Hastings Beer & Music Festival (without the Beer) 2009...

The scene was set, expectations were high and the stormy weather that was promised came and went the night before leaving both Friday and Saturday evenIngs bathed in glorious sun just right for outdoor beers and great live music!!!

The Roundtable did themselves proud again with a great line-up of local acts and over 90 real ales.  The only downer on the whole event was when the Ale ran out by 21:45 on the Saturday night, but luckily we had Pugwash and SLAM to keep us entertained.

Apart from that little error the whole weekend went off without a hitch - the beer was great with names like Top Banana, Nutty Black and the sultry tones of the Chilly Willy!!! The music kicked off at 19:00 with a very young but very, very capable young man by the name of Sam Wills and his sidekick guitarist Ben.  It should be noted that it is hard enough to be the first act at any event, but to do it at a large and established event like HBMF and at the age of only 16 is very courageous, but the boys did themselves proud!  Sam is a young man with a huge talent and we will be watching his career with great hope.  We believe that you could be seeing this young singer/songwriter in the charts in the not too distant future - Sam, get yourself on to X-Factor and let the high-waisted, trouser-wearing fella called Cowell take you under his wing!!!

Friday evening then continued with an excellent set from The Hastings Horns to get the people in the mood for partying, before they made way for the headline act Blair with their special guest star Midge Ure, yes the Midge was indeed there!!!  Blair thundered out their tracks with their usual aplomb much to the happiness of the HBMF crowd.  Midge Ure, played three of his own tracks for the crowd including, of course, Vienna and even though most of the Hastings public leading up to the event were asking why, if HBMF was reverting back to it´s ´Local Artistes´ roots, Midge Ure was playing, everyone attending the event enjoyed seeing this legend of the 80´s.

Xango! returned to HBMF again on the Saturday evening with much expectation and we were not let down... The music again kicked off at 19:00 with a solid set from classic rockers, with a touch of pop Not Guilty who certainly got the crowd going early.  They were then followed up by a fantastic and hugely entertaining set by local favourites Pugwash.  Elvis Kinelvis was at his crouch grabbing best once again, although in Xango!´s opinion he was solely responsible for the lack of Ale behind the bar!!!  Never the less Pugwash rocked and dazzled and are a definite for any fan of local live music - wherever they go, follow and enjoy!!!

Following Pugwash there was a touching tribute to local legend Dave BLACKMAN as his band The Blackman Brothers, led by brother Martn, played a small set of some of Dave´s favourite tracks in his honour.  Dave shot to fame playing drums in mod band The Teenbeats, who emerged at the forefront of the revivalist scene of the early 1980s with songs such as ´I Can´t Control  Myself´. However, the Hastings fivesome disbanded before making an album - but not before releasing the aforementioned single complete with a cover photo snapped underneath Hastings Pier.  Since then, Mr Blackman played in a host of local bands, most notably The Blackman Brothers alongside his real-life brother Martin.  And, tragically, Martin was appearing alongside him at what proved to be his last ever gig at the Pheonix Art Centre Saturday 13th June 2009.

A regular at the Black Horse Festival in Telham, Dave Blackman was also an almost permanent fixture on the local fundraising set - helping to raise tens of thousands of pounds for Macmillan Cancer Support by appearing regularly at the annuals Beatles Day concert.

Dave Blackman was a legend in local music history and he will not be forgotten, but will be sorely missed.

Finally, SLAM took to the stage with Dave Blackman´s Partner Katie LLOYD on lead vocals.  Their set was, of course, dedicated to Dave and they played with a heart-felt passion that was there for everyone to see.  SLAM rocked HBMF festival like it has never been rocked before with cracking renditions of tracks from Garbage, Bon Jovi and Guns ´n´ Roses to name but a few.  SLAM are a fantastic local act that bring the house down everytime that they play.  If you are a fan of classic rock played how it should be - big, bold and brash with a great sense of fun then SLAM are the band for you.  See their profile on Xango! for their future gigs.

Xango!´s final words on the 2009 Hastings Beer & Music Festival is that it is definitely back on track since the wash out of two years ago that almost banckrupted the whole event out of existence.  Over the event´s 28 year history it has raised over £500,000 for local charities, this is something that the people of Hastings and surrounding areas should support next year even more, so to the organisers... 

...GET MORE BEER PLEASE!!!