The Groundhogs Barnard Castle Blues Festival 29 May 2011
Festival Line up: TCR Band; Andy Yeadon; Tantrum; Sugar Kane; Groundhogs
David and I went along to see The Groundhogs at the Barnard Castle Blues festival, which is a free event held as part of the Barnard Castle Meet over the May bank holiday weekend. We arrived in time to catch the last couple of songs from Sugar Kane, who are a blues band fronted by John O’Leary on vocals and mouth harp. John comes from a strong blues pedigree, having been a member of Savoy Brown and the John Dummer blues Band in their early days, and he plays some nifty blues harp; the guitarist in the band is good too.
Its been a year since I last saw Tony McPhee and the band, and I was interested to see how Tony was getting on. He had a stroke a couple of years ago; his speech has been affected and his wife Joanna has joined the band on vocals. Last time I saw them at the Cluny, Tony sang one song (Still a Fool). Tonight he managed two songs: Eccentric Man and Still a Fool again. Joanna’s dancing is as manic as ever, she’s backward and forward across the stage like a dervish. She was sporting a nifty hat for the first song. Tony looked well, and his playing was pretty good, although his guitar was seriously out of tune in Split 2 (too much use of the tremelo arm methinks). Good to see them again, and to hear a set of old favourites.
Groundhogs Setlist: No More Doggin’; Eccentric Man (Tony vocals); Garden; Still a Fool (Tony vocals); Split 1; Split 2; Split 4; Natchez Burning; Mistreated; Cherry Red
Encore: Down in the Bottom
The current line-up of The Groundhogs is: Tony McPhee (guitar), Dave Anderson (bass), Carl Stokes(Drums) and Joanna Deacon (vocals).
The Groundhogs website: www.thegroundhogs.co.uk
Sugar Kane website: www.johnolearyb.com
The Groundhogs at Barnard Castle Blues
Tony McPhee
I think Clapton is back on top form and, in my book, always worth seeing these days. So I decided to make the trip to Glasgow on Thursday night. I was also tempted by the support act Andy Fairweather Low. I’ve seen Andy many times over the years in Clapton and Roger Waters’ bands, but haven’t seen him solo since the 1970s. I arrived at SECC around 7pm, bought my programme, and took my seat in Row S of the centre block. Andy Fairweather Low and his band took us through his greatest hits including Bend Me Shape Me, La Booga Rooga, Wide Eyed and Legless, and If Paradise is Half as Nice. 
He’s also a very accomplished guitarist which he demonstrated to great effect in a couple of bluesy instrumentals; one of which was by Lightning Hopkins. Andy had a lovely Vox teardrop guitar, which matched his 60s setlist. good opener. I’ve seen Clapton many times since the 70s (probably about 15 or so). There were times I felt he was going through the motions in some shows in the 90s, but the last few times I’ve seen him he has been playing really well, with great, fluid guitar playing and getting back to what he started with; the blues. And Thursday was no exception. The set started with some great blues songs, with Clapton playing with feeling and passion. Great keyboard solos from Chris Stainton and Tim Carmon. 
The set is predictable, and seems to be the same as he has been playing throughout the tour, with a mix of blues, old favourites and an acoustic set in the middle. High points for me were Hoochie Coochie Man, Badge and I Shot the Sherriff. Low points; I’m still not keen on the unplugged Layla (lets have the electric version next time please, Eric) and I did get a little tired of the keyboard solos which seemed to figure in almost every song. Also Clapton seemed subdued and was straight off the stage at the end (it wouldn’t hurt to say a few words to the crowd). Overall, however, this was a pretty good show; Clapton has become the modern equivalent of the old bluesmen who got him started in the beginning. Long may he continue to come and play for us.
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