A week ago today, around 450 performers descended upon 38 venues for the Hertford Music Festival's annual Musical Mystery Tour, and what a great day it was.
The music kicked off at 12pm and my first stop was The White Horse pub to see the singer songwriter Colin Swift. It was a great start to the day with the highlight being Colin's cover version of Nick Drake's 'Road'. The audience were captivated throughout & Colin's face was beaming following his first live performance in a while. I've since heard that he's been asked back for further gigs at the venue and I'm sure he'll now be a regular on the Hertford circuit for some time.
After that great start it was time to head over to Elbert Square, and the car park of the old venue Elbert Wurlings, to see the Legend that is Don Letts DJ'ing. He didn't disappoint and the atmosphere in the crowd was amazing.
I had to cut my time at Elbert Square short, however, to go and catch local heroes The McTells at the Hertford Museum. I'd recently read about The McTells in the Hertford Museum's exhibition 'Beautiful Noise' which is all about Hertford's musical heritage. After hearing them online I just had to go and see them, and I'm so glad I did.
Their song 'Clean' was the highlight for me and when I tweeted about them on the day, one of my followers in America (please step forward @beardedsteven) replied saying how much he loved the band and then showed off his vinyl collection of theirs to me.
After the McTells I rushed to The Old Barge to catch George Ezra's little brother Ethan Barnett. The pub (where Ethan is currently a barman) was packed, and it was standing room only, but I managed to squeeze my head around the door to catch some of his set. Different vocally to his older brother, but equally talented, it's only a matter of time before Ethan steps out of George's shadow to hit the big time himself. After all George himself played The Old Barge at the Musical Mystery Tour only a few years ago - let's hope history repeats itself.
After that set I headed over to The Millstream, and their wonderful beer garden, who were part of the Musical Mystery Tour for the first time. Highlights were Starseedz captivating the crowd with their catchy tunes, including 'Little Bird', & one half of The Twirling Canes playing an impromptu gig as the sun went down. Their Portishead-like vocally distorted tunes, with their guest female singer, were perfect for the atmosphere as night fell on the beer garden.
The last stop of the day was at Sloppy's. I arrived to find out that sadly the excellent Sara Ashley had dropped out, however, this gave the brilliant headliner Becky Phillips a chance to play a longer set. She took it in her stride with the highlight being a great cover version of Hertford's very own George Ezra's 'Budapest'. It was a fitting end to a great day.
A good time was had by all and it wouldn't have been possible without the sponsors and the excellent bands who all played for free. And let's not forget the main organisers, Kev Saunders & Rob Guinn, who gave up loads of their time to make sure everyone else had a good one. A massive shout out to them.
Here's to next year, I'm looking forward to it already...
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