Blues Boy Kings + Southbound + The Billy Walton Band + Laurence Jones + Connie Lush + King King
Pleasure Island, Cleethorpes – Sunday June 19th 2016
All Images Copyrighted Manny Manson
Pleasure Island, Cleethorpes was the chosen Venue again for the 6th Annual Cleethorpes Blues Festival.
6 great bands had been brought together for an afternoon and evening of some great music.
Local band Blues Boy Kings, complete with stand in drummer, Aaron Virciglio from Southbound, took the first slot and got the crowd taping their feet. Southbound followed on with a great set, young Elliot Stout on guitar totally smashing it. Next came Billy Walton, all the way from the U S of A and it showed. The American totally torn into his set with a dynamic band featuring a brass section clad in sunglasses. Not quiet the Memphis Horns but they did a great job. Laurence Jones easily followed this with another polished set. Roger Inniss on Bass plays with Laurence. Standing over him with that knowing look of ‘is that all you got boy!’. This was especially evident during their guitar duel. This ends up with both guitars screaming bad language at each other. A really enjoyable and entertaining set. The band go from strength to strength. Connie Lush complete with red feathered tifter, followed and to be honest I’d not heard to much about this band. Wow, that was cool. Connie had the theatricals and stage presence that befitted her spot in the line up. full of stories and banter she played a set that got the approval of the fans that had travelled to see her. And then it was time for the mighty King King. This band has certainly put the work in. A seemingly relentless tour schedule both here and in Europe see this band closing a great day. Alan Nimmo, sporting his by now trademark Kilt, takes to the stage with the cheeky banter that he’s renowned for. His breathtaking vocal and guitar work show why this band are nominated for everything in the Blues category. Supported by the very capable Lindsay Coulson on Bass, Wayne Proctor on Drums and Bob Fridzema on Keys, the band punch out a knockout set. Stand out song for me is ‘Jealousy’ by the great Frankie Miller, a fellow Scot. played with such passion it never ceases to impress. Along with ‘Rush Hour’, ‘You Stopped the Rain’, and dedicated to his brother Stevie Nimmo, the awesome track ‘Feels Like Rain’ King King deliver another Royal Performance !
The obvious stand out performances were from Laurence Jones and the mighty King King, and unsurprisingly, neither of them failed. Both these bands have been nominated in several categories in this years British Blues awards and seeing them yet again it is obvious why…
A brilliant event, well done to all
