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The following article is by Stuart Coull, Stonehaven who attended the Susset Conference in Greece in his capacity as Reporter for the Mearns Leader. He was persuaded by one of the Swedish Delegates to visit a Blues Festival in Amal.
AMAL BLUESFEST
IF you're ever on holiday in Sweden during the month of July, make sure you
visit the town of Amal, around a two-and-a-half hour drive north of
the country's second city, Gothenburg.
For one week around the start of July, the town takes on a real
multi-cultural, party atmosphere as its gears up for the Amal Blues Fest
- the foremost Blues Fest in the whole country.
This year, the 15th anniversary of the showpiece event, bands and solo
artists from all over the world descended on the town for a six-day
extravaganza of music at a number of venues. As well as Sweden, they hailed
from the USA, UK, Denmark and Holland.
And thousands of visitors, young and old, riding Harley Davidsons and
driving classy vintage American cars (along with those of us who took less
'cool' transport) made a pilgrimage from home and abroad to soak up the
atmosphere and feel the expertly crafted and heartfelt blues produced by
dozens of quality performers.
My girlfriend and I decided to pay the festival a visit and we were blown
away by the kind hospitality shown to us by the organisers. And the main
event, the music, was ear-grabbingly soulful, emotional, lively and
eclectic, as some of the world's top performers gathered to strut their
stuff at Sweden's premier blues event.
Among the 17 Blues venues in Amal this year, there was a Blues Cruise,
putting a whole new slant on a boat trip around the lake upon which the town
sits. And there was also a Blues Train, a similar event on one of the local
locomotives. Along with 'back yard blues' in beer garden areas and quality
on-street entertainment, it all added up to give the town a proper, party
atmosphere.
The main place to go was the 'Bluesterminalen,' a giant boat-builders type
shed down at the harbour area of the town. Here is where most of the bands
appeared throughout the afternoon and evening of Thursday, Friday and
Saturday.
Stars of the show included Lil' Jimmy Reed, a soulful barber from the
backwater of Enterprise, Alabama and, from the deep south (of England!), The
Ian Siegal band, whose clinical style of blues have been compared to Chester Burnett.
Other Bluesterminalen highlights were matter-of-factly titled The Blues Band
from the UK, Tutu Jones Band (USA), Spoonful of Blues and home-grown Sky
High.
Highlights from other parts of town included American songstress Deitra Farr
and her guitarist companion Billy Flynn, who came fresh from another
festival in Finland for this event. Along with a classy Saturday-night
performance, Dietra and Billy were the main attraction at Sunday's Gospel
gathering at the local church.
Although of Catholic upbringing and not a Gospel singer, Dietra's soulful voice paid beautiful tribute to classics such as I Wish I Knew How by Nina Simone, much to the delight of many
hundreds of people in the gathered audience.
The other fine church performers were Steve Grahn and Mattias Malm and
Svante Sjoblom and Filip Jers.
This is a supebly organised event, full of soul and emotion
that is not to be missed if you're in Sweden for a summer holiday.
For more details on Amal's Blues Fest e-mail info@bluesfest.net or visit the website www.bluesfest.net .
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