Remarkable Blues concert brings people to their feet

Sid Valley Delta Blues

SATURDAY night at the Volunteer Inn in Sidmouth witnessed a remarkable musical performance, writes Ian Hanson.

In a concert that will be discussed for many years, Marcus Bonfanti and Paddy Milner gave the week’s events in the Volunteer garden a send-off to remember.

Their mixture of Blues music, ranging from New Orleans style blues/jazz through Chicago Blues to modern standards all mixed in with their own songs, kept a packed audience spellbound for more than two hours.

Now in London but originally from Dorchester, Paddy, keyboard, seemed to have the use of several extra hands as he played songs from the Mississippi Delta, intermixed with his own songs and his rendition of the Dave Brubeck classic Unsquare Dance, was simply brilliant.

Marcus Bonfanti, guitar, has rapidly established himself as one of Britain’s leading Blues artists.

A regular on national radio stations and festivals such as Glastonbury and The Big Chill, his mix of his own songs from his current album, What Good Am I To You and great blues artists such as Robert Johnson and Muddy Walters, showed off his rich voice and superb guitar playing.

He had the crowd dancing and singing along. Alone they are amazing together they were simply stunning.

On Friday afternoon they played to a packed house and were the warm up act for Sidmouth Town Band who, as usual, brought the house down, receiving a standing ovation in the pub.

The Band was presented with �100 towards their bid for the National Championships later in the year, by Jo Jacobs and Steve Lea from The Volunteer.