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robert chaffey | bob.chaffey@tesco.net

another weekend bites the dust! highlights - giles hedley with splendid acoustic set - italian blues - marvellous. the stunning vocal talents of kyla brox and a rocking housedown of a set from never the bride. all in a most wonderful location. to friends met old and new thanks also for a great time. 19 April 2008 - plymoth

Tracey | traceyknight230@aol.com

Hello all you blues fans out there you (nearly)all missed a fantastic night at the Maltings. Split Whiskers were a good mix of well accomplished muscians. Three sang and the keyboard player also played the accordian. All nicely done.THe guitar player was effotless, he hardly looked at his fretboard but he could certainly play! The lead singer was (as my daughter would say) "fit". They were certainly a must see again band. I danced for the first time since January too. Pity must of you missed them, it was agood night. 18 April 2008 - Basingstoke

Alan Duckworth

Great weekend at the castle. Family Style and Robi Zonca were excellent, Italian blues eh! Well done to Jack the Biscuit and Chris Powers for holding it all together. Thanks Monica. See you all next time 18 April 2008 - Rossendale

Paula Jones | paula.jones@catomance.co.uk

Great weekend @ Bo' Diddly Castle. Can't wait to see Never the Bride, Robi Zonka & Family Style again. See you @ Norton Grange & possibly Cricket St Thomas. 15 April 2008 - Cambridgeshire (back @ work, grrrr!)

Garibaldi (Colin) JTB

Having just woken up and jsut about replaced app 20% of lost sleep, I would like to thank all those people who stayed up late/early and jammed with us made it a very enjoyable weekend. and what is going onin Italy? is it an undiscovered scene. 15 April 2008 - Cardiff

valerie woodall | valeriewoodall@hotmail.com

just returned from Bodiddly'Castle. wonderful weekend Monica many thanks. Great line up. 14 April 2008 - hertfordshire

smiley dave | dianne.jenkins@prime-estates.ltd.uk

just a quick message to my friends in the rocking armadillos to say how sorry i am to hear that they are calling it a day i have seen you do some great gigs and you will be greatly missed on the blues scene. We have had some great times on the blues weekends over the years and i will miss them .i hope to see you all in one band or another soon as i know that great bands do not die they just keep getting the blues 8 April 2008 - sandy

Tim Aves

Very sad news. After the best part of 13 years and goodness knows how many gigs all over the UK, The Rockin’ Armadillos are no more. The five current members of the band wish to stress we remain, as ever, the closest and dearest of friends. However, for mainly personal reasons which we do not wish to go into, we have decided to call it a day with immediate effect. The Rockin’ Armadillos played the first of many hundreds, not thousands of gigs, opening for The Fabulous Thunderbirds at the Juke Joint Club in Basildon, Essex, on August 24, 1995. Since then, it is fair to say we have had the time of our lives. We have been to some astonishing places, met some wonderful people and forged some brilliant, lasting friendships, both with fellow musicians and with those who come to see and hear us play. It’s early days yet, but there’s a strong chance some of us will be back out there playing again fairly soon. For the time being, the website and MySpace page will serve as a basic contact and information point for anyone who wants to find out what we are up to, so please keep checking back here. Failing that, you could always drop us an e-mail via this site. Finally, we’d all like to say a sincere and heartfelt thank you to the many people around the world who have helped, supported and taken the band into their hearts and souls down the years. it’s been a pleasure. Tim Aves, Jane English, Alex Hall, Rob Barry, Paul Lester aka The Rockin’ Armadillos 5 April 2008 - The Essex Delta

OO-BOP-SH'BAM | drummss@drummss.screaming.net

We would like to thank Monica and everyone at Sinah Warren for such a great night on March 29th and we look forward to seeing you all soon. 4 April 2008 - London

Geoff | g.webber@ntlworld.com

Every now and again you witness a performance that makes you think WOW! I wish I could have recorded that one for posterity! Tonight the Robin Bibi Band gave one of those legendary performances. As relaxed as I have ever seen him, Robin led the band through a wonderful set of blues and rock n’ roll and they even threw in their version of a gospel tune for good measure. The evening was enhanced by special guest Dave Raphael whose ‘call and response’ duet with Robin was superb. The high point for me, however, was the drumming and percussion of Dave Innes. Thunderous, powerhouse drumming was tempered with delicate percussive touches that together produced frequent exclamations of amazement from a thrilled audience. But the added bonus was Dave’s comic antics (the facial expressions and ‘virtual drumming’) during his drum solo that generated roars of laughter and shouts of admiration. Simply put, it was one of the best gigs I have ever had the pleasure of attending. Thanks Robin, Dave, Matt and Dave Raphael. 4 April 2008 - Camberley Boogaloo comments   Agree it was a fabulous performance - the best I've seen from Robin and the band, and I've seen some great ones over the years! A fantastically varied set, from gospel and blues ballads to rocking numbers - superb!

John

A belated thanks for a superb night at the Maltings with the Marcus Malone Band. It simply cannot get much better than that! Can those guys play or what? 29 March 2008 - Frimley

Rob Fleming | robfleming4@hotmail.co.uk

9 March, Brilliant ! Oli Brown.blew me off my feet !! I have seen him before and heard him on Paul Jones show, so ye, I am a fan. Oli just never fails to amaze me. The audience at The Cellar Bar actually stood up to applaud him at the end and he deserved it. What an ace talent he is. Hope you get him back again. I enjoyed my whole day, but Oli was the icing on the cake. 28 March 2008 - Yorkshire (staying with London friends !) Boogaloo comments   Yes Oli is a great performer. He's booked to play at Farnham Maltings on Thursday 30th October.

Geoff | g.webber@ntlworld.com

Hi Monica, Just had to say what a great evening Marcus Malone gave us. His four piece band played one of the best sets of the year. Total quality from beginning to end. Can I also add that I very much enjoyed the Blues Festival. Good bands and excellent organisation. Sonny Black was outstanding as was my personal favourite Innes Sibun. Looking forward to Blue Thunder next week Best wishes Geoff 21 March 2008 - Camberley

Alan Bates | alanb@wattim.co.uk

Had to post a message to say well done to Monica and the team for a fantastic day on Sunday. Great atmosphere and everyone seemed to enjoy themselves, particularly the guy in the Hawaiian shirt and shades (did anyone see where he finally passed out?) The highlights for me were Ian Parker, Paul Cox and Dani Wilde although all the bands that I caught I really enjoyed. It is a shame that difficult choices have to be made, but I can imagine how tricky it must be scheduling an event like this. Looking forward to the next one (and of course the Thursdays in between). Alan 13 March 2008 - Fleet, Hants

Tim Aves

Farnham festival? Three words: Dani Wilde WOW! PS: Don't forget to listen to my weekly blues show on Saint FM every Sunday night between 8pm and 10pm. Google Saint FM to find us on the web (we're the dot-org-dot-uk one!) - and don't be surprised to hear more Dani!!! 11 March 2008 - Burnham-on-Crouch, the Essex Delta

Graham | G&GManagement@tgbrown.fsnet.co.uk

A big thank you to Boogaloo Promotions for organising a great day of Blues, 9 March. On behalf of Oli Brown and his band I would also like to thank EVERYONE that came into The Cellar Bar to watch the set and for making it such a great time. We hope that you can make it to some other of Oli's gigs in the future. Please check out olibrownband.co.uk for all updates. Thanks again for your support. 11 March 2008 - Norwich. Norfolk

John & Carol | mitchell001@hotmail.com

What a great day at the Boogaloo Blues Festival! As ever with this event and four stages, sometimes you have to make difficult choices. For example, I'm a big fan of Ian Parker, but having seen him fairly recently I opted to catch Dani Wilde who was new to us. She did a good set and sang woderfully well. Sonny Black was masterful and so relaxed - a good contrast to some of the louder bands! Coalhouse Walker made a solid start to the day with an uptempo set of standards, prolelled by some great piano and guest Ian Jennings' mellow double bass. Later in the day Big Boy Bloater left his sound duties in the Barley Room to lead his Southside Stompers through a lively set that had lots of dancers on the floor of the Great Hall. Earlier in the afternoon we caught a short part of Slack Alice revving it up in the Great Hall with uptempo numbers such as Mercury Blues and Gimme Some Lovin' (ZZ Top).At the end of the evening the choices became even harder. The reunion of Hot Club offered some lovely playing in the Cellar Bar: upstairs Paul Cox set a fast pace with an uptempo blend of soul and blues from across his three superb CDs while the Hamsters drew as large a crowd as ever for their headline set in the Great Hall. However, our personal favourite was Nat Martin in the early afternoon. Without doubt the best electric player of the festival, Nat's facility with a range of styles was a wonder to behold. He drew a good crowd and several rounds of applause for his soloing, as well as several for his keyboard player. He evidently has a CD in the works and we look forward to that while we enjoy the sampler he gave everyone who was willing to go on his mailing list! Thanks to Monica and her extended team for arranging the event and for ensuring it all ran smoothly. We look forward to the next one on 9 November. 10 March 2008 - Farnham

robert chaffey | bob.chaffey@tesco.net

a great weekend again - don't they go all too quickly! highlights for me were jeremiah marques - as always a stunning and mesmeric set from a great and unique talent- and of course the inimitable connie lush. the king earl boogie band were new to me and were thoroughly enjoyable. and on to bodelwyddan. 1 March 2008 - plymouth

John B | bluesboy@twelvebar.freeserve.co.uk

Great time at Alvaston last weekend - excellent bands and venue. I particularly enjoyed jamming with Blue Touch and the rest of the guys - Keep em coming Monica (and Warners) they are bringing good blues to the masses. (from JB of the red Telecaster) 28 February 2008 - Solihull

BlueTouch | mervg@bluetouch.co.uk

Thanks to everyone at the Alvaston Jams last weekend it was great fun as always. For anyone who played/was there we have some recordings so if you want a copy get in touch through the BlueTouch website. 28 February 2008 - London

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