With a smattering of swearing, government bashing and general good humour The Blockheads fired their inimitable style of funk/jazz at Chichester.
Although people were slow to react initially, Mr Funk himself - legendary bass player Norman Watt-Roy - soon caught people's attention,
and by the time his amazing finger-twiddling solo on Hit Me With Your
Rhythm Stick arrived, everyone was defin
itely feeling the funk.
Singer Derek The Draw slipped perfectly into Ian Dury's place, revving up the crowds with his frustration with the world and the odd four-letter word. Consummate musicians, it was a treat to see them, and I'm sure Dury would be proud to see his music standing the test of time.
There was deafening applause for the headline act as From The Jam stormed on stage. The crowd were clearly up for it, but I found the set to be fairly pedestrian and business-like. But give them their dues though, the band do have presence, Bruce Foxton has a great stage strut and Russell Hastings definitely has the Paul Weller voice down to a tee.
While men of a certain age had fun reliving their youth and were happy to hear the hits, for me there was some sparkle missing and there was a definite dip in the middle of the set as songs seemed to merge into one, but the crowd had a blast and that's what counts.
Clare Hawkin
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