Bruthen Blues Festival 2001

I missed out on the Friday night as I had a Corporate function to play at but did catch the rest of the weekend. I was disappointed to find that all of the action was at the Bruthen Inn - no musical activity outside except for me and another busker. The market stalls only showed up on Saturday, I guess they had other places to be on the Sunday. Compared to previous years you'd think the event was canceled if you were driving through. I managed to busk at the front bar of the Bruthen Inn between the official afternoon and evening sets and had the patrons singing along and having a good time. I was asked to finish up about half an hour before the official evening set started which was disappointing to both me and the patrons.

The weekend has lost a lot of that friendly atmosphere that marked previous events. Friday nights used to be for the locals to strut their stuff and have a bit of fun at a blackboard concert. Not so this year - all rigidly organised with official acts. I was talking with a few young players who were looking forward to participating in the blackboard concerts - they were disappointed too! Oh well, I caught up with old friends and even sold a few CD's - filled in the weekend for me.

Not as hot as last year but still fairly uncomfortable outside.

To keep this review totally accurate I have to say the festival was a success. The reason the festival exists is to raise money for local charities not just to play the blues. $2,000 was raised which is wonderful and I'm sure the Bruthen community are better off for it.