Harvest Time Blues Festival

EXCUSE me, but was this a Blues Festival or an endurance test? Harvest Time Blues is a mixture of both, for while there's no denying that the four day event consists of some of the best international names in rising and established blues and jazz, there is also little doubt that too much is expected from the punters, who began on Saturday night at 9.30, fresh as daisies, only to wither come the end of the music almost seven hours later.

With three venues in the Hillgrove Hotel catering for blues and jazz acts of varying stature, there was no shortage of places to roam in and out of, catching either the superb acoustic finger picking blues of Louisiana's Chris Smither, or the 1950s blues guitar techniques of Englishmen Jim Murray and Martin Fletcher.

The main stage support act of Canadian Jordan Patterson introduced funk into blues and R&B, with Patterson's revue style showmanship and guitarist Sean Kellerman's swift phrasings causing mayhem with people's bone structures.

Headliner Phil Guy induced even the old and infirm to boogie the night away. A small Chicago bluesman wearing shades and a battered brown suede jacket, Guy is the owner of as distinctive a guitar style as his somewhat more famous brother, Buddy. His fluid guitar movements within songs that ranged from chunky blues numbers to smouldering, lust fuelled ballads hit the spot every time. But even Guy's proficiency couldn't stem the flow of people leaving the venue come 3 a.m. Tiredness had set in for quite a number of the audience and, as they sluggishly made their way past hotel porters, the overriding impression was one of time and talent being wasted.