A first visit to the Seaham Food Festival. The weather couldn't have been much better with a mill pond North Sea an impressive backdrop. The many food stalls couldn't have been busier, queues a mile long. Two minutes' walk from the food arena, the open air North Road Amphitheatre would stage the afternoon's entertainment. Picnic hampers, champers, kids rockpooling, it was just like being at the seaside...
Hot Club du Nord: Emma Fisk (violin); James Birkett (guitar); Bruce Rollo (double bass)
Emma Fisk's Hot Club du Nord pitched up as a trio. Absentee guitarist Dave Harris had gone and booked himself a holiday, that's what you call poor diary management, Mr H! This Can't Be Love opened the programme, the sound excellent, hats off to the sound engineers. Across some forty five minutes Emma and the boys were never less than superb. Ain't Misbehavin', Minor Swing, solos all round, appreciated by a listening audience.
An outdoor gig can prove to have many distractions, here on the coast at Seaham they were relatively flew, so few the more demanding, intimate numbers - Nuages and A Nightingale Sang in Berkeley Square - worked a treat. Exactly Like You swung and the set-closing Sweet Georgia Brown rattled along. Emma Fisk, James Birkett and Bruce Rollo delivered the goods. We have come to expect nothing less.
From Hot Club jazz to red hot rhythm and blues. The Revolutionaires have been around for many a year. Fronted by 'Fast Eddie', the Revs are hugely popular, invariably attracting a dancing crowd and it was no different here in Seaham. From Tequila to Fats Domino's Last Night to Blue Suede Shoes, if an all-action show is your thing, this was the place to be. Zoot suit 'n' braces, the Revs were winning themselves a whole new audience. Shake, Rattle and Roll, bootin' tenor from Al Bland, these guys knew exactly what they're doing.
Guitarist James Duffy joined the band to play I'm Tore Down, trading licks with Ed 'Fast Eddie' Stephenson, the latter not remotely interested in trying to emulate the Freddie King falsetto. To close a hugely entertaining set, the Revs' piece de resistance, Eddie Boy's Jump. Wow! High-octane harmonica playing, for showmanship Little Richard would have been hard-pushed!
Fine weather, food and drink, a top class double bill at North Road Amphitheatre, who could ask for anything more? Russell
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