Day Two....Wang, Dang, Doodle....!

Marcus.....SuperHero of The Day

Pausing only to brush the detritus off the headwear, lie down and dream of empty beaches, ingest a large amount of coffee and various other liquids and expensive body tonics, The Hat changed his quills and took his dancin' feet back into Hebden Bridge. What an opening day! Einstein was definitely on to something when he is supposed to have said when asked about his theory... "My discovery was the result of musical perception..." Yesterday, The Hat moved from Friday perception to Saturday enlightment. I could now write a self-help book on why the Hebden Blues Festival will change your life....forever... but don't panic – I shall leave that for later...The multi-faceted Hat couldn't get everywhere – but here's a taste of another stunning day of blues....

Babajack played to a jumpin' house at Bar place. Where d'ya start? Fronted by Beccy Tate on percussion and vocals, this acoustic blues band play across every boundary. With songs like 'Gallows Pole' and 'Rooster Blues' we ran the gamut of emotions. Trevor Steger effortlessly moved from slide to harp to winebox and laid his Tom Waites voice on us like fire on dry tinder. Passion and tenderness and rockin' from these guys. You can see why they are on the Blues Awards nomination list...

Unable to move for fear that an HBBF groupie might steal his place at the bar, The Hat stayed on for Rabbit Foot. Was that a smart Non Move! Not only did The Hat get to hear a fabulous set but I fear he fell totally and helplessly In Love with yet another female musician...along with 200 others.. This band is phenomenal. Just three people working a room to make it sound like an arena concert. Fronted by the beautiful and hugely talented singer Carla Viegas firing up the African drums, Andy Whitely on bass and with Captain Jamie Morgan playing out of his skin on guitar, they really know how to party. There was a wonderful moment when the guitar and vocals exchanged echo 'fours'. Quite brilliant. Tight, fast, exciting but taking time to occasionally take a breath and woo us with a slow number, this group must surely be one of the discovery hits of the festival. It was so good to see the foot tapping and dancing and when Jamie hit the floor with probably the longest ever version of 'All Night Long' in the history of the world, you knew you had seen the Festival Party, there and then...

Down at the Picture House the Bluekings had the unenviable job of stepping in at the last minute after a cancellation and they saved the day with aplomb. Dashing in from Weatherby Yorkshire, these guys put the pedal to the metal and never let go. A fabulous wall of sound of solid blues, they rocked through the classics with a harpist vocal front man getting the stomping feet going. Thank you guys!

Sprinting the fifty yards back to Blue Horizon (joke), The Hat was overwhelmed by Stuart James. He has played with Dr Feelgood and Joe Bonamassa and ain't no slouch. Playing hard-drive rock blues, Stuart takes no prisoners and just smashed it brilliantly to the delight of a packed house. The Hat has to report a Magic Festival Moment. Just as Stuart kicked into the Rory Gallacher number 'Baby I Want You', our Paddy Maguire (Rory's biggest fan) walked in. It was Rory's birthday as well. Paddy's beam could have powered the Main Stage for a week.

The Festival headliner Todd Sharpville delivered everything expected and more. Playing with a group of absolutely top flight musicians in the shape of Paddy Milner on keyboards, Pete Clark bass and the astonishing Mark Teixeira on drums, he held the stage and our gaze for every second. He has great crack with the audience and you can see the rapport with his band players. There were some wonderful moments.When they played 'Everything will be alright', Paddy felt obliged to top and tail it with an outrageous dsplay of keyboard virtuosity; and Todd's version of 'I need you so bad' was taken from slow poignant brilliance to a no holds barred rip-em-up - and oh, what a delight to see a drummer get the opportunity to take a proper break and show his mind-blowing spectacular skills. Gifted musicians having fun is a no-brainer as a spectacle. How could you not enjoy Paddy doing some ostentatious double handed keyboard slapping on 'Red Headed Woman' and almost turn it into a square dance! And don't forget Genghis, Todd's dog, who is clearly a HebdenFest Groupie. Also The Hat is anxious to say how nice it was to hear Todd, who has a great line in stage chat, take time to thank the festival organisers and pay tribute to the vibe they have created in such a short time. Brilliant Band, Nice People. Hot Night. Wang Dang Doodle....

Back for the Mad Paddy Jam. The Hat and Genghis and what seemed like a thousand others packed in to see the talent let its hair down. All the day's heroes were there, but let the Hat pay respects to just two of them. It was good to see Richard Kershaw, Hooson's guitarist up on stage despite battling some fearful pestilence and also the seriously understated Marcus Lazurus up there giving us 'Take a Look at Yourself' after doing a billion hours stage managing everyone else. He is The Hat's SuperHero of The Day.

Well, dunno about you, but I gotta get a cure for this soon.... this blues thing, know what I mean....

Pip Pip!

The Man In The Hat.