y ogb linton beer & music festival 2007

Ok, I know this isn't about travel, or road trips, or motorbikes but it was a bloody good event so it's getting a mention here......Ok?

The Linton blues Festival has taken place annually for the past 7 years or so. Being held on or around the same weekend as the larger Glastonbury event, it's quite surprising that the weather's usually not too bad! This year was no exception, so whilst Glastonbury disappeared under yet another quagmire of mud and shite, Linton escaped with now't but the odd shower.

This years event was the first I'd been to, the reason for my interest in this years event being the fact that one of the bands in the line up includes a fine bass guitarist, who I had the pleasure of meeting a few years ago, Jules Van Bussel. Jules hails from Holland, is a good mate of one of my friends and plays in a Dutch Blues band called "Phil Bee & The Buzz Tones". The band are becoming quite big on the blues scene in other European countries, but this was their first gig in the UK, and judging by the reception that they received from the Linton Festival crowd, it won't be their last - they're pretty damned good!

The event takes place in a sleepy little Herefordshire village called Linton (obviously!) on a large sloping field behind the "Alma Inn" which is the local village pub. Just what the locals make of this 3 day music & beer event isn't logged! But, being in it's 7th year local opposition can't be too great, otherwise some some sad N.I.M.B.Y would have put a stop to it well before now! The large sloping field makes a wonderful natural amphitheatre, with a typically English countryside scene acting as a backdrop to the stage.

The Alma Inn, in sleepy Linton. It's in a field behind here that the festival takes place

Alongside the music, the organisers ship in some local brewed ales. There are about 20 odd varieties with daft names like "Black Poo Pear" & "Cogshitters Nuts" ........that may have lost something in the translation but you get the idea! The problem is that they serve it in plastic pint pots, and while I appreciate the reasons for doing so, it makes any ale - no matter how good - taste like shite! If I go again I'm taking my own Flaggon!

Another good act were the "Ian Seigal Band" a country / blues outfit.
Each band do sets lasting about an hour and a half

Of course, like any type of festival there are the ubiquitous characters milling about, here are just a few we saw enjoying the music, getting pissed and not giving toss....................

This guy looked a bit scary so I chickened out of a front shot in case he lamped me one!

The organisers chuck out lines of hay bales for the audience to sit on....you don't get them doing THAT at Glastonbury!

The idea of the festival is to raise money for charity, so there are the usual fund raising auctions etc, run by the shows compare - a large jolly farmer called Les! He's bloody hilarious, quite whether he means to be or not is open to debate but he kept us amused for a while.

After all the auction nonsense it was time for Jules' band to come on stage. For the (almost) 2 hours they were on stage they had the whole place rockin'..........A superb band of very accomplished musicians, the young lead guitarist Stanley Patty was truly excellent, treating us to great blues "licks" - he's a very gifted lad.

We spoke for a while about guitars...... Stanley Patty - superb blues guitarist
the clear but chunky sounds of his Telecaster cut through the the rest of the
band's sound like a knife through butter

Phil Bee - a great singer with a real blues voice, and Jules playing his Gibson EB2 bass guitar with drummer
Peter Steeghs keeping it all together with his solid drumming at the back

Stanley (now changed over to his Strat) Jules and keyboard player
Colly Franssen in Jamming mode!t

So, to sum it all up, the Linton Blues Festival is a great little event, friendly with great beer (shame about having to drink it out of plastic pots though). The food catering is far better than you usually find at these events and doesn't cost a kings ransom........Yeah, I'll back next year.