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Rock & Blues Festival

Venue: Butlins
Town: Skegness
Date: 27th - 29th January 2013
Website: http://www.bigweekends.com/

It hardly seems like yesterday since I was last at the Butlin's Skegness resort for December's Great British Folk Festival, but here I am again in January for its slightly more raucous cousin The Great British Rock & Blues Festival. Unlike its folk counterpart, which is still finding its feet on the festival circuit after just three years, Rock & Blues has now been firmly established with its audience for close to two decades. There are a number of reasons this festival sells out well in advance every year and the extensive and varied lineup is only one of them. High on the list of other reasons has to be the setting here at Butlin's flagship resort on the Lincolnshire coast. Your festival ticket automatically entitles you to a choice of lodgings - all solidly built with not a flimsy tent in sight - and numerous dining options. You can self-cater, pick and choose from various fast food, pub or restaurant options, or go 'all in' with premium dining. And if you choose the Gold apartment option you get what in festival terms can only be described as luxurious accommodation.

But of course we're not just here for the food (no really, we're not!) and no sooner had I digested my Friday evening meal than I found myself awaiting the start of the music on one of the two main stages. The acts on the larger Centre Stage tend towards the bluesier end of the spectrum whereas the slightly smaller Reds caters more for the rock crowd and it's for this reason that I ensconce myself in the Centre Stage seating, at least for this first night, where The Trevor Burton Band are the first act up. Burton was a founder member of The Move, a friend of Noel Redding and contemporary of Jimi Hendrix and he plays a mixture of bluesy guitar rock, boogie woogie and rock 'n' roll. His version of The Move's I Can See The Grass Grow goes down well but I'm more impressed by his slow bluesy reading of Heartbeat Hotel and his guitar sound that is alternately clean-and-sweet and wah-wah-infused. The basic three-piece lineup of drums, bass and guitar will prove to be a mainstay for the weekend and will eventually become a little tired but in this incarnation and at this early stage of proceedings it's a refreshing way to kick things off.

Eddie and the Hotrods are next and any remaining cobwebs are thoroughly blown away by their brusque, punky, pub-rock vibe. Halfway through their set I find myself wondering how I've never gotten around to seeing them before and making a mental note to check them out again if I ever get the chance. Their repertoire rarely strays beyond classic pub-rock territory or their own single releases and their approach is pure rock 'n' roll but neither of these facts are to their detriment. They run through everything from their own Teenage Depression and Do Anything You Wanna Do to the standards Gloria and Woolly Bully at a steady 100 mph. Singer and only remaining original member Barrie Masters is a natural frontman who revels in the attention of the audience despite his relatively young band's occasionally unsuccessful attempts to upstage him. It's still only the first day but the Hotrods are already pencilled in as my festival highlights.

Dutch band Focus headline Friday night on Centre Stage. After the energy of the Hotrods' set their sub-prog, jazz-rock noodlings are at first a bit of a comedown. Singer, flautist and keyboard player Thijs van Leer and drummer Pierre van der Linden survive from the early '70s lineup and are augmented by guitarist Menno Gootjes and bassist Bobby Jacobs. Gootjes particularly impresses with some incredible guitar work but the show definitely belongs to van Leer whose battered Hammond organ - complete with gaffer-taped 'FOCUS' signature - and occasional flute interludes define the Focus sound. By the end of a set that includes Hocus Pocus and Sylvia amongst others they've just about won me over but I can't help leaving with the nagging feeling that the Hotrods would have been a better choice of headliner tonight.

Saturday has a different feel about it, not only because it's the first full day of music but because the crowds have recovered from their Friday travels, enjoyed a hearty breakfast, started to settle into their home-from-home surroundings and can now really start to get a feel for the festival atmosphere. Checking the programme I see that I'm fated to spend most of my time in Centre Stage once again but there will be a couple of chances for me to check out the Reds stage later in the day.

Opening up on Centre Stage this morning is guitarist Laurence Jones, fronting the soon to be over-familiar three-piece guitar, bass and drums set up but doing so with considerable flare. Jones, still in his teens, is a classically trained guitarist who took up electric guitar only relatively recently. His interests are apparently varied but it's clear that Tony McPhee, Rory Gallagher and the ever-present Hendrix are high on his list of influences. His set starts out with relative restraint but it quickly becomes clear that we're in the company of an incredibly gifted guitarist. It's not often you're totally surprised and blown away by a name that is completely new to you but Jones is a revelation. He plays an astonishingly accomplished set of blues-rock guitar and by the end the guitar players in the crowd can't quite decide whether they want to hero worship him or break his youthful fingers. The queue for the merchandise stall that immediately develops as his set ends suggests that the former is in fact the case.

Hundred Seventy Split bill themselves as a high energy blues/rock power trio. The now-familiar three-piece lineup this time consists of current Ten Years After incumbents Joe Gooch on guitar and vocals and Leo Lyons on bass with the addition of drummer Damon Sawyer. Gooch and Lyons formed this side project to concentrate on new material so there are no TYO songs here and whilst their self-imposed description is accurate - they certainly pack a powerful punch - they never quite seem to connect with the audience. It's a pity because their version of Columbus Stockade Blues is mightily impressive but it's quickly followed by a frankly dreadful attempt at Cadillac With Tennessee Plates and this dichotomy characterises a distinctly patchy set.

Saturday evening belongs to another three-piece: Virgil & The Accelerators. Virgil McMahon is joined by brother Gabriel on drums and Jack Timmis on bass. Like Laurence Jones earlier in the day, McMahon is another prodigious young guitarist and they clearly have similar tastes, evidenced by the fact that both pull off impressive Hendrix covers during their sets. The Accelerators have a heavier, dirtier sound than Jones and McMahon's guitar sound is overdriven to an alarming extent at times. Add this to the pronounced groove produced by the Accelerators and a definite funk sensibility to their approach and you have an incredibly exciting band.

I make my first excursions out of Centre Stage on Saturday. Firstly, during the afternoon I take time out to visit the smaller Jaks Bar which is hosting the Roadhouse Jam Session. It's like a terrifying version of karaoke for actual musicians - singers, drummers, bassists and guitarists put their names down at the start of the session and they are randomly selected to form a series of scratch bands who perform right there in front of the audience. It's an approach that makes for some mixed results but it's never less than interesting and you occasionally discover a complete unknown amateur singer or musician who blows you away. It's a great way to spend the odd half hour during the festival - and indeed many people spend their entire festival here - but it's only a brief detour for me.

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