Monday, March 28, 2016

The Festival Spirit - Nantwich 'Jazz Fest Sunday'.


The gang set up.
March 27th, 2016

'Jazz Fest Sunday' as it's known is traditionally the busiest day of the festival where some 40,000 people pour in from surrounding areas to enjoy the music (and alcohol!). This was the most exciting day for me as there is nothing to beat the thrill of playing in a full band and the power, dynamics and emotion this can evoke.

We all seemed relaxed and played really well in the tiny stage area, though Simon said afterwards he couldn't hear the drums at all, many non-musicians are often surprised that hearing good 'on stage' levels for everyone in the band can be quite rare, especially in the often quick turn-arounds you have (an hour between acts in this case). 


It was great to play a full two hour set right through, you can really get into the zone and dig deep into the music, and have time to allow your set to make it's path and tell a musical story.

Tim Lee, whose brilliant solo performance I was lucky enough to catch, also took some great photos;

Me, in monocrome, photo by Tim Lee.
Dave 'The Groove' Coomer, lighting up the electronic kit.
Photo by Tim Lee.
Em, photo by Tim Lee.

Post gig, after loading up in Storm Kate's rain, I had a short break and something to eat before heading out again to catch Tim perform brilliantly in the Singer/Songwriter part of the festival hosted by The Cat Radio on the Blitz stage outdoors. I watched with Dayve Dean (whose set I had sadly, missed) while getting thoroughly drenched meaning I couldn't even feel my fingers when I was playing, luckily muscle memory played it's part but I'd definitely lost some intricacy in my playing.
A few brave (or tipsy) souls danced and sang along at times in the pouring rain, if that's not the festival spirit, I don't know what is!
Tim Lee Rocking the town center outdoor stage



I had cold hands!
Many thanks to Jonathan White for the photo.
Jonathan White, who took the above photo, also published an article about this year's festival at; http://thenantwichnews.co.uk/2016/03/26/nantwich-jazz-festival-packs-music-fans-into-town-venues/




A local gig for me meant nipping home between gigs, Storm Katey making up for my soaking.

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