|
Oneida Fest
Green Bay, Wisconsin 7. - 13. juli 2002 For en festival! Sannsynligvis den beste rocknroll festivalen til nå. Organiseringa var svært bra, alle konsertene startet når de skulle og sluttet som regel etter planen og de fleste artistene viste seg fra sin aller beste side. Det var store romslige lokaler med luftkondisjonering og god utsikt uansett hvor man befant seg i tillegg til svært god lyd. Det var tre lokaler som hadde konserter samtidig og jeg fikk med meg ca 46 konserter og gikk glipp av ca 60+. Beskrivelsen av konsertene er i stikkordsform, men allikevel interessant lesing for oss som ikke var til stede (red.anm.) Bobby Caraway - okay but not too exciting with Las Vegas style rock 'n' roll. Huelyn Duvall, inspired show backed up by Wildfire Willie & Ramblers. Royal Crown Review, only jump jive outfit on bill. Got a bit boring with elongated numbers. Mac Curtis, back to rockin' form. Glen Glenn/Gary Lambert. Quite unique, good rockabilly from hyperactive man. Treniers. Sublime, basically same set as Hemsby with bags of oomph and style. Sonny Burgess & Pacers. Straight ahead no frills rock 'n' roll. Collins Kids. Just wonderful and what class. Gene Summers, okay but a little too much of a night club style act. Wayne The Train Hancock. Just like Hank Williams on speed. Alvis Wayne, back to top notch rockabilly form. Sid & Billy King. Never seen better. Jimmy McCracklin. This time he tailored his set to the type of show, great. Sanford Clark & Al Casey. Better than at Hemsby, enjoyable. Lew Williams, again never seen him better Dale Hawkins. First time for myself and what a blistering performance. Backed up by Deke Dickerson, he was a highlight for yours truly. Narvel Felts, another blinder from Narvel the Marvel. Charlie Gracie, only caught the final number but he got rapturous applause. Marti Brom, she just goes from strength to strength. Hope she headlines at Hemsby soon. Sleepy LaBeef. Probably the most countryish set of all acts, enjoyable. Larry Donn, he came, he sang, he pounded the piano and he rocked. Jack Earls, simply marvellous. Vernon Taylor, total enjoyment. Hayden Thompson, great voice, best I have ever seen him. Billy Lee Riley had the crowd eating out of his hand. True showman. Jack Scott, another highlight. His set was perfection. Robert Gordon. Good, he had Eddie Angel and Marco DiMaggio on lead guitars. Rosie Flores. Very very tasty and good band (The Falcons) behind her. Billy Adams, a revelation and his performance bodes well for next Hemsby. Ray Campi, standard Campi fare which went down well. Eddie Bond, still with great rockin' voice and now a crown topper. Big Al Downing. To use his own words, bought a little colour to the proceedings and boy did he rock. The Crickets, simply blinding. The Comets (but no Jacko Budding). As far as the audience was concerned, the hit of the festival. Marvin Rainwater, good normal Rainwater rockabilly set. Johnny Powers, fine rockin performance with bags of Presleyish overtones. Ersel Hickey, moments of fragmentary brilliance but a flawed performance (he was short of breath). Rocky Burnette, Paul Burlinson and DJ Fontana. Good but also had the Dempseys in the act which gave the sent too much thrash. Rudy Grayzell, fine energetic rock 'n' roll. Sonny West, basically the same set as at Hemsby but a bit more cohesive. Janis Martin, announced as the Queen of Rockabilly and she lived up to the name. Ronnie Dawson. Second biggest hit of the festival, looked more gaunt than ever and was not quite as heavy sound-wise as last time I saw him. Joe Clay, performed a typical set which was enjoyable. James Intveld. Bags of stage presence, lot of original numbers, great voice. Barrence Whitfield, plenty of excitement and originality. Will be a natural for the Rhythm Riot. Young Jessie. Basically the same set as at Hemsby which equals good. Mange av artistene ruslet rundt blant publikum før og etter sine opptredener og slo av en prat med alle som hadde lyst til å snakke med dem. Det var i det hele tatt en uhøytidelig og fin atmosfære. Det er allerede snakk om å gjenta arrangementet neste år og alt i alt var dette en opplevelse for livet. Tony Wilkinson |