Hertford Music Festival
Sunday 3rd July 2011

Phew! What a day! We were very proud and pleased to be involved with The Herford Music Fesitval's Magical Mystery Tour this weekend. 30 venues around Hertford all with Live Music from 1pm to 11pm with over 200 musicians involved, playing everything from Rock to Reggae, Blues to Bluegrass, Pop to Punk and everything else in between!

The Musiclab had the challenge of providing and looking after the sound system for The Woolpack and also running the schedule in the Wetherspoons Six Templars. Luckily for us they are just over the road from each other but all the Musiclab staff got the added bonus of a work out - running to and fro' between the venues!

In the Woolpack we had some fantastic music and a real mixed bag. Kicking off proceedings were The Ricochet Blues Band with some classic Blues and R & B tunes. Top work fellas! Next up we had some covers and originals from young keyboardist/singer/songwriter Zoe Phillips who also revealed an unusual method of co-writing lyrics - hungover and by text! Rob McAllister took things on from there with some Acoustic guitar based tunes and some quality vocals, before Stephen Giltheroe treated the audience to a rare outing through Bluegrass and Americana before The Ricochet Blues Band brought the afternoon to a close with another storming set. Meanwhile.....

As we heard often during the day "Wetherspoons venues never have live music", but after today's success, they may want to review the policy! I must admit that I was slightly dubious about our chances of successfully having a full, non-stop schedule of live music in the venue from 1pm through to 11pm, but any such doubts were totally and utterly unfounded!

Firstly, a massive "thank you" to the staff at The Six Templars who were so helpful and friendly throughout the day they really made a big difference in ensuring everything ran smoothly and they really looked after our staff (I can highly recommend the carvery!). The venue itself is really well set up for live music, with a spacious "stage" area and a large capacity, so we hope that this new fangled rock and roll thing catches on and we're not the last acts to play there!

So on to the music....First up we had acoustic sets from Paolo and James from Ihbnia followed by singer/songwriter (and Musiclab student) Songbirdie. Super sets and a gentle introduction for Six Templars regulars over the lunch-time period. Next up, we had Rookes Endgame featuring Musiclab drum student Stu and singer Rooke - making her live singing debut after only a week's rehearsal! Rooke did a fantastic job and must have been really pleased with all the positive feedback she received from the audience. Great job guys!

Next up were local Blues and R & B band Unit 22 and they really got the venue rocking. Dancing in a Wetherspoons at 3pm in the afternoon? Who'd have thought that would happen?

The guys went down so well that the venue manager was really keen to have them back, so keep an eye out for them back at The Six Templars in the near future!

With Unit 22 a hard act to follow, Musiclab tutors Paolo and Bob and I took to the stage with Musiclab students John and Pete on drum duties. I must take this opportunity to apologise to visitors to Hertford Castle at this point as they must have been wondering why I was breaking a Budweiser bottle into a bin just inside the Castle grounds..... Our first three numbers had slide guitar on them and I had left my slide behind in the studio and the top part of a beer bottle is the next best thing. After a slightly shaky start (Bob, Paolo and I had been on the go since 9am) we gradually hit our stride and ran through a 45 minute set of 50s tunes. Well done to John and Pete The Shuffle - great work fellas!

We then welcomed back Paolo and James and Sonbirdie for a half-hour of acoustic tunes - covers and originals before Bob, Paolo, John and I were joined by Paul Bentley - vocalist from local covers band Homegrown for an hour and a half of contemporary rock and pop tunes with some sixties mod classics and a smattering of Ska tunes.

Musiclab guitar tutor Paolo then brought his originals band Ihbnia to the stage for half an hour of pure unadulterated rock that certainly made everyone sit up and take notice! Well done guys!

Last but not least we had The Cougars with their brand of 50s, 60s and 70s rock and roll. The guys had not played together for over six months, but I don't think anyone would have guessed (until John told them!) as they were as tight and energetic as ever and bought the days event to a fitting close.

I would like to thank again, Bob and Paolo from The Musiclab, James and Stu for their help during the day, the artists and bands who performed so well during the day and the staff and management at The Six Templars and their customers who welcomed us to the venue for the day. I'd also like to thank Kev Saunders for the massive amount of work he put in to make The Magical Mystery Tour viable and for giving us the opportunity to showcase in The Six Templars. We look forward to being involved again next year!

Next up....Saturday July 9th...The Musiclab Adult student pub gig @ The White Lion, Bengeo. More info

Also....

Sunday 10th July - The Musiclab Junior Student Performance - The Square, Harlow. More info