Professional and semi-professional musicians try to play in public as much as possible. This usually means gigging mostly in pubs and restaurants that offer live music for their clientele. Such exposure is a double-edged sword for the musicians when they get the opportunity to perform in a dedicated hall, hired for the evening and necessitating an entry fee to cover the expenses.
On the one hand, they need both the income and the exposure of allowing their audience to see them for free in a pub, on the other, elements of their audience may be reluctant to pay to see an act they feel they can see elsewhere whilst dodging the ticket price.
With this in mind, it was no mean feat that the accomplished three-piece blues band, The Big Blue, attracted a large enough audience to make the Nutley War Memorial Hall comfortably full on Friday, 19 June.
For fans who made the journey a few miles north from the band’s usual stomping ground, the treat was to see this band play on a big stage in a big hall with a big sound.
And big it was. Band leader, Stuart’s vocals were on fire this evening, with songs like Money, I Shot the Sheriff, Badge and I Loved Another Woman taking on added depth. As always, his guitar skills were exemplary and I could see several axe players in the audience positively salivating at his skills.
Solid backing was provided by Andy Williams on bass and Peter Turtle on drums. One felt invited into their inner sanctum hearing the banter passing between these three musicians who have a long history of performing as a trio. Their familiarity showed in the execution of the songs. Each instinctively knew where the other was going and when. It was a joy to experience.
A further attraction was the fabulous support provided by the duo that is Bob Melrose and Phil Tripp who tackled songs other acoustic duos might balk at tackling such as Everybody Wants to Rule the World, Don’t Let the Sun Go Down on Me and Purple Rain. I’ve previously written about guitarist, Bob Melrose and his band, but this is my first time mentioning his collaboration with Phil. Phil has a superb voice – one that I would compare with Tony Hadley and, as such, the songs they chose were performed with 1980s-style aplomb.
The audience, who were primarily there to see The Big Blue, clearly lapped up this additional treat. The only downside was that Bob and Phil had performed all their rehearsed songs by the time they were called on for an encore. They’re both so busy with various projects that they hadn’t had time to prepare an extra. Still, that left their new fans panting for more and planning to see them again as the guys plan to add to their already impressive set.
The evening was organised and promoted by Graham Pope, probably East Sussex’s best-known promoter of this type of show. Graham puts a great deal of hard work into organising such events and all for the love of the music. It’s this dedication that makes his shows so special and worthwhile.
If you enjoy live music, I urge you to attend events wherever you can, even if it means occasionally paying to see a band you’d usually see for free. Only by doing so can we continue to enjoy the fruits of the labour and talent of people like Graham Pope, Bob, Phil and The Big Blue.
Email Graham Pope to be added to his mailing list for notification of future events.
Visit The Big Blue website for future gigs.
