You'd think Irish audiences would be weary of blues music by now. Eric Bibb, Taj Mahal and Buddy Guy have played Dublin within the past couple of months, while B.B. King makes a return visit shortly. Clearly thirsty for more, we now have the Guinness Blues Festival, which takes place in Dublin from next Friday. It's enough to make a blues lovin' fan wake up in the mornin', look at all the gigs being played over the space of three days, and wonder how in the name of Robert Johnson they're going to catch even half of them. Rightly regarded as the premier blues festival in the country, this year the Guinness Blues organisers have included some fine additions to the by now tried and trusted format. Headliners include power blues/rock guitarist Jeff Healy, Eric Bibb (again!), Chris Smither, Alvin "Youngblood" Hart, and the extraordinary Ali Farka Toure.
Scratching underneath the surface of the main acts (only a few of which are essential) are a number of musts: Corey Harris plays strikingly original, spiritual blues; The Guinness Blues Fuze is a newly introduced late night club programme (at The Kitchen, POD, Ri Ra and Mean Fiddler) that mixes live hip-hop, jazz, and drum'n'bass performances with DJs such as Johnny Moy and Claire Moloney; and, possibly the most interesting of all, one-time David Bowie cohort, Hammer film bit part player and - I kid you not - former British junior water-skiing champion, Dana Gillespie.
Gillespie has made a latter-day career out of being the brassiest blues torch singer in the business. Her album titles include Blue Job, Below The Belt, and Sweet Meat. Despite her predilection for suggestiveness (which can be ludicrously overplayed), Gillespie is a seductive belter of the highest order.
Best bet to avoid? The awful Blues Brothers film in Meeting House Square. Best bet overall? Alvin "Youngblood" Hart and Corey Harris on the Acoustic Stage in Meeting House Square. The blues is out there - seek and ye shall find. And pray it doesn't rain.
The Guinness Blues Festival takes place from July 24th-26th in various Dublin venues. Details on venues and dates/times of gigs from the Guinness Blues Festival Information Centre, at Tower Records, 1st Floor, 6-8 Wicklow Street, Dublin. Tel: (01) 672 5200; Fax: (01) 672 5221.
