Ricky Cool and the In-Crowd took their enthusiastic fans back to the swinging Flamingo Club – a sixties hot-spot famed for its nights of flamboyance, glamour and music that fused blues, jazz, ska and reggae together.
Rock and roll was the order of the day when Travellin’ Man – The Ricky Nelson story opened Lichfield Arts’ Spring 2019 season.
In what has become something of a Lichfield Arts Christmas tradition, the singer-songwriter and musician Johnny Coppin bought his three man show All on A Winter’s Night to Lichfield for the last night of their national tour.
The stage was packed with equipment as the 10-piece, led by singers Verity Smith, Ian Barton and Dave Ratty, played a host of songs aimed at getting the audience on the dance floor.
We all know the basic story by now – a miser is visited by his dead former business partner, before three other ghosts show him the error of his ways.
With elements of folk, rock, and virtuoso violin playing that took as much from Middle Eastern music as they did from traditional fiddle playing, the bands Merry Hell and Folklaw had a lot in common when they appeared at Lichfield Guildhall.
Although when thinking of rock gigs the Guildhall may not seem like the most obvious of venues, the multi-generational audience and the sound quality of the band all added to a great night of entertainment.
Detective Inspector John Rebus is a Betamax man in a VHS world. He rails against the closure of the pub and the opening of fancy restaurants, the growth of streaming, and the death of vinyl, the growth in mobile phones and the death of the land line.
After 20 years of writing songs, six albums and support slots for the likes of Seth Lakeman, Joan Armatrading, Paul Brady, Gretchen Peters and Paul Carrack, it is not surprising that the singer songwriter Lisbee Stainton knows how to put on an entertaining show.
Sam has some problems – he has a hangover, has left a series of regrettable messages for his ex-girlfriend and doesn’t know the girl waking up next to him, or the escort who is sleeping in his bath.
Intrigue, wartime secrets, political issues, double and triple agents, tap dancing, singing, 1940’s talk radio, and biscuits – The Foundry Group packed a lot into The Ministry of Biscuits when they performed it for a near-capacity audience at Lichfield’s Garrick theatre.
After more than 30 years at the forefront of the live jump-jive jazz scene, it is no wonder that the musical institution of King Pleasure and the Biscuit Boys knew how to put on a show and draw a large crowd as they closed the Lichfield Arts Blues and Jazz Festival.
