Please excuse me here for copying and pasting this I day review @ the Rory fest. I did for Daniel Gallagher..
When he asked me "How was your weekend in Ballyshannon"?
Yes I absolutely had a fab Rory fest yet again. I must tell you the last day Sunday, was an incredible feast of superb music throughout the whole day.. Starting at !2 noon with Barry Barnes with his usual Rory anyone can play Jamboree @ The Bridgend Bar East Port Rd. To 3am in seeing my young friend Jamie Clague from the Wirral near Liverpool, who travel last year for the first time to The Rory Fest with me. Yet played himself excellently with his band this year at a few gigs. In between I saw Mississippi Sheiks briefly with David Hawkins (Deuce band lead guitarist vocals) whom I met for the first time, lovely guy. That was @ Rory Gallagher Place. Following them were my good friends from Derry where your Dad was born. Zero Resistance aka Troublesome Bucks and my other great friends The Sinnerboy's. Whom I did a little help and roadie work with their new drummer Dave Burgess who's played before with Richie Blackmore no less. Btw, Giles O'Hara (ZR) played Secret Agent and Barry Barnes (SB) Bullfrog Blues With Rory's slide you and Tom kindly passed on to me
The Big Top Concert just put the icing on the cake for me. Barry Barnes warmed the crowd up with some of his passionate and emotional charged acoustic Rory tunes such as WWW. A newbie to the fest followed Barry on stage. Laurence Jones Band. This guy just had me spell bound like when I saw Rory live years ago. Only 21 years old yet plays like he's a veteran. He's class with a Clapton sort of image but plays with the passion of Hendrix and Rory. Someone's put a clip on youtube of the so called LJB but it is not them it's another band. Laurence did say some lovely words about Rory before he played his last tune. Bullfrog Blues. His own tunes are very memorable and quite catchy. I said straight afterwards to my friends. I am definitely a fan now of Laurence and his band. This band were followed on stage by Bernie Marsden (Whitesnake) and his band. Bernie as you probably know was the first guy to be honored by your father to play Rory strat @ a Tribute gig in Buxton in 1996. Bernie also did an album a couple of years ago called Bernie plays Rory. He had the Ballyshannon audience in the palm of his hands this Sunday evening. Playing classic Whitesnake tunes such as " Fool For Your Lovin' No More " and more. Finishing with a Rory song as Laurence did before his encore, Some really kind and lovely word. About how Rory was such a great inspiration to lots young guitarist like himself in the late 60's into the 70's.Leading into a great version of Continental Op to finish with
Johnny Gallagher was the final act of the evening at The Big Top. I must admit I didn't stay for the whole of this show. As I seen Johnny's great performances many times. I promised Jamie Clagues's father Paul, who stayed, first time @ The Fest at the guest house where we stay every year . That I would meet him for a last drink, on way back to guest house, In East Port Rd. At The Lantern Bar. Where The Jamie Clague Band played as I said earlier their final gig. Which was absolutely Rockin'
More days review of The Rory fest will follow.
Rock On for Rory
Slainte, Jay Jay
