Well, despite the weather the Kings Head Music Festival was a resounding success again this year!
The Kings Head is a fabulous old pub with a warm atmosphere, great food, fine ales, super friendly staff and is run by a wonderful musician manager called Ben Ward.
Ben has been playing saxophone from a very early age and went on to teach it before taking on the huge responsibility of running the Kings Head. He plays in a fabulous band of superb local talent called Rough Twist who have a massive following.
Ben's passion for promoting live music at the Kings Head has seen the pub host some amazing evenings of exceptionally talented bands but the icing on the cake is the annual music festival held in the car park of the pub.
A huge lorry is brought in to act as a stage, outside bar and catering set up and a showcase of local talent is rounded up. The end result is a fantastic day and evening of wonderful music and superb atmosphere.
I was thrilled that Kontaani were asked to play - especially as this year we had put together a performance troupe of players who are all striving to become advanced players and have been practising hard and learning new rhythms over the past few months.
Unfortunately only 6 out of 11 players could make it but we decided to go ahead - this proved to be a blessing as the 6 of us only just fit under the awning provided to shelter us from the rain - if all 11 had turned up we would not have been able to play in such awful weather.
As it was - half way through one of the numbers our Chris got a soaking from a puddle which had formed on the awning dropping down his neck which caused much merriment amongst the rest of the band!
The audience were also huddled under gazebo's and umbrellas but this did not dampen their spirit! They were out for a good time and it showed!
Kontaani played 2 short sets during the day and were really well received. We got great applause and cheers from the crowd. It was great to get Samba John up to play with us too - he was such a good sport dropping in with no prior experience of the number - and he was FAB!
Unfortunately I didn't stay late into the evening but the musicians and groups which I did manage to see were absolutely awesome and I totally loved the Samba Band with whom some of Kontaani joined in.
A massive thank you to Ben, Dewi, Pete, the staff and all the musicians who pull together to make the Kings Head Music Festival such a wonderful event.
I can't wait till next year and hope to be asked back again - by then we should be even better than ever!
The Kings Head is a fabulous old pub with a warm atmosphere, great food, fine ales, super friendly staff and is run by a wonderful musician manager called Ben Ward.
Ben has been playing saxophone from a very early age and went on to teach it before taking on the huge responsibility of running the Kings Head. He plays in a fabulous band of superb local talent called Rough Twist who have a massive following.
Ben's passion for promoting live music at the Kings Head has seen the pub host some amazing evenings of exceptionally talented bands but the icing on the cake is the annual music festival held in the car park of the pub.
A huge lorry is brought in to act as a stage, outside bar and catering set up and a showcase of local talent is rounded up. The end result is a fantastic day and evening of wonderful music and superb atmosphere.
I was thrilled that Kontaani were asked to play - especially as this year we had put together a performance troupe of players who are all striving to become advanced players and have been practising hard and learning new rhythms over the past few months.
Unfortunately only 6 out of 11 players could make it but we decided to go ahead - this proved to be a blessing as the 6 of us only just fit under the awning provided to shelter us from the rain - if all 11 had turned up we would not have been able to play in such awful weather.
As it was - half way through one of the numbers our Chris got a soaking from a puddle which had formed on the awning dropping down his neck which caused much merriment amongst the rest of the band!
The audience were also huddled under gazebo's and umbrellas but this did not dampen their spirit! They were out for a good time and it showed!
Kontaani played 2 short sets during the day and were really well received. We got great applause and cheers from the crowd. It was great to get Samba John up to play with us too - he was such a good sport dropping in with no prior experience of the number - and he was FAB!
Unfortunately I didn't stay late into the evening but the musicians and groups which I did manage to see were absolutely awesome and I totally loved the Samba Band with whom some of Kontaani joined in.
A massive thank you to Ben, Dewi, Pete, the staff and all the musicians who pull together to make the Kings Head Music Festival such a wonderful event.
I can't wait till next year and hope to be asked back again - by then we should be even better than ever!