Well, I had a great time at the Melbourne International Music and Blues Festival. Better than I thought I would.

I even enjoyed Vika and Lindas Gospel singing. They have great voices; seeing them live made the difference.

Jerome Smith & the End (now called Ronimo?) had an awesome sound. Great players

Chris Wilson and his band where good. Again, great players. Chris did some amazing Harmonica playing. Makes me want to dig out my Harmonica and learn it

Vanessa Amorosi was also better than I expected. Was a bit put off by her ‘hit’ song, ‘Absolutely everybody’ really bit I was impressed. Very good voice. Great Range. I liked her stage presence. How she spoke and such; was friendly and different from what you often seen.

Wilson Pickett was fun but I found myself getting a little bored with the drawn out versions of his songs. He got some people from the crowd to sing and dance. Was hilarious when the girl he got up to sing grabbed the mic and started prancing around the stage singing “woo woo woo woo” in her cracking non singers voice

Save my fave for last, The Royal Dave Graney Show!
I enjoyed their show VERY much. They didn’t have a very big crowd though; about 20 of us standing up front from the start, some more people came in while there was no one playing on the other stage and once the next act came on to the other stage (Wilson Pickett) they all left again. Eventually leaving about 15 people watching from the front of the stage; more were watching from the drinking and seated area. I saw Dave glancing at the people walking out I felt sorry for them.

I didn’t find a friend to come with me. 3 of them where working and another friend declined the offer.