MATHEW STREET MUSIC FESTIVAL 2006.... Part 1.
Photographs by Patrick Trollope

FOR the fifteenth year running, the largest European free music festival began with the Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, on last Friday evening at the famous Pier Head Stage One. Despite the poor weather, well over a thousand people gathered to hear the City’s famous orchestra and its special guests. Unfortunately, it was raining intermittently as the orchestra began, then, as a sharp wind from the south was driving the rain on to some very expensive instruments, these needed to be moved back. This caused some delay and the cancellation of some of the orchestral programme. Nevertheless what we heard was excellent and was enthusiastically received. Very few people quit their ground, the rest remained remarkedly good humoured despite some heavy bouts of rain.

Liverpool Phil’s new Russian conductor, Vasily Petrenko was conducting music from Tchaikovsky when such a downpour occurred and a sea of umbrellas unfurled, almost like a scene from Fantasia! The Orchestra had thought to combine music with a football theme, both subjects being dear to this City and achieved it, despite the cut in the programme. Soloists, Jennifer John and Thomas Lang gave us a rendition of ‘You’ll Never Walk Alone’, ‘When you walk through a storm’ seemed very appropriate. Peter Wylie gave us, ‘Heart As Big As Liverpool’ and Gary Christian of the ‘Christians’ sang Lennon’s, ‘Eleanor Rigby’ accompanied by an orchestra as it was originally intended to be. Mark Forrest of Classic FM ably presented the concert despite the challenges. Following some final Russian fervour from the Phil, the whole show culminated with fireworks, which brightened the sky during a brief lull in the rain.

“Well worth braving the elements”, was the opinion of the attenders who we spoke to; a good start to the Festival!

So it was with trepidation about the weather that the rest of the bank holiday weekend was anticipated. Saturday and Sunday however, turned out to be fine, dry and warm with a light wind. It was just right for such a function as this festival. Monday’s performances will be reported next week. There were two, well separated, stages blasting out the artists’ music.

Stage One (Pier Head North) began at 10.30 with Sounds of the Sixties, which gave us all a nostalgic return to that wonderful golden era when it all began. That was followed at 11.30 by that blues-rock band, Hamsters. Next came that great Liverpool musician, Gerry Marsden. The fabulous Gerry and the Pacemakers gave us an exciting memory journey by playing their old hits with all the gusto and panache of yore. Among the tunes they played were, ‘It’ll be alright’, the local anthem ‘Ferry across the Mersey’, and, of course, they had everyone swaying and singing, ‘You’ll Never Walk Alone’. The well known twins, Craig and Charlie took over at 1.30 with their renowned, The Proclaimers. The crowd was quite dense by now and was rocking to the melodies hammered out into our eardrums. Dr and the Medics took the stage at 1.45 with a musical display, which captivated everyone. Their dancing was well choreographed. When the Doc, in his red coat, did a dance with a lady I thought that he was going to propose to her at one stage! Much to everyone’s surprise, there was even a strip-tease to one number! The crowd enjoyed singing with the group, ‘I’m a Believer’. An hour later they were followed by the German musician, Johnny Silver, who really pleased the audience with his captivating John Lennon impressions. 5.30 and Herman’s Hermits took over their slot in the entertainment. This took the festival to even greater heights of musical pleasure as they played music from those now far off days. To close the day’s rocking and rolling, from 6.30 to 7.15, we were regally entertained by those stunning stars of the 60’s, playing their wonderful tunes.

So to Stage Two at the South end of the Pier Head which kicked off at 11 with Streetwaves. They are the proud winners of the Liverpool X-Factor Search for fresh musical talent. This was followed, at 12.15, by Rambo and Leroy, who are Liverpudlian singers and songwriters. They blend the traditional with contemporary styles most successfully. The next band was an indie rocker style called ’The Most Terrifying Thing’. They were well worth listening to. A group came on at 1.45 called ‘Lyons and Tigers’. They had tunes with lively rhythms with some rap mixed in, most enjoyable. ‘Kuki’ took the stage dead on 2.45. Although this was billed as a seven piece band there were only two as, I believe, the band had split-up and the lady singer with the male accompanist were making a come-back. I was impressed by her voice and choice of songs. I wish her the very best of luck. They were followed by Tommy Scott’s ‘The Drella’s’ an hour later. They had a very good beat and their vocal pieces were done with clean and clear diction. At 4.30, a band, which first performed at this festival last year, took the stage. Zombina and the Skeletones have improved and matured into an excellent and exciting band. Their make-up was not as exciting as last year, but their music really set the pulses racing. The follow-on group, ‘Fridge Mountain Fires’ took over and continued with some very good, lovely melodies. 6.15 and the ‘The Maybes’ started to entertain us. They have a great beat and are, no doubt, good to dance to. I very much enjoyed their rock and roll tunes and songs. The last band to play on this stage was ‘Missin Beats’. They gave us all ‘just what was needed’ to encourage us to come back on Sunday. Their hot and fierce beat extracted from me.

AND so to Sunday. Oh, how we wish we could be at both Stages and with every performing band, but that is not possible.   Father Christmas opened up stage one and then the shows started....  Luckily we managed to get around to most of the performances. Stage 1 started the day off at 11 o’clock with the Finnish band, ‘Gubbrockarna’.   They are a large band who played hits from the ‘60’s and ’70’s. They were very exciting.  ‘Gubbrockarna’ were followed by a female band, called ‘Connie Lush and Blues Shouter’. Great stuff! (Click on the exclusive interviews on the Liverpool Reporter, to be added later this week., and will be also added to the 2nd part of this story in next weeks Southport Reporter )

At 1.15 Ian Broudie’s pop legends, ‘Lightning Seeds’ took to the stage. An excellent band. Thus we had a fantastic warm up, so to speak, for the rest of the day. (Click on the exclusive interviews on the Liverpool Reporter, to be added later this week., and will be also added to the 2nd part of this story in next weeks Southport Reporter )

So it was then on to ‘Wonder Stuff’. Boy did they play music, which stirred one’s feet to tap! In some songs sung by ‘Shack’ there were some lovely lyrics along with a subtle blending of instrumental sounds. It was a real pleasure to listen to them.

Then came a very popular group, ‘Tabby’. They are a very accomplished band who gave of their best with good harmonies and a well-balanced mix of tunes and songs. Their stage presence was excellent.

To round the day off at Stage 1, we were entertained by a gripping, sensational band from Argentina called, ‘Dios Salve a la Reina’ (God save the Queen!). The high spot of the day! They not only had the audience jumping, but waving and clapping. They were electrifying!

And so to Stage 2 (at last!!) At 11am Streetwaves again started the day’s music here. As I have already said, they are the proud winners of the Liverpool X-Factor Search for fresh
musical talent.

A group, which has not yet, I have heard, been signed up, followed them! My, I wonder why. That took us to 1pm and the music of ‘Santa Carla’. I found them very intriguing.

‘Freemaker’, another unsigned band took over to entertain successfully the ever-growing large audience. By now it was 2.30 and the ‘River Niger Orchestra Presents’ was on the stage. How catchy the African music is! I enjoyed the costumes as well as the tunes and vocals, some of which were danced to by a very colourfully dressed young lady. There was a lot of invited audience participation too.

The ‘John Smith Band' had an exciting beat and seemed quite popular. I love swing, so I was sorry that I unavoidably missed ‘The Mags’ whom I was hoping to hear. I did manage to catch ‘Blue Demon’ who had a good sound, a steady hard style with a quick rhythm, but apart from their lyrics not much variation. They were followed by a truly ‘true party and fun band’ with good balance. They had a variety of tunes and gave the impression that they really did enjoy their playing.

 The concluding group today on this stage was ‘The Laze’. They are a 6-piece band who really had the audience excited. Good, loud distinctive harmony was a real hall mark for this talented group.

More from Monday's events in next week issue as well as audio....  BUT this week we have ??? pages of photographs for you to look at!

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