Hanmer Gospel, Jazz and Blues Festival - 27 Feb 10

[John]

Fiona and Band was the first act at the Hanmer Gospel, Jazz and Blues Festival in the grounds of the old Queen Mary Hospital in Hanmer today.

When we realised that Ross was staying to watch the rest of the acts I realised that maybe it was time for Fiona to review Ross's performance as we are so used to getting home after packing out to see Ross's reviews already posted.

Fiona has just emailed me the following

"Great to see Ross in his summer gear at Fi's concert in Hanmer springs. He looked to be having a wonderful time with glass of wine after having a soak in the lovely hot pools.
We were all happy to see him there."


Perhaps Jillian could review his choice of wardrobe and Dave could comment on his choice of tripod


BTW it was 32 degrees when I arrived at the concert site and I think it got hotter by the time Fi played.
I'll leave it up to Ross to tell you what happens to a violin in that sort of heat.

[Jillian]

Feb 27, 2010 9:21:06 GMT John said:

Perhaps Jillian could review his choice of wardrobe and Dave could comment on his choice of tripod

LOL Well they tell me that sleeves are in this season, as well as headpieces! Ha, ha ha!!! :rollin

Sounds like you had a great time!

[Ross]

i.postimg.cc/9fYxy370/smilie-big-grin.gif I got home safely at 1:30am as the concert only finished just before midnight. I agree with John it was really hot when Fiona started at 5pm. Yes it was a great choice of evening wear but it did get chilly later in the night so I had to throw on a pair of jeans and a jacket. Anyway more about the concert later I will start with a pre-concert report.

PRE CONCERT

It was a brilliant fine day when I headed off to Hanmer Springs at 9am. I stopped at a roadside cafe to have breakfast and got to Hanmer Springs about 12:30pm.

Heading towards Hanmer Springs.


Hanmer Springs is just at the foot of the mountains.

I went to the Hot Pools for a nice cooling swim plus a soak in the Hot Pools.

Some of the Hot Pools. They vary from 35 Deg Celcius up to 41 degrees.
Luckily I could go on the Hydroslide to cool off lol.


There was nothing better than soaking in a hot pool and listening to some good Jazz.

Amareti playing for us some Jazz songs.

After lunch I went for a drive over the hill behind Hanmer to a typical Back Country River Valley.



Notice the shingle roads we have in the mountains. Usually lots of pot holes to avoid and fords to cross.


Looking at the Hanmer Valley.

I listened to some great artists in a pub while waiting for the main concert to start at 5pm and it was getting hotter and hotter.

[Ross]

Concert Report Part One

As previously mentioned by John it was very hot when Fiona and the band were setting up for the first act of the concert which was to start at 5pm.
The concert was held in the grounds of the former Queen Mary Hospital which was for recovering alcoholics and drug users.


The stage was the back of a large truck and as it was so hot they added a sun umbrella on the stage to keep the sun off "The Beast" (Fiona's violin).
It was so hot I was one of only a few idiots who sat in the sun by the sound stage while the rest of the smarter people sat in what shade they could find around the outer edge of the viewing area.
It was so hot that Fiona broke a string just before the concert started.
It was so hot that Fiona broke the same string again, I think she wanted to head straight back to Christchurch lol. Luckily the last old string she had left lasted the concert.
It was so hot that at the end of the hour performance Fiona got a blister on one of her fingers from the heat.
It was so hot that I ended up having 3 glasses of the very good wine on sale.
It was so hot that the chocolate I also bought had to be eaten quickly before it melted lol.
So the concert got off to a late start about 5:20pm but no one was worried and there were a few power outages throughout the concert any way.

Part of the crowd

Fiona was wearing a blue dress with little birds on it and the only band member missing was the drummer.



They opened with I Found A New Baby and I think Fiona was relieved that the beast survived the first song although it did need regular tuning because of the heat.
Tangissimo was next followed by Memories Of Martin and Mary which pleased the people of Irish descent (plus the rest of us lol).



Next was the beautiful House By The Harbour followed by the new song James.



Next was the fast paced Dark Eyes. When Fiona next asked if any of us were stupid enough to go to the hot pools today I put my hand up and Fiona said Ross did lol.
The Willow Tree was very good and they finished with the very fast paced Sabre Dance.




Of course we didn't let them finish and so for the encore they played Tchavolo Swing.

While the acts were changing I met up with Fiona and Ian. Poor Ian looked very hot and Fiona showed her sore finger lol.I thanked Ian and John for the latest video. As you can see from John's photos I had my video camera and if the songs turned out all right I might put some here later.
Unfortunately Mike the guitarist had another gig to go to back in Christchurch so they left straight after their set and I said hopefully I will see them again in October.

[Ross]

Concert Report Part Two

The next act was Delta Swing which of course played swing music with the leader of the band singing and playing the clarinet. I enjoyed their music.


The third act was a keyboard player called Adrian Ford and he was from Sydney, Australia and he was very good too.


Ralph Bennett-Eades was a blues band and the crowd loved their music. It was sort of a 60s era blues with great vocals from Ralph.


As the next photo will show there was a full moon out tonight.


The next act is one that Fiona and Ian highly recommended for me to see and they didn't disappoint. They were from Wellington (except for the guitarist Bob Haines from Christchurch) and were called Hot Club Sandwich.

They played some highly amusing blues etc with some interesting lyrics. Everyone loved them. I even bought a DVD and CD from them.

Lastly a solo artist called Paul Ubana Jones played some very powerful tunes on his guitar, a mixture of pop songs and Blues and he finished with an amazing 15 minute long guitar song with no lyrics. Ben you would have been impressed with him.
.

So the concert finished about midnight and I had a long drive back to Christchurch. Got to bed about 1:30am and up for work again at 5:50am on Sunday (The things we do for good music).

[Andrew]

Hi Ross,

Many thanks indeed for sharing your HOT Concert Report with us!!! i.postimg.cc/9fYxy370/smilie-big-grin.gif
It sounds as though you really had a wonderful time savouring some great company and sampling such fine music and wine...

It was a delight to read your Report and I really appreciate you sharing so many wonderful photos from the Concert with us too! I'm delighted to hear that 'Tangissimo' and 'Memories of Martin and Mary' were included on the Set list...

I hope Hayley, Fiona and Ian will return to perform in Scotland again soon... They've abandoned us for far too long now!!!

Andrew

[postscript]

Well done, Ross.

A superb report. Excellent 'scene-setting' photos. It is great to read NZ leading the way in our reports. Thank you.

Peter S.

[Joe]

Hi Ross,

Excellent videos! Fiona and the lads were on top form despite the hot weather! That violin was on fire!

Great that she mentioned your name too!

Thanks for sharing,
Joe

[Sandy Wilderness Girl]

Mar 2, 2010 6:04:34 GMT Joe said:

Hi Ross,

Excellent videos! Fiona and the lads were on top form despite the hot weather! That violin was on fire!

Great that she mentioned your name too!

Thanks for sharing,
Joe

hey Ross...Wanna say.that was awesome toooo hey.......cool
Sandy xxx

[Ross]

Sorry everyone but I have removed the videos in respect that Fiona wasn't happy with the quality of the performance due to the heat. And I appreciate Fiona too much to go against her wishes.

[grant]

Mar 2, 2010 6:54:59 GMT Ross said:

And I appreciate Fiona too much to go against her wishes.

Quite right Ross!! I'm sure Fiona wouldn't have made the request unless she was really unhappy with her performance. From the comments though, it seems that everyone still enjoyed her concert.

Best wishes
Grant

[postscript]

Mar 2, 2010 6:54:59 GMT Ross said:

Sorry everyone but I have removed the videos in respect that Fiona wasn't happy with the quality of the performance due to the heat. And I appreciate Fiona too much to go against her wishes.

Quite correct, Ross. We are often privileged by the artists we follow which is their way of saying 'thanks for your support', so of course, we must ensure we meet their requirements.

Peter S.