 By Pete MackieA ‘Festival of the Sea’ was held in and around the Albert Dock, Liverpool, on July 28th and 29th. Among the main events were Saturday and Sundayafternoon concerts on the Floating Stage. As you might expect there were a number of folk acts, including sets from shantymen Stormalong John and ex ‘Spinner’ Hughie Jones, singing sea songs. What was more unexpected was, slotted in amongst these acts, a set from the Rainy City Bluegrass Band. It is a welcome change to see Bluegrass getting such a public airing and the Rainy City Band really did us proud! I went to the Saturday afternoon show and saw the band do an excellent set which included a broad mix of Bluegrass material, of which my own favourite was that old standard Using My Bible For A Road Map. The band was strong instrumentally but it was their concentration on the songs themselves which I found most appealing. The Rainy City were helped by an excellent sound system which provided the volume and clarity needed to carry around such an unusual venue as a floating stage in the middle of a converted Victorian dock. They also managed to cope, apparently un-perturbed, when a pleasure boat, complete with 40 passengers, sailed between them and their audience! It was great to see many of day trippers stop to listen as they wandered around the dock, and to see their feet tapping. I even stopped to talk to one visitor from Stockport who turned out to be a closet Bluegrass fan - hopefully it will be one of the day’s successes if he makes contact with some of the local Bluegrass clubs whose details I gave to him. The band commented “We’ve been really well looked after by the organisers and the sound was great. We played both days and really enjoyed the weekend, even the barge - it added a little ‘rock’ to the bluegrass ‘roll’ on the floating island!” Finally I would like to thank Jack Coutts, who writes an occasional folk column for the Liverpool Daily Post and Echo and who organised this part of the weekend festival, for having the broadness of mind to include Bluegrass in the concert. Well done to everyone involved - I hope we see the same thing included in next year’s event! Pete Mackie , Formby
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