Rattlebrained

Already September, sheesh, where does time go… I’ve been wanting to write about the one night I was able to attend of this years Blues Rules which took place last May, but insomnia and various other things have kept my bloging to a minimum; you may have noticed.

The first three editions of what is IMO one of Switzerland’s best blues festival took place on the grounds of the castle of Crissier, just outside of Lausanne. But it seems that didn’t work out this year so the festival’s two founders, Vincent Delsupexhe & Thomas Lecuyer, had a great idea: they organized 4 dates for some of their American bluesmen friends instead!

_{Left Lane Cruiser duo Brenn Beck and Joe Evans (far left) take in Robert Belfour}

Always on a tight budget, I chose the first of these evenings since I had already seen Left Lane Cruiser last year (BTW: Listen to their latest release Rock Them Back to Hell). And I wanted to see Lightnin’ Malcolm whose cd 2 Man Wrecking Crew with Cedric Burnside has been spinning in the car a lot this year. Also, I had made a t-shirt design for Floyd Beaumont the Arkadelphians – friends who had already played at the festival #2; read about it here – which was hot off the press and I was curious to check it out. And of course I was happy to catch Robert Belfour who I have to admit I didn’t know anything about.

Considering the cold and wet weather we had last spring, the fact that it was indoors this year was a bit of luck, and my only real complaint that evening was with the “grande salle de Chisaz” and was the fact that it had levels in the back of the room with tables on them – which were filled – leaving a large empty flat space between them and the crowd of real enthusiast directly in front of the stage. (reminder to self: blog soon about how chair, table versus stage placement can hurt ambiance)

The Arkadelphians opened the evening with an enjoyable – as always – set of American roots music. They played in the reception area of the building, where hot dogs and other BBQ delicacies could be found. They’re working on their first album this fall so stay tuned for that!

_{Floyd Beaumont the Arkadelphians with t-shirts in prominent display ;-)}

The doors opened for Lightnin’ Malcolm who sang a choice of songs from “Rough Out There” his latest CD, and more. Playing guitar behind kick and snare drums he turned out an intense and powerful performance. Not all guitarists who simultaneously play drums have that extra punch with their feet that give the rhythm that freight train force. Lightnin Malcolm has it, and with hindsight I’m not surprised that his facebook page reports that he has worked with the best drummers in Mississippi!

_{Lightnin’ Malcolm}

Regular readers may have gathered lately that I have been playing with old manual lens on my camera and it was the first time I had given that equipment a try for dark on-stage activities. So unfortunately my pictures of him suffer from my lack of experience as it was only after his set that I noticed a badly set exposure compensation… oh well, live and learn.

Besides being the great music it is, blues is rarely performed by folks out to become superstars. Concerts are on a more personal level than “so-so at the stadium”, and what goes on between songs, what is being said, how it is being said, what is not being said, can be just as important as the music (of course for that it helps to understand the language). When it’s over you feel that you actually met someone; which although not entirely true is a nice feeling nevertheless.

Speaking of that, it seems to me Robert Wolfman Belfour was probably pretty jet-lagged that evening. Which is not a criticism, on the contrary, I hope I’ll have that much energy when I’m 72! However he was a bit slow at first and was having trouble getting his guitar tuned to something that pleased his ear and as he explained to us: “no tuning machine or backstage assistant could get it right because it wasn’t just your ordinary guitar tuning” (sadly, I don’t remember his exact formulation of that thought).

One of the great richnesses of the blues for me is the ear these old Mississippi blues musicians have when it comes to guitar tunning, and the sound their guitars produce. When the last one passes away and all is left is “machine tuned guitarists” it will be a sad day indeed; although not all the guitarists I talked to that evening shared my love for dissonance :P

On one of the songs the note that came from his highest pitched string was so singular that the man himself seemed taken aback when he first strummed it. But did he stop and retune? No, he played it again.., and again.., concentrating each time on its singularity and then proceeded to weave it into the song making it the leitmotif of a moment within that song, that night. Something truly special indeed.
In my romanticized remembrance of the evening, it was about that time that the flow of energy came and ignited him; and once launched he wasn’t an easy man to stop!

This years Blues Rules wasn’t a festival in the way it was the years before, with less opportunities to discover artists we don’t see that often in Switzerland. But the evening I went held it’s share of magic which would have been unfortunate to miss. Too bad I couldn’t make it the next day..
Hopefully next year the festival will once again occupy the Crissier Castle’s fields, and if what I have herd through the grapevine is true, that will be the case.

And hopefully the stars will shine and a warm wind will blow that weekend..