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Review courtesy of The Music Guru. Visit their website at: www.themusicguru.co.uk or www.kpdigital.org.uk

The Garforth Arts Festival 2008 @ Garforth Community College - The Playground Party July 5, 2008

The All England Lawn Tennis Championships at Wimbledon got off pretty lightly with the rain this year, so it was inevitable that events like the final day of the Garforth Arts Festival wouldn't escape without a downpour. But, hey, we're made of more sturdy stuff up north, so not even a spot of rain, nay torrential rain, could dampen our enthusiasm for what, over the last few years, has become something you just can't leave out of your diary.

Arriving late due to the weather myself, I made my way into the venue. The Dharma, who, unbeknown to me, were in the throes of their last song, sounded brilliant. I'd already heard loads of positive stuff about them on the circuit, so was really looking forward to finally seeing them. Ah well, can't win 'em all. I also missed the Shiny Band too, who were brilliant last year.

Chichino were next up, though, unfortunately, they were introduced as Chichinio, which is nitpicking on my part, sorry, as Mike Hancock, our compere for the day, did a splendid job throughout. Chichino are an amazing band from Leeds and might just be our next big stars of the future, especially when their new single 'This Is It' is unveiled to the public this autumn. It always sounds great on stage, with Lady Miss Narelle on vocals and Keytar, Gary C on guitar and vocals, John Fowles on 6 string bass and vocals and Andre Siron on drums, always giving their all, even when the rain becomes torrential towards the end of their set . Their cover of 'Groove Is In The Heart' always gets the crowd going and today was no exception, except to say that this time they were all dancing around their umbrellas. Surreal.
Flava, the Britain's Got Talent finalists, had the crowd screaming every time their name was mentioned, and even though they had to wait a good 15 minutes for the rain to subside before their idols arrived, they didn't budge an inch. As the dance troop arrived on stage, to deafening cheers, screams and applause, they invited six lucky members of the audience on stage to dance with them. An excellent start, which will also have won them a lot more friends and fans. The second half of the set was made up entirely of an electrifying performance of the routine that got them to the final of BGT. I can see why they stood out too, as every move was so finely tuned to perfection. Flava repeated their performance later in the day too, choosing more children from the crowd, plus a few adults.

A complete change of mood came next in the guise of the KRM, which I later found out stood for the Kolorado Rock Machine from Wakefield. They rocked everyone's socks off, to put it mildly. Arriving on stage to an Ennio Morricone spaghetti westen theme, they took the audience by the throat and did not relent, their great songs, which included 'This Is Brilliant Rock', 'Livin' The Daft Life' and 'Kissing' – check out their myspace - played out with lots of fun and plenty of posturing from Adam, the lead singer. I also learnt later on that all bar one of these guys are teachers. Excuse me, Sirs, but isn't Kolorado supposed to be spelt with a C? I must be missing something here.
Dave Evans, the Festival Director, and his Garforth Jazz Rock Band were on stage next and just go from strength to strength. 'Better Get It In Your Soul' by Charlie Mingus, The Cure's 'Boys Don't Cry' and Ben Folds' 'Trusted' are the stand outs for me, as the rain threatens once more.

As the rain kept coming down, I was finding it increasingly difficult to keep both my reporters note book and my camera dry, so apologies for not getting the titles of any of the songs performed by Middleman, The Real Macaws and 3 Daft Monkeys, who were all exceptional.
Jazz Jamaica celebrated the return of the dry weather with a set just full of sunshine songs and tunes. 'Liquidator' and their own rendition of 'The James Bond Theme' were stand outs for me and drew a huge crowd to the stage area.
What can be said about Richard Hawley that hasn't already been said? He is such a huge talent, both in his skills as a songwriter and as vocalist. But his guitar playing is what surprised me most as his style is impeccable. Opening with 'Hotel Room' from the album Coles Corner, Richard set the bar high from the very beginning. 'Born Under A Bad Sign' came next, his own composition and not the blues classic, but equally as amazing in it's own right. By this time, Mr. Hawley had the audience in the palm of his hand as he joked with the crowd, before a great cheer erupted as he announced the next song was to be 'Tonight The Streets Are Ours' from his latest album Lady's Bridge. A dose of rockabilly came next in the form of Serious, before things got down and mellow once more in 'Roll River Roll' and 'Valentine.' 'Just Like The Rain' has Richard singing in Johnny Cash mode here before he goes back to his Lowedges album for 'Oh My Love.' An encore provided two more songs in I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry, a Hank Williams cover, and, finally 'The Ocean' which was the perfect end to a perfect night. I have to say that this was one of the best performances by any artist I have ever seen. But, in saying that, you've still got to have the songs. Richard Hawley has got the songs and hopefully there's still more to come.
Festival Director, Dave Evans and his team should be congratulated for pulling off the impossible once more. Heaven knows what they've got up their sleeves for next year … I just wouldn't book the rain again though!