Day One: A Good Hair Day at Hebden.....and Yoof Blues rocks....

The first day of The Last Festival didn't disappoint. The first day has never disappointed before and why would it now? Solid talent wall to wall is what the fans have come to expect and once again, the organisers have delivered. The Hat popped into a few of the dozens of gigs on offer.

The short blue straw for opening on the Main Stage this year went to Julian Burdock, who may be known to many of you when wearing his 24 Peso hat. That fine blues band played at the first Hebden festival so there is a nice serendipity about

Julian appearing at the Last Festival. With his dobro and several other guitars to hand and an array of superb electronic backing loops, synth keyboard and magic, he took the audience on an exciting opening ride. When he finally broke into the rousing 'Whoa Black Betty”, the Chapel once again turned into the 'church of the bouncing beer' as his audience responded with the great stomp and call. It struck The Hat at this point that here was someone who should be snapped up by Bestival where he could cheerfully rock a tentful of two thousand stompers. Great start to the day.

Did the slow sedate Hatwalk across to The Crown bar where the hugely talented and unnervingly young Alex McKown was taking the place apart with a rocking set with many numbers

from his new CD 'Go With The Flow'. The Hat has always been a fan of his accomplished guitar style and with the mature and fluent sax of Simon Peat alongside him the band really delivered. It is a joy to watch Alex as a 'work in progress' and his stage presence and the projection of his phenomenal solos just get better and better. He is nominated, quite rightly, yet again for a Young Artist British Blues Award. This young man is heading upward and onwards at speed and you can guarantee we will be seeing much, much more of him in times to come.

Dave Migden and The Twisted Roots were now holding court on the Main Stage. This is an electrifying six piece who cross all the genre boundaries. They have a huge UK fan base and know how to bring an audience to its feet. The multi-talented

Dave Migden himself (formerly The Dirty Words - his CV takes in Matt Schofield and Ian Siegal) is up for Best Blues Singer again this year and you can see why this rocking band will be on everybody's check list.

Rushing slowly in the rain to another of the Free Juke Joints, The Hat managed to catch up with Jed Thomas at Marshalls Bar. Seen recently at the Orkney Festival with a three piece, the band have added a keyboard, although this didn't appear to significantly change his sound. Without doubt Jed is a hugely talented guitarist, one of those who seems to move easily from mellow, beautifully constructed solos, through staccato rhythm, to classic Telecaster slide. With tight side men leaning into his lead, this was a seriously accomplished and entertaining set.

And so to the First Night Headliners, Virgil and The Accelerators. This is the full package. A trio of ridiculously young, handsomely hirsute and brilliant musicians coming together in an explosive cocktail of blues-rock. Their huge tour schedule means that wherever they have travelled they have gathered devoted fans, their stage performance has been polished to near perfection and their relationship with the gig audience is direct and positively electric.

They surged through a stomping set of both self-penned and

original twists on known classics and seldom did the pace drop. These guys were made for the grand stage and high octane public performance. It seems a pity just to mention front man Virgil as his two extraordinary partners could never be described as side men – but, inevitably, it is Virgil who dominates the proceedings, crouched over his guitar (he uses five during the set) conjuring cool quiet, stunning heavy and show stopping runs and picks that force you to your feet with your fist in the air. One number lasted twenty minutes by all accounts. Nobody noticed the length – just felt the quality.

This is what happened at Hebden - this is what a headline act should do.

And while we're throwing roses...make sure you send a Hatful of thanks to Phil Munt and his fabulous and almost invisible sound team. Not unusual to hear a groan or moan in this department - but not at Hebden where the place rained with compliments for this mighty crew. Pitch perfect...

I will come back later to Paddy and his Midnight Jam – but for the time being, imagine Virgil, Joey and Layla from Detroit Breakdown, Macie Elizabeth singing - all with Ainsley Lister - on one stage - at the same time. Got the picture? Don't tell me you missed it. Two more nights yet. It gets better. The Jam Legend will go on......

Pip Pip!

The Blues Man in The Hat
Thanks as always to our great photographers Craig Shaw, Darren O'Neill and Purple Ambassador Allen.