Copenhagen Blues Festival 2007
Pictures from Copenhagen Blues Festival 2002, 2003, 2004 and 2005.
They keep getting better, the nice people at Copenhagen Blues Festival. This year there were five days of great concerts, great bands and nice people.
Like 2006, there were some really great "after work concerts" at Rødovre Centrum - a shopping mall a couple of miles west of the city centre. How can you make blues concerts in a shopping mall, you may ask. Well, you can, by having some nice dedicated people working at Rødovre Centrum, a small and a large stage, plus a cafe, with nice sound and a nice atmosphere.
Wednesday started at Rødovre Centrum with White and Frank, a nice duo with a guitar, a harp and a booming voice - wow, these guys are great, and some really nice and relaxed people. The next concert was a Zydeco concert at the main stage with Captain Crawfish & The Jumpin’ Zydeco - and jump, they sure did !! - it was awesome. Finally, there was a nice and relaxed "back to the roots" concert at the cafe with Poorboy Poul.
The concerts in Amager Bio started with Thorbjørn Risager. I'd seen him a few times with others in 2005, but not with his own band. Let's just say - it was about time I finally did see them !!!!!
After the concert, the award "Danish Blues Name of the year" was presented. Peter Nande deservedly received it this year. Previous winners are Troels Jensen in 2002, Mike Andersen in 2003, Peter Thorup in 2004, Thorbjørn Risager in 2005, and Paul Banks in 2006.
Afterwards, Coco Montoya (ex John Mayalls Blues Breakers) went on stage. Another first time for me, but hopefully not the last time. They started a little slow, but that was just to get us started :-D
Thursday, for me, again started in Rødovre, with Troels Jensen and the US gutarist and singer Kenny Brown, followed by Miss Delta on the main stage. I didn't have time to stay for the concert with Kenn Lending at the cafe, but he was on my list for both Saturday and Sunday.....
Mojo in central Copenhagen had a double concert, first Guy Forsyth, a concert people are still talking about as out of the ordinary !, and then finishing off with the annual Festival Jam.
Friday, in Rødovre, started with Pauls Banks and Aske Jakoby, followed by Shades of Blue on the main stage. Again, I didn't have time to stay for the concert at the cafe, this time with Morten Witrock.
In central Copenhagen, I started at Mojo with Troels Jensen & the Healers feat. Kenny Brown.
Then on to Pumpehuset. A concert with Jeff Healey band on Wednesday was cancelled, due to Jeff being ill with cancer. The norwegian singer Rita Engedalen was supposed to have played as supporting act, and her concert was moved to Friday, as support for the legendary british band Blues Band.
I finished the evening at La Fontaine with an incredibly sweaty concert with Wonderbrazz - wow !!!
Saturday, in Rødovre, started with Fat Tuesday - they were new to me, and one of the many highlights of the festival - these guys are good !!!!
Then it was Kenn Lending Blues Band with the always wonderful Lillian Boutté (Nobody can pronounce the Danish word "dejlig" like she can !!!) with her niece Tanya.
In central Copenhagen, I started at Café Holstein and had a great time enjoying Krølle Erik - Hans Knudsen - Erling Jensen. It was a bit "back to the roots" for me, as I spend a lot of time listening to Krølle Eriks LP's (It was back in the last millennium before CD's !!) back in my high school time, and later many happy Skt. Hans Evenings (Midsummer night) at 5-øren watching Erling as a member of the Danish band Scooters. Hans Knudsen plays a lot of the music my dad plays on his piano and has done for many years. A really nice late afternoon, in a nice place, and some really nice people, both on and off stage !!
Then it was off to Amager, Café 5-øren (A trip back to my years at 5-øren ), Jacob Fischer - Daniel Franck Duo and a bit of jazz, before I went to Blågårds Apotek and H.P. Lange & The Delta Connection featuring Kenny Brown.
I finished the evening at La Fontaine with Blicher - Hemmer - Holm Trio and special guest Rune Olesen. Beside incredibly well played jazz-soul, they have one of the most fascinating drummers I've seen. He could play using arms and legs (Well, drummers do, but not many like this fella !) and at the same time look like he was laughing his head off. These guys are certainly alive - another wow !!!
Sunday, in Rødovre, started with Hans Knudsen, followed by
Mike Andersen at the main stage and ending with David Kampmann. I'd seen him with Baal a few times, but never alone - trust me - go and see him - he's really good !!!!
Then came of my best memories of this festival - well, one of my all time best concert memories - it really was a truly fantastic gospel concert by Lillian & Tanya Boutté with Kenn Lending Blues Band. Christianskirken, on Christianshavn, where the concert was held, is an incredible church. I went up stairs to get a better view, and no matter where I went, the music came from all directions, and sounded fantastic.
I ended the day and the Festival at Café Holstein where Thorupsk Trio, featuring Ole Frimer, Lars Smiley Hansen, Knut Henriksen and Gert Smedegaard played a sweaty and unsentimental concert in memory of the late Peter Thorup, who'd died in August 2007.
Another really great weekend with a lot of great concerts, and I still missed a lot. When I went "down to the station" after the concert at Café Holstein, I missed that one of the members of Wonderbrazz tried to say hi to me - sorry about that - I was really tired, but incredibly happy :-D
