Back at the Rockin' Race 1

I'm back in sunny, if rather chilly Spain for the 26th Rockin' Race Jamboree and I reckon it's the best line up I've seen here. The afternoon session at the Barracuda Hotel featured a couple of decent acts - Rusty and the Riots from Scotland and Bailey Dee - but the evening action at the Auditoriun Principe De Asturias was exceptional.
Anita O'Night and the Mercury Trio, who kicked things off, were OK but the evening took off with the arrival of Rosie Flores. I saw Rosie twice in Nashville last year and enjoyed her more rock influenced numbers but was less enamoured with her country stuff. Backed by Deke Dickerson on double bass her set began with 'Get Rhythm' and continued with the self-penned 'A Simple Case Of The Blues' before she was joined on stage by sax player Kenny Thomas and then James Intveld, who duetted with her to good effect on 'Crying Over You'. Towards the end of the set the two of them moved towards a more rockabilly flavoured mood and she finished strongly with 'You Tear Me Up' and finally a Wanda Jackson style 'Let's Have A Party'.
Highlight of the night was the Ragin' Cajun Doug Kershaw who as always produced an enjoyable and amusing, if slightly chaotic, set of Cajun influenced rockabilly. Supported by the Dave and Deke Combo he began with 'Diggy Liggy Lo' and smiled and fiddled his way through the amusing 'Hey Sheriff', 'Better To Be A Hasbeen Than A Never Was' and 'Sweet Love Is Hard To Find'. After some excellent fiddle work on 'Cajun Joe (The Bully of the Bayou' there was 'Why Don't You Love Me Like You Used To Do' , 'Love Me To Pieces' and 'Hey Mae', with enthusiastic audience participation.  Now looking a little weary (he is 84 after all despite his slim frame and the glint in his eye), he ended with 'Louisiana Man' and a brief reprise of 'Hey Mae'. An entertaining and all too short set.
Next up were Paul Ansell's Number Nine who produced a melodic and varied set. Paul's vocals on such numbers as 'Lonesome Train', 'If I Ever Get To Memphis' and 'Sea of Heartbreak' were exemplary. So too were 'Train Of Love', Iggy Pop's 'The Passenger', 'Hey Joe'  (maybe not the best of choices) and  couple of Elvis songs, 'I Forgot To Remember To Forget' and 'She's Not You'. Overall an enjoyable set.
Final act for me, were Darrel Higham and Robert Gordon. Darrel did three numbers, including 'Dark Haired Woman' and 'Ghost Of Love', and performed them well, before Robert Gordon came on stage, looking perhaps a little the worse for wear. He strutted around the stage grimacing and posing, but to be fair his voice came across strongly on numbers such as Jack Scott's 'The Way I Walk', 'I'll Be Your Lover Boy', 'I'm Coming Home' and 'Little Boy Sad'. Not  a bad start to the festival. The 'surprise band', due to appear at 3am, was the Jets, but by this time I had taken my leave. Much more to come though.