20/12/2016
I've decided to allow myself one Blues Poster at home as a momento of 11 great years of Blues Nights.
Which one should it be?
There were so many outstanding candidates - nights when bands hit the ground running and nailed us to the back wall with a breathtaking performance - nights when we were challenged by a new voice or style or just taken to a new plane and shown what might come next.
I'm settling on last Friday's 'Ultimate Blues Night' because I'll never forget it.
And not just because it was the last one.
Alright; so I was on first with the Rag and Moan Men and yes; we played a very decent set with particularly fine performances from Messrs Wood and Geraghty and we did have a great time.
Then Station House did a very fine job of thrilling us with their spectacular, at times, delicate skill coupled with enormous power when they felt it suited.
Black and White (Two thirds of a man) is a song that will stay with me for a long time, truth and conviction is rarely so eloquently expressed.
Then, to put a solid gold full stop on Blues at South Street came Julia Titus who tore up the rule book and growled and buzzed her way through Queen Bee to the acclaim of the audience, the band then revved up Careless Love and Julia took us up to closing time with a swing.
However we didn't feel the need to behave anymore and when encores were demanded Sam obliged with an extra quarter of an hour. (How naughty!)
And so it was over, from November 05 to December 16 - not a bad run.
We shook hands, we cuddled, we signed posters and we left, not unhappy at what was over but glowing with the memories of what we'd had.
Thanks are due to those who worked so hard to make Friday work - Tim-in-the-box who made us sound so good and bathed us in gold light. My colleagues Wood and Geraghty who would have cancelled Wembley to make this gig for me. Sam and his outstanding Station House Band who closed up so well for us. Julia Titus who always perks us up and carries the Christmas spirit with her all year. The painstaking South Street crew who have always treated us old and moth-eaten Blues Fans with more deference and respect than we deserve. Our sponsors without whom we would have foundered a long time ago and the helpers who put themselves out to carry some of the burden for us.
MOST IMPORTANTLY - the people who came month after month and paid over their hard-won cash for something they might never have heard of, because we said it was worth it. Our audience are true patrons of the arts - making the effort - rain or shine. Thank you all for 133 nights of fun.
Keep up the Good Work.
Andy
