Review by Tim Marcus with photos from Sam Conquest Photography
We’re back on site at Springbok Park for the third and final day of this year’s Alfold Rock and Blues Festival; our tenth day of festivaling this summer as we reflect on the fact that so far the British summer weather has been quite kind to us. We had a couple of brief showers here yesterday however the forecast today is looking far more ominous as they show that this quiet corner of Surrey lies right in the path of some electrical storms that are due to pass over later today to signal a break in the good weather. For now though things are OK as we await the first band of the day, the Martin Burch Band, again, one of a number of artists appearing today whom I’ve not seen or heard before.
The Martin Burch Band are a Leicester based blues power trio comprising Martin himself on guitar and vocals, Martin Piranha on bass and lead vocals and Dave Rowe on drums and backing vocals. They kick things off with a great cover of the modern blues classic, Freddie King’s “Going Down” followed by a track of their own called “Eyes of Evil”.
I’m loving the huskiness of the lead vocal from Martin (Piranha) as we also hear “Born with the Blues” and a great version of “I Just Want to Make Love to You”. We then get another original song from the band, “Hoodoo Stew” before it’s back to another cover, this time in the shape of Bad Company’s “The Hunter”. They round things off with “Hand Me Down” and a song we’ve already heard once this weekend, Rory Gallagher’s “Messin’ With The Kid.”
I should mention too at this stage that yesterday we were given a message that is re-confirmed once again this morning that unfortunately tonight’s headliners, When Rivers Meet, will not be able to perform today as Aaron Bond has been hospitalised in Norway following a fall he suffered shortly before they were due to perform at a festival there on Friday.
The good news is that his injury, whilst not too serious is serious enough to mean that he’s there for a couple of days and unable to travel. On the positive side however we were told that Festival Director Dave Rees has been able to secure a last minute replacement and that a certain Mr. Dom Martin will be playing here today instead. Now I wish no ill feeling whatsoever toward Aaron and send him nothing but good wishes however I’m sure that when this was announced yesterday, and again today, there were many people I noticed, whilst sypmathising with Aaron and Grace, who were finding it very difficult indeed from keeping a smile off their face on hearing this news!
The Bluesy start to the day continues with the next band to take to the Alfold stage and that’s the Gary Fletcher Band, Gary perhaps being best known for his work as bass player with The Blues Band. Today he’s fronting his own band which sees him accompanied by five other great musicians including the much sought after Alan Glen on harmonica and a fiddle/violin player.
It’s another great, but in common with many, short set from the band today but sufficient for me to appreciate not only the music but the soft and gentle quality of the vocals that accompanied it throughout. Stand out tracks for me that we heard from the band were covers of Willie Dixon’s “I’m Ready” and Oscar Wills’s “Flatfoot Sam”.
Next on stage it’s a significant change in pace as we greet four piece 1970s style heavy rockers from South London, Ransom. In recent times Ransom have appeared at some of the smaller rock festivals across the country including Firevolt, Call of The Wild, and Planet Rockstock as well as sharing stages in a support band capacity with the likes of Massive Wagons, Skid Row, The Darkness, Girlschool, Ugly Kid Joe, The Gypsy Pistoleros, to name but a few
Fronted by the far from shy, Matt Fielder (whose appearance suggests that he’s possibly the result of an illicit relationship between Saxon’s Biff Byford and the late great Rick Parfitt!), they churn out a great set of classic heavy rock songs, the titles of which have that genre running right through them; “Even Nuns Watch Porn”, “Enter The Dragon”, “Predator”, “High Bank Roll Commodity”, “Hell Fuck Yeah” and “Back To The Boozer”.
Throughout the set which also includes a great cover of ZZ Top’s “Tush”, Matt is ably backed up by the remainder of the band, Dave Barlow (guitar), Zach Barlow (bass) and Zippy Lee (drums). Well it is 3pm now so that’s everyone well and truly woken up from their Sunday slumber!
From the sublime to the……classy and it’s time for the day’s novelty act. I use that term in the nicest possible sense and don’t mean it to be derogatory in any way whatsoever.
However as regular festival goers will know, every festival always seems to include one act that is just a little bit different to everything else on show; a little bit left field; a little bit off piste and that’s just what we have next with the wonderful sixteen piece Glenn Miller Orchestra, led and conducted by veteran band leader, 94 year old Ray McVay! In addition to its instrumental members, also joining the 16 piece orchestra are vocalists Mark Porter and Catherine Sykes.
As things get underway there’s some concern being shown as whilst it’s still dry here, rumbles of thunder can be heard in the background and in the far distance lightning can be seen lighting up the ever darkening sky. About fifteen minutes into the set our worst fears are realised as the storm seems to have made directly for Alfold. In no time at all it’s raining heavily and the lightning continues to light up the sky. Stage Manager Trevor Rapson quickly takes to the front of the stage to announce that for safety reasons the stage, now looking similar to the deck of the Titanic, is being cleared and events are suspended until the electrical storm has passed. Festival goers are advised for their own safety, if possible, to evacuate the field and return to their camper vans or to take shelter in the main building here on Springbok Park.
Whilst some take the advice and disappear immediately others choose to sit it out, taking cover in what little space remains within the merch tent and bar area. Others choose to simply remain seated where they were with only their waterproofs for protection: a couple of the photographers there (now affectionately christened “The Snap Pack”) have even taken cover underneath the stage before they’re spotted and beckoned into the safety of one of the “green room” tents used back stage by the bands! After a delay of around forty minutes the storm seems to have passed and thankfully the orchestra are beginning to reassemble on stage to continue where they left off before the interruption.
Whether the effect of the rain interruption made the resumption of music even more enjoyable than it might otherwise have been I’m not sure however I have to say that for the remaining thirty minutes or so everyone’s up at the front of the stage bopping away to the likes of “Moonlight Serenade”, “Pennsylvania Six‐Five Thousand”, “Little Brown Jug”, “Chattanooga Choo Choo” and “In the Mood”. As things move towards a close it starts to rain again, not like before, just a steady drizzle but it does nothing to dampen spirits on what has been a highly entertaining and eventful set from The Glenn Miller Orchestra.
Unfortunately however there is a knock on effect from what has happened over the last hour or so. As I’m sure everyone appreciates, like many other outdoor events, festivals are subject to licenses and curfews etc and therefore have to run to a very regimented timescale. The time we’ve lost this afternoon means that one of today’s acts still to come has to be cut from the running order. Sadly for them, and of course those who were looking forward to seeing them, the short straw has been drawn by True Deceivers who were originally due to be following The Glenn Miller Orchestra onto the stage. By all accounts they’ve been both understanding and accepting of this enforced decision and can take consolation from the promise of a spot at next year’s staging of the festival.
For now though Troy Redfern is preparing to come on stage and regrettably the heavens have opened once again and for a second time todaythe vast majority have scattered to take shelter wherever they can. Fortunately this time around there’s no accompanying lightning and much to the amusement of those who have remained while Troy continues with his preparations, the sound crew now have Creedence Clearwater Rival’s “Have You Ever Seen The Rain” blaring from the speakers!
As the rain continues Troy gets his set underway, more or less on time as he entertains us for the next fifty minutes. I’ve seen Troy many times and he performs in many guises. Sometimes as a solo artist, sometimes as part of a full three piece band however today it’s a duo, as was the case I think when Troy first performed at Alfold, just him and a drummer.
Troy is an absolute wizard with the slide and steel strings and for me personally he’s at his best when he’s not alone on stage as it allows him to focus on that and not worry about providing all the instrumentation himself. If you’re a fan of Troy Redfern then you know exactly what you’re going to get and today is no different as he delivers a great set of raw, bare to the bone blues,
interspersed with screaming slide guitar solos. Amongst the songs we hear from Troy this afternoon are, “Take Me High”, “John The Revelator”, “Come On” and “Wait For Your Love”.
The enforced withdrawal of When Rivers Meet today has meant that The Blockheads have now been “promoted” to headliners so our penultimate act of the day, and indeed of the whole festival for this year, is this weekend’s super sub, Dom Martin. Despite the short notice I’m pleased to see that it’s a full band show that Dom’s giving us today and he’s supported by his regular right hand man and friend on bass guitar, Ben Graham. Sitting on the drum stool though is someone I’ve not seen with Dom before, well not in this capacity anyway, it’s one half of his management team, Fenton Parsons.
There’s no real surprises in Dom’s set list for tonight (not that he’s had much notice to prepare any!) and he kicks things off by dedicating his performance this evening to Grace and Aaron Bond (of When Rivers Meet) before launching into the bluesy and upbeat “Unhinged”. Things get a little grittier next as we hear “Daylight I Will Find” and “Belfast Blues”. “Hell For You” and “Howlin” follow before Dom takes a walk around the field amongst the crowd as he gives us a great version of “Spoonful” the Willie Dixon song from 1960 that’s been covered by many great artists in the past including Etta James and Cream to name but two.
And talking of covers, no Dom Martin set is complete without a Rory Gallagher cover. Rory was a great musical hero of Dom’s and many who were around at the time say that Dom is the closest thing they’ve seen to Rory since the great man himself: The song we hear is “Used to Be”. This short but fantastic set comes to an end all too soon, however what Dom, Ben and Fenton leave us with is a treat of a jam, an extended “Dixie Black Hand” morphing into “Mercy” with plenty of great soloing throughout. The set has only lasted around an hour but no one’s complaining and the good news is that Dom will be returning to Alfold next year as a headliner.
Finally having worked our way through 20 plus bands and some awful weather in the last few hours, it’s time for tonight’s headliners and the final band of this year’s festival, The Blockheads. Now I’ve seen The Blockheads many times in the past however tonight is the first time I’ve seen them since the passing of front man Derek “The Draw” Hussey so I’m interested to hear what current singer Mike Bennett brings to the band. It’s also the first time I’ve seen them without original bassist Norman Watt Roy who’s now off doing other things.
Any uncertainty I may have had disappears as soon as the band strike up their first note. It’s clear that Mike has fitted in perfectly and he comes across as even more Ian Dury like than his predecessor and his delivery of the poetic nature of Dury’s lyrics is spot on. To all intents and purposes the set we hear from The Blockheads tonight, who still retain original members Chaz Jankel, Mick Gallagher and John Turnbull, is a greatest hits party as the very recognisable songs just keep coming at us one after the other.
They kick things off with “Sex and Drugs and rock n roll” and there’s one new song in the set called “Liberty”, a song we’re told was inspired by the last election! Other songs we hear from the Blockheads tonight in their celebration of Ian Dury are; “I Wanna Be Straight”, “I’m Partial To Your Abracadabra”, “What A Waste”, “Billericay Dickie”, “Sweet Gene Vincent”, “Clever Trevor”, “Reasons To Be Cheerful Pt3”, “Hit Me With Your Rhythm Stick” and “Blockheads”.
It’s been a great ending to a great festival and for the fifth year in a row I’ve thoroughly enjoyed my time here in the Surrey Countryside. But there’s more. Much of next year’s lineup has already been revealed with flyers displaying the names of some of those due to be here in twelve months time on display around the site. So already we’re looking forward to the likes of; When Rivers Meet, Sari Schorr, Dom Martin, Never The Bride, Will Wilde, Chantel McGregor, Wille and The Bandits, The Milk Men, Gerry Jablonski, Connor Selby, Blue Nation, The True Deceivers, Burning Rope to name just some. Early bird tickets are available now and can be found on the link below. If you’ve never been to Alfold Rock and Blues before then maybe 2026 is the year for you.
https://alfoldrockblues.com/tickets
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