20190719 Crawdaddy club - Blues for Jules
Crawdaddy Club - Blues for Jules - 19 July 2019
A hot, sultry Friday night in Richmond and a packed house at the Crawdaddy club as friends from all over came to remember Jules and to raise funds for the cancer charities that supported him and his family before he passed, far too young, in March of this year. It was good to see so many members of the Tuesday Night Music Club come along to support the event. Seeing Lorna, Tina and the Northsyde boys Hayden and Dobby in attendance was simply the icing on the cake. Robert Hokum opened proceedings before handing over the musical baton to Cross fire and then Catfish. What made this evening so special, as if it wasn’t special enough already, was that both phenomenal young guitarists, Marcus Praestgaard-Stevens of Crossfire and Catfish from Man Matt Long have enjoyed guidance from Jules at some time in their playing careers. Marcus particularly, playing the red Gibson 335 guitar given to him by Jules, showed a similar fluid, silky-smooth, effortless style, so reminiscent of the man. Even Matt, a fierce and powerful guitarist by nature, seemed possessed by a different spirit with the 335 in his hands. It was truly a night of tears and joy, with heartfelt tributes paid by both guitarists during their sets. Bob Hokum, as ever an entertaining raconteur as well as a walking talking Blues encyclopedia regaled us with tales of the road (the A66 in particular) and some fine playing. Crossfire, with Andy Hodge drafted in to cover Bass duties, delivered a storming set, Marcus’ fluid funky guitar playing counterpoint to Alice Armstrong’s powerful vocal and dynamic stage presence with Drummer Graham Walker and the aforementioned Mr Hodge holding it all neat and tidy at the back. After a brief interlude and an impromptu auction for a photo of Jules and Lorna in action that was discovered in a charity shop a few months back it was time for Catfish to grace the Stage. Matt Long delivered a tour-de-force performance on vocals and Guitar with the rest of the band, Paul Long on Keys, Adam Pyke on Bass and Kevin Yates on Drums pulling out all the stops as well. The emotion in the room was palpable, and so was the love, I doubt there was a dry eye in the house during “Archangel” and “Make it Rain”. The night ended with a Jam featuring Terry Marshall, Marcus and Matt Joining forces on an umber and Alice adding vocal richness to another. In all, an emotional rollercoaster of an evening for everyone involved, and a truly memorable evening in to celebrate a very special man and also raise much needed funds for two cancer charities.
Read MoreA hot, sultry Friday night in Richmond and a packed house at the Crawdaddy club as friends from all over came to remember Jules and to raise funds for the cancer charities that supported him and his family before he passed, far too young, in March of this year. It was good to see so many members of the Tuesday Night Music Club come along to support the event. Seeing Lorna, Tina and the Northsyde boys Hayden and Dobby in attendance was simply the icing on the cake. Robert Hokum opened proceedings before handing over the musical baton to Cross fire and then Catfish. What made this evening so special, as if it wasn’t special enough already, was that both phenomenal young guitarists, Marcus Praestgaard-Stevens of Crossfire and Catfish from Man Matt Long have enjoyed guidance from Jules at some time in their playing careers. Marcus particularly, playing the red Gibson 335 guitar given to him by Jules, showed a similar fluid, silky-smooth, effortless style, so reminiscent of the man. Even Matt, a fierce and powerful guitarist by nature, seemed possessed by a different spirit with the 335 in his hands. It was truly a night of tears and joy, with heartfelt tributes paid by both guitarists during their sets. Bob Hokum, as ever an entertaining raconteur as well as a walking talking Blues encyclopedia regaled us with tales of the road (the A66 in particular) and some fine playing. Crossfire, with Andy Hodge drafted in to cover Bass duties, delivered a storming set, Marcus’ fluid funky guitar playing counterpoint to Alice Armstrong’s powerful vocal and dynamic stage presence with Drummer Graham Walker and the aforementioned Mr Hodge holding it all neat and tidy at the back. After a brief interlude and an impromptu auction for a photo of Jules and Lorna in action that was discovered in a charity shop a few months back it was time for Catfish to grace the Stage. Matt Long delivered a tour-de-force performance on vocals and Guitar with the rest of the band, Paul Long on Keys, Adam Pyke on Bass and Kevin Yates on Drums pulling out all the stops as well. The emotion in the room was palpable, and so was the love, I doubt there was a dry eye in the house during “Archangel” and “Make it Rain”. The night ended with a Jam featuring Terry Marshall, Marcus and Matt Joining forces on an umber and Alice adding vocal richness to another. In all, an emotional rollercoaster of an evening for everyone involved, and a truly memorable evening in to celebrate a very special man and also raise much needed funds for two cancer charities.
