Reviews

Alongside the West and North Shows, the Rocquaine Regatta remains one of the last bastions of traditional Guernsey summer life. However, while the big shows are seen as major summer events, the Regatta is often seen as a somewhat simpler happening.

Schema.

Over the past few years, maybe as an attempt to make the event seem more modern, the Rocquaine Regatta has worked with the Vale Earth Fair to bring the day to a close with some great local music alongside the traditional beach barbecue, and this year was no different with three acts providing some suitable sounds to while away an evening on the beach.

First on stage were Schema, tonight playing without bassist Tom Bradshaw, but with an additional member adding extra vocals and percussion.

Mick and Paul.

Their style of jazzy acoustic covers really suited the setting tonight as the assembled crowd sat on the beach relaxing to their mellow versions of popular tunes as the sun started to move behind Fort Grey.

As the smell of barbecues began to fill the air and various entertainers meandered their way through the crowd it was time for veteran duo, Mick and Paul, to take to the stage and, as with Schema, their sound was perfect for the setting.

The crowd relaxed on the beach.

Covering tunes from The Killers to the Foo Fighters to The Eagles in a very relaxed way combining acoustic guitar with electric bass, their music was perfect to go with the setting sun and the duo, who have been popular around the island for a number of years went down very well.

Between acts this evening, the Earth Fair team provided music in the form of reggae and relaxed hip-hop, which once again served to bring the correct mood to this first really hot day of summer.

Finally tonight, as the sun moved behind 'The Cup and Saucer', young blues band Spitshine hit the stage.

Dan Knight of Spitshine.

While their standard style of music isn't really suited to a relaxing listen, thanks to their many upbeat rock 'n' roll numbers, tonight they seemed to tone things down a bit and head in a much more blues direction.

While this made for a performance that didn't have the same energy they usually display, tonight it was time for Dan Knight's sax and Spud's drums to come the fore, which they did tremendously, while Joe Corbin's superb guitar work remained intact but took something of a back seat, and as ever Harry Parkin's bass was excellent and helped hold the true blues rhythms together brilliantly.

Unfortunately Spitshine only had time for a short set tonight, but they provided an excellent close to proceedings at the Rocquaine Regatta as the beach barbecues continued well into the evening.