The Caversham Festival is a free festival for the community and features all kinds of live entertainment and the Arts in general.
The close of this year’s event was a spectacular samba band complete with mardi-gras dancers, belly dancers and a Bollywood styled group, that really got things moving.
However, immediately prior to that and in almost perfect unison with the Heavens opening, came Backbone Blues Band.
Although this may not be the perfect environment for a blues band, the infectious music and repartee kept most of the large crowd inside the huge stage area to enjoy an hour and twenty minutes of some great tunes and first rate playing.
Playing a set of almost exclusively original songs could be considered risky at an event with such an eclectic audience, but Backbone pulled it off with great aplomb. Catchy choruses, well constructed melodies and excellent execution, clearly as a result of lots of rehearsal, ensured the audience not only stayed with the band, but also sang along during the call and response numbers with great enthusiasm.
The twin guitars of Tony Seaman and Frank McConnell not only soar brilliantly over the riffs and rhythms laid down by Highet on bass and Martin Jezzard on drums, but are accompanied by the swirling Hammond and piano sounds provided expertly by Steve Pearce on keys.
From the very off it was obvious to everyone that this was no local band just having a bit of a go. The blues anthem “Down Home Blues” burst seamlessly into life from a clever spoken introduction from front man and singer Duncan Highet and we were off. Notable original songs included a Seaman penned “Ain’t no use” and the eponymous title track from their new album “Which Way To The Blues” by Highet.
The growing crowd demanded an encore and Backbone delivered, with a superb version of Tommy Castro’s “Back up plan” and finished with the rousing and ever popular “Hoochie Coochie Man”.
Despite the rain, a great afternoon of music and fun was had by all and Backbone Blues Band made quite a few fans along the way, me included.
