Saturday (7th June) saw Bedgebury Pinetum come alive with the sound of Jools Holland & his Rhythm & Blues Orchestra.
The gig was the first of two held at the forest over the weekend.
The good weather and great music added up to a fantastic night out for the nearly 5,000 people at the event.
Imelda May who was the support act
Picnics were the order of the day
The music got under way with the excellent Imelda May offering a mix of blues, rockabilly and jazz to get the crowd nicely warmed up for the main event, and on that performance she would clearly grace any stage.
With the sun still high in the sky the picnics were being consummed with gusto, and a lovely summery atmosphere pervaded the whole area.
As the sun begun to go down Jools and his band took to the stage and were met with a jubilant reception from the crowd.
Jools on his trademark piano
The band went straight into some fantastic boogie woogie numbers and as ever the musicality of both Jools and the band was outstanding.
Amazingly the music was nearly non-stop throughout the hour and a half plus that the band played for and with guest vocalists Ruby Turner, Rico Rodgruiez and Eddie Reader appearing through the show the variety of styles and influences was excellent.
Rico Rodriguez gave a fantastic reggae feel to the music and his style added another dimension to an already varied concert.
Eddie Reader produced a wonderful vocal performance which sent a shudder down the spine, and her story about an ex boyfriend had the crowd laughing along with her.
The whole crowd joined in with the music
Ruby Turner, the soul singer, also sang with the band and the power and range of her voice brought the best out of the instruments.
As the night progressed the crowd became more and more involved in the music and the last part of the gig saw large swaves of the audience singing (some in tune, some not!) along with well known songs.
After a rapturously greeted encore the night was over and the crowd were left to reflect on a fantastic concert in a beautiful setting.
Not a bad way to end the day!
Following the weekends concerts Bedgebury Press officer Peter D'Auiglar was very happy with the weekends gigs, " The Bedgebury concerts are always a highlight of our year. It's great to see so many people enjoying themselves and the good weather was a real bonus. All the acts performed superbly and feedback from both concert-goers and organisers was very enthusiastic - perhaps the best ever! Roll on next year's concerts."
For more information on Bedgebury Pinetum click HERE
