‘Veronica’ was a big crowd pleaser, and set off the waterworks again. ‘Yum Yum’, ‘Fish Out of Water’, ‘Knock Down Drag Out’ were all blasted loud and strong. ‘Congratulations To Me’ (Darrell Glenn) was dedicated to his wife Chrissie, and it was at this point that the tears began to flow for me.
Ronnie’s ill health was common knowledge among the crowd and this was perhaps the most emotionally-charged show I have ever seen. He fully acquitted himself, while Ronnie took most of the lead breaks himself. Dawson has always had the very best musicians in his band, so the Go Getter’s guitarist was up against some historic competition. While Sweden’s Go Getters laid down a fat, earthy beat, Ronnie walked through the crowd doing ‘Red Hot Mama’ and ‘Shim Sham Shimmy’, flanked by security to hold back the throng of adoring fans. To be honest, there was really only one act that stole the show at this Rockabilly Rave, and that was RONNIE DAWSON. The Brewsters remind me of the Blue Rhythm Boys at their best, high praise indeed. ‘I Had a Gal Called Sal’ (Lightning Hopkins) and ‘Boogie Chillen’ (John Fred) were typical, blistering, rocking blues boppers. These were chosen wisely and the band added that special ‘something’ to them. What with this lot and Ruby Ann & the Boppin’ Boozers, it seems that Portugal is the country to watch in future.īREWSTERS trio (Germany), played nothing but covers. Covers were done with verve and their own material was exceptional. ‘Portuguese Rockabilly’ sounds a bit unlikely, like ‘Austalian culture’ or ‘Welsh hospitality’ but this was an outstanding four-piece. The MEAN DEVILS from (Portugal) were a revelation. The band if far better than their awful name suggests, so they may want to consider a rethink on the nomenclature font. Their best number in my view was a nice version of “A Cheat” (Sanford Clark). SEATSNIFFERS (Belgium) belt out hard-edged country rockers, a little in the same vein as Germany’s Smokestack Lightning but not quite as high a standard. I then dashed off to the Sounds That Swing record stall to make myself cash-poor but vinyl-rich (as always!) I saw a bit of John Lewis, Deke Dickerson, and Ashley Kingman, who laid down a virtuoso jam together. The call of a football match in the pub down the road meant that I missed most of the GUITAR FORUM. Well-deserved encores of the standards "Mexicali Rose" and "Muleskinner Blues" rounded off the set. "Feelin’ low" (Ernie Chaffin) was very nice, thank you, and the showpiece when the whole band played "Rockin Gypsy" (Joe Maphis) on one guitar was beautiful. "Wear Out the Soles of My Shoes " was the best of these, recalling the surf guitar of Untamed Youth. With help from Shorty on bass & Chris 'Sugarballs' Spragueon drums they plugged new songs from their new LP. Looking sharp in a tasselled western shirt and toting his trademark twin-necked Mosrite guitar, Deke rocked straight out of the starting blocks with scorching takes on "Lets Rock To-Nite" (Jimmy Grubbs) and "Red Headed Woman" (Sonny Burgess). Her self-penned material is extremely good, but I was puzzled as to why she thought she could play rhythm guitar while wearing gloves!ĭEKE DICKERSON & THE ECCOFONIC BOYS (USA) were the undoubted stars of the night's entertainment. JESSE AL TUSCAN (Germany) played a few covers such as "Blue Black Hair" (Jades) and "All Messed Up" (Jess Hooper) before bringing Tail records stablemate DOTTIE EASTWOOD onto the stage. I would like to hear more of their own material. This high energy combo zipped through numbers like "You Nearly Lose Your Mind" (Roy Moss),"Something I Said (Lew Williams) and a splendid "Raging Sea" (Gene Maltais). I bought a bottle of some pink, sickly sweet paint stripper and strolled up front to catch the first band, BILL FADDEN & THE SILVERTONE FLYERS (UK). I was now locked into 3 days of loud rocking music and chronic alcohol abuse at the annual 7th Rockabilly Rave at Camber Sands and it was a straight choice between booze oblivion or hospitalization. "God help us" whimpered my kidneys as the plastic band clicked shut around my weakly pulsing wrist. "Arrgh, please no!" screamed my liver as our car sped south towards Rye.
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