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Jamstand

The Jamstand Festival, Ross-on-Wye 08.08.09

It was a shame to miss super Saturday at what looked to be morphing into an amazing Big Chill, due in no small part to the fantastic break in the weather, but I'd already planned to catch a few Rays myself at the wonderfully offbeat Jamstand Festival on the riverbank at Ross-on-Wye. This is the brainchild of Jack Baldus of acid-jazzers Zang Tang who spawned Jamstand as a slimline successor to the over-bloated and under-lamented Ross International Festival, which paraded acts like Van Morrison at inflation-busting ticket prices. Jamstand carries on the sprit of the wonderful one-off Unintentional Festival of a few years back - this is now the third year, and it's now a two-day event. Headliners on the Friday were local heroes Dandelion Killers (blast!) with a special appearance by the Friday Session's Flo Rowland (double-blast!), but an equally appetising line-up loomed on a sunny Saturday and even better - Jamstand's a freeby!

Zebedy Rays

It all kicked off a bit early for my liking - by the time I'd arrived in Ross, the likes of Between Us And The Fire, Thyrrd Eye and Jivestick had already completed the lunchtime shift. I just feel these acts might have been better placed in an early-evening slot maybe. We arrived as Jamstand regulars Zebedy Rays were about half-way through their set - believe it or not, due to the schedule under-running its timing - and I've never come across that before! Now the Zebedy Rays are without doubt the best live act in the two counties. This, again, was no exception - with Adam and the lads blending hard rock with free-form jazz into a heady brew of frothy goodness. The trouble was that the Zebedy Rays have a reputation for - let's just say sauciness - and I feel that this wasn't appropriate for their mid-afternoon spot. I'd have felt a lot more comfortable hearing them 'after the watershed' if you get my drift!

Hit-Ups

There was no wordy problems with Bristolians The Hit-Ups for their RHCP-ish set. This was some good festival fare from a four-piece who mix hard rock, reggae, hip-hop and ska into bite-sized easily-digestible morsels. Not wow-factor just yet maybe, but certainly heading in the right direction. Now I can't tell you where Peppermint Hunting Lodge are from, and I'm not gonna bother looking. No credit to this six-piece who scratched their set because one member hadn't made it - ever heard of 'the show must go on' guys?

Zang Tang

This was why Jamstand was under-running, and it must have been nearly an hour before schedule that organiser Jack Baldus' own outfit Zang Tang hit the stage. You heard them live in session a few weeks ago and if you remember they're one of the slickest and most professional outfits in the two counties, with an ability to freeform and improvise more of their jazz-rocking lounge-lizardy numbers on the spot - which undoubtedly helped to bring the set timings back in kilter.

Jack Baldus

You can listen to all the latest music from across the two counties on the Friday Session Introducing... every week from 7pm, on 主播大秀 Hereford & Worcester. The Music Map success stories are from 6pm.