I just returned from seeing BJH at Rosfest. They were wonderful. I previously posted some photos and a brief report of the activities I shared with Woolly and the other band members the night before the show.
BJH were the Sunday headliner, and although all of the bands before them were great, I felt like a little boy forced to sit in my seat through an endless Sunday church session, such was my anticipation of the show. I missed them when they came to the States in 1976 and I have been begging various promoters to bring them over since 2003. Although I had nothing to do with the fact that they were signed to play at ROSfest, I was fortunate to not only see the show, but to meet the band and lend Woolly a Mellotron. I also spent the weekend working backstage between acts and was provided a hotel room and full access for my efforts.
Sadly, I did not get to meet John Lees until we were setting up for the show, and actually spoke only briefly to him afterwards. He was sick all weekend and literally dragged himself from his bed to play the show. The rest of the band, including Woolly were very gregarious, very accessible and a lot of fun to hang out with. As some of you may know, Woolly and John Lees are supported on stage by Kevin Whitehead on drums and Craig Fletcher on bass, both of whom are in Maestoso with Woolly. In fact, if John weren't with them and Steve Broomhead was, it would be Maestoso. However, it is John and Woolly together who make it BJH and there was no mistaking what they sounded like.
I was surprised to find that Woolly is actually the man in charge. Despite the name, John Lees' Barclay James Harvest, Woolly is the band leader and a great front man. He sang surprisingly well, and actually sang lead on the opening tune, "For No One" because of John's suffering voice. One of the most enjoyable aspects of their performance is Woolly's sense of humor. Craig is a great foil for him on and off stage. There is a comradery amongst all of them that really shows through in their performance. For this show, BJH added a second keyboard player, Jez Smith. This was his first tour with the band and he fit right in.
I was fortunate to spend a lot of time with Woolly, Kevin, Jez and Craig and they're all great guys. John Lees seemed to be very quiet and shy but also really nice.
I'm happy to report that the Mellotron sounded great and Woolly played the hell out of it. In talking with Martin Smith last week, he summed up their performance very well before I ever saw it. He described them properly as very "musical." He was right. Although they are all very good musicians, none are what I would call great. However, when you see and hear the show, you realize how wonderfully "musical" they are and how well they play within the framework of these great songs. On one song, Medicine man, they took off on an extended jam that stretched the song out considerably. This was the only time they improvised. I loved it, as did virtually everyone else.
I wish others of you could have been there to see the show. Sadly, they had to cancel the Toronto show scheduled for the 6th. Woolly assures me that they would like to return to North America as soon as possible. Hopefully their manger, Mark Powell, can work something out. I think the problem is that they don't have any money to promote their show, and without promotion they can't sell tickets. So the 'festival' thing is, for now, the best way to get them over here.
One great highlight was that Jimmy Moore and his wife Nancy were at the show as guests of the band. It was great to see them and I wish I'd had time to hang out and visit with them. As it was, by the time I was done tearing down and packing up, it was late and I had to hit the road for a 3 1/2 hour drive. Plus I had to stop and pick up the Mellotron 4 Track on the way home so that I can begin it's overhaul.
I have posted some pictures below and will soon put some videos up on my myspace page. The promoter has asked me not to post them to you tube, so I won't. Others at the show may have also shot video, so some may show up on you tube at some point.
Frank