set. They were tight as anything.

’Personally, I am leaving the festival with a lot of great memories,’ said Pete, who also played with his group, Loose Crew, on Friday night, and with the Big Wheel Blues band on Saturday.

’We don’t know where the festival is heading after this now, but we’ll have a sit down and a debrief soon and we’ll see what happens. Whatever it is, it might be something similar, something different, who knows, but something should happen again in the future.

’But we have all had loads of fun, and I’ve met some lovely artists and people.

’We’ve worked hard to bring live music to the island regularly, and you can’t beat the feel of listening to a band live. You can see and hear the artist, and appreciate the quality of them even more than listening to a CD at home.’

by Mike Wade

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