Only s’posed to Blues the doors off!
The British Bluescasting Corporation
The doors and windows of Bletchingley Village Hall seemed to be rattling away to a foot stomping blues performance by the British Bluescasting Corporation at Bletchfest’s Blues Night …. and the walls and ceilings reverberated along with them.
In the fourth of this year’s Bletchfest arts events an appreciative crowd were on their feet dancing during their set and gave the band a standing ovation at the end of the evening. The British Bluescasting Corporation are an internationally acknowledged British Blues Band whose first album, High Horse, has received rave reviews from Blues publications in the UK, US and elsewhere.
They performed many of the tracks from their album, much of which contains original material, along with new songs and some great blues covers. The event drew a full house and tickets had sold out by the time the event had opened.
Breakthru’
They were supported by Breakthru’ whose repertoire covered songs influenced by blues music drawing on the songbook of artists such as Eric Clapton and JJ Cale among others. Showcased by the band even blues purists would have recognised the influence blues has had on contemporary western music since the 50s. Breakthru’s performance was made all the more remarkable as they were forced to replace two of their members at short notice due to personal circumstances.
Tom Hughes - Sound
Behind the performance the success of the evening owed much to the talents of sound engineer Tom Hughes of Dragonfly Studios and Duncan Hollands for his expertise in lighting and staging, to whom much thanks are due. Volunteers from the Bletchfest committee served drinks from the licensed bar along with hotdogs and popcorn for those needing to replenish their energy reserves during a hectic night of exciting music.
Duncan Hollands - Stage & Lighting
The Blues themed concert was our first such event and the thought is to continue with future themed concerts using different musical genres. Our next concert may be Reggae/Ska themed, or perhaps Swing or Folk. Maybe Jazz or Country? What would you most like to hear? Do please share your thoughts with us in the comments box below.
Were you at Blues Night? Did you take any good pictures or videos? If so mail them to bletchfest@gmx.co.uk and we’ll put the best ones up on our website!
Supported by a vibrant and enthusiastic local community it was good to fill the hall and attract others to the village as a great venue for performing and visual arts. Now in its second year Bletchfest has brought a comedy night, artists and artisans exhibition, outdoor music festival and now themed music concert as annual events to the village. Next year’s events kick off just 6 days into the new year with a pantomime, reintroduced to the village for the first time in many years, on the 6th January which along with other planned events (comedy night is already booked for the 27th April) will mean a minimum of 5 events in 2024.
Bletchfest is an initiative of Grange Meadow CIC, a not-for-profit community interest company raising funds for local community projects. Building on our success depends on greater engagement with the community in all aspects of the arts, whether visual or performing so do please get in touch via our website if you wish to share your ideas or projects with us.