June 24th 2019
Review and photography by Ben Macnair Anyone who has seen Remi Harris play knows you get a lot of guitar, and a lot of guitars, and it proved to be the case when the leading jazz and blues guitarist opened Lichfield Arts 29th Blues and Jazz Festival on Thursday May 30th. With music from a …
May 20th 2019
Concert Review – King Pleasure and the Biscuit Boys Lichfield Guildhall – Sunday 21st April 2019 Words by Ben Macnair Photography by Dave Jones You always know what you are going to get from a King Pleasure and the Biscuit Boys concert. Slick presentation skills, feel-good jump jive, blues, boogie-woogie and soul songs, and a …
Concert Review The Sleaze Brothers – March 23rd 2019 Words by Ben Macnair Photography by Dave Jones With a repertoire of popular rock, blues and soul songs, and a stage act honed through more than thirty years of playing together, local ensemble The Sleaze Brothers gave their large audience a good time when they …
The Beginnings of Fairport Convention with Ashley Hutchings and Becky Mills Words by Ben Macnair Photography by Dave Jones This year marked the 50th year of Fairport Convention, the epoch changing, ground-breaking, foot-tapping musical ensemble that deftly blended folk music and rock rhythms together in the 1960’s, adding new life to an old repertoire. The …
The Fred Thelonious Baker Trio Cathedral Hotel, Lichfield – April 17th 2019 This newly formed trio comprises the brilliant Derbyshire born bass player, composer and guitarist Fred ’T’ Baker plus the outstanding Nick Twyman drums/percussion and Michael O’Brien on Bass, and they treated an attentive audience to a showcase of complicated instrumentals that ranged from …
April 23rd 2019
Peter Knight’s Gigspanner – Lichfield Guildhall – Saturday April 20th 2019 Words by Ben Macnair Photography by Dave Jones Take one of the leading violinists of his generation, add in two talented supporting musicians, an open-minded approach to modern music making technology, and a musical knowledge that takes in everything from folk, to elements of …
April 22nd 2019
The West Coast Eagles/Gordon Giltrap Friday, April 19th Words by Ben Macnair Photography by Dave Jones Add together one of the best-known songbooks of the past fifty years, a near-capacity audience, and a support slot from one of the country’s finest acoustic guitarists, and you have all of the ingredients for a remarkably memorable concert. …
July 3rd 2017
With their canary yellow zoot-suits, sharp, brass heavy sound, and repertoire of the some of the most toe-tapping songs from the past 50 or so years, The Jive Aces showed an appreciative, and large audience why they are one of the leading ensembles in their packed field when they played at Lichfield Guildhall on Friday …
Review written by Ben Macnair Photography by David Jones One of the leading voices of the contemporary folk and roots scene, Nancy Kerr led her band, The Sweet Visitors through a set that encompassed pure folk, light jazz, hoe-down, and their own songs when they played to an appreciative audience on Sunday May 7th. Accompanied …
September 29th 2015
Images by Dave Jones and words by Ben Macnair With little more than an acoustic guitar, a keyboard, an age and care-worn voice and some of the most bitingly poetic lyrics, singer songwriter Eric Andersen kept the audience spellbound as he dug into the back catalogue that has won him fans from Bob Dylan, Leonard …
