Main Blues

We used to enjoy Brecon Jazz Festival, often for a day, sometimes for the whole weekend. Stroller tickets were good value and there was a good range of events in marquees and open spaces, as well as free street events. We were pleased when the festival was rescued last year from collapse by Hay Festivals.

But now all events are indoors, often in, quite literally, stuffy venues. If you want to go to a full days’ music each festival day, you could end up paying hundreds of pounds over the weekend, with the top concerts over £30 each. There are also events at £10 or under, but many of these are performers you can see locally at other times.

So this year we decided to skip the main festival altogether and spend a day at the ‘Fringe’ festival. Over 20 venues put on performers for free (though one pub charges £5 per day).



Most of the fringe performances are not jazz. They are reggae, funk, country, bluegrass, funk, folk-rock, blues and a strong dose of classic rock and pop covers, plus some comedy spots thrown in between main acts.

We started our day with the special ‘fringe’ exhibition at the museum (good value at 50p), and saw our first performance at midday. Nearly 12 hours later we reluctantly left a great party-atmosphere set from Bristol–based Loose Change.

Other highlights were Hawkwind founder Nik Turner playing a captivating sax and flute gig in the intimate setting of the Bull’s Head, and fantastic funky Valleys Band, Albino Frogs, on the courtyard stage at The George.

There were plenty of other good acts we could have seen if they hadn’t clashed with our selection, including the truly wonderful Wonderbrass. And that was just one day of the fringe.

With plenty of real ale at the venues, it’s a pity that there is no organised transport from Cardiff to the festival/fringe. Surely some entrepreneur could fill a coach with music lovers for each day? The only public transport would have meant leaving Brecon at 5:30. Still, using our own car meant we were home in 45 minutes.

We had a really fun day for the cost of a few pints and fish and chips. I may never pay for another festival gig at Brecon!

Hot news: Torfaen Jazz Society have just announced a Swing, Blues and Funk “Nano-Fest” on September 24th and 25th. TJS’ previous mini-fests have been most enjoyable, and this one looks equally promising. It features the excellent sax player Derek Nash, whose ‘Protect the Beat’ project featured in my blog on the Mumbles “Mostly Jazz and Blues” festival. TJS’ home is in the little village of Sebastopol (north of Cwmbran). It’s really not far from Cardiff and you can get there on public transport (X3 bus all the way). There’s no need to worry about drinking and driving  – there’s a new Premier Inn 15 minutes walk (or a short taxi-ride) away. Why not stay over and drive home after Sunday breakfast?