Frank,
Great story and glad you had a good time!
Pete
lsf5275@aol.com wrote:
> 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
> ∗
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