The Adelphi Hotel, Liverpool. Friday/Monday 14/17-March-2025.
A great weekend of music and sightseeing on our first ever visit to Liverpool.
The Liverpool Blues Festival was a new location and organiser for us so an opportunity to hear and see new things, see also [City Break - Liverpool]. We saw eleven bands over three days, some new, some already known. We discovered three new ones we liked and came away with three albums and two T-shirts.
The festival was held in the Adelphi Hotel, an impressive building with a huge lounge that we passed through on our way to the festival venue.
Friday 14th March:
7pm to 8.15pm - Vincent Flatts Band. Four piece: drums, bass, lead guitar, singer. Passed the “every song distinct” test but their sound set up made it hard to hear what the lead was singing and saying. However that did not stop the majority of the audience enthusiastically singing along to Tennessee Whisky. Not really to our taste. ✱
8.45pm to 10pm - The Terraplane Blues Band. One of the bands we’ve seen before. They had the essential harp player for that authentic blues feel. They did an excellent version of C. C. Rider. Mary thought their set felt a bit flatter than usual but not sure if that was the room, the audience or herself. ✱✱½
10.30pm to Midnight - Chantel McGregor. We saw Chantel at Blackpool in January and decided she wasn’t really to our taste so ducked out for an early night.
Saturday 15th March:
2pm to 3.15pm - Alex Fawcett. Caught the tail end of their set but not enough to form a view on their merits.
3.45pm to 5.15pm - Tom Killner. I thought they were better than last time, less country, but still too much so for Mary’s taste. They also had a self-indulgent battle guitar vs keyboardist which dragged on and added little to the set. The muddied sound setup did them no favours - the instruments came over as wall of fuzz. ✱½
7pm to 8.15pm - McHales Permanent Brew. The keyboard player was key to their sound. Their PA set up meant a cleaner sound than Tom Killner whereby you could hear the distinct instruments. A great new find, great rocking blues and, from the chats between songs eg entreating us all to be kind, they seemed to be lovely people. ✱✱✱
8.45pm to 10pm - The Milk Men. As previously seen at Skegness and Blackpool, they put on an enjoyable, high energy show. ✱✱✱
10.30pm to Midnight - Brave Rival. Unsurprisingly the highlight of the day. We are definitely fans now and have the t-shirts. “Stay Brave!” is their motto. ✱✱✱✱
Sunday 16th March:
2pm to 3.15pm - Thomas Heppell. Classic blues sound. When we compared notes it turned out the neither of us were convinced about the drummer. He was lacking a certain fluidity / smoothness which detracted from an otherwise good performance. ✱½
3.45pm to 5.15pm - Will Wilde. Good musicianship, voice and harp, but perhaps not distinctive enough to stand out from the competition. ✱✱
7pm to 8.15pm - Chris Bevington Organisation. Very enjoyable big band sound with ten performers on stage. The only act of the weekend with a brass section which gave the act a real boost. ✱✱
8.45pm to 10pm - Zac Shulze Gang. High energy with a bit of shredding thrown in. Proper rockers and a bit of a cut above musically. Another band to follow! ✱✱✱
10.30pm to Midnight - Xander and the Peace Pirates. Seen previously and so we knew what to expect. A unique sound, great song writing and excellent guitarists. The Sunday highlight. ✱✱✱✱
We bought their latest album, unusually delivered on a USB stick.
And so to bed at midnight tired from a weekend of great music and some new discoveries to add to the playlist.