The man with hit songs – Freddy Iversen was honored at this year’s Cementblues 2019: Photos, Video

The fire soul Freddy Iversen was honored during this year’s Cementblues in Kjøpsvik, which was the tenth in a row. There were many musical highlights, but the greatest enthusiasm in the audience probably created Steve Harley and his friends in the Cockney Rebel. 

The man with hit songs like “Make Me Smile”, “Sebastian”, Mr. Soft “,” Judy Teen “and a little later with the cover version of Here Comes The Sun” filled the festival tent on the square in Köpsvik to the brink in the minutes before he entered the stage. Until then, there had been something glittering in the tent while exciting bands like Hurley & The Blue Dots and Crazy Hambones had entertained from the acoustic scene. It was clear that something was in progress when the clock passed at 20.30. More and more people pulled in from the sun’s rays outdoors and took their seats in front of the main stage of the tent. It was very crowded when the 68-year-old from England entered the scene precisely at 9pm to the tones of “Here Comes The Sun”. The sound could have been better, not least for those who sat on the benches in the back of the room, but the audience at Sementblues got involved in an inhibitory mime party. The band and the protagonist delivered, and there is little doubt that this booking hit the audience perfectly at the festival in the High North. People were very pleased when Steve Harley and his men had finished their concert.

Kat Riggins

It was only half full in the tent when the baton moved on to Kat Riggins & The Blues Revival at 11pm. The vocalist who was born in Miami in 1980 had traveled north with his Dutch band. They had already presented themselves the day in advance with a great concert at Kjøpsvik church. During Thursday and night until Friday, they had managed to make many new friends in the north. That is why the atmosphere in front of the stage was also Friday night, where Riggins served a fine blend of soul, blues and rock dotted with a serving of gospel. It was extra touching when the band chose to honor the late Benne on the last two songs. Benne was a local figure in Kjøpsvik who passed away so early on his own 42nd birthday, September 9, 2018, when his heart abruptly stopped. The bassist in the band performed the last two songs on the bass guitar of Benne, a bass protagonist had secured a number of great autographs from previous guests at Sementblues.

• A fantastic tribute to Benne, assured a touched and gathered family towards JazzBluesNews afterwards.

The evening was best ended by Johnny Mastro & Mamas Boys, who had their Norwegian debut in Kjøpsvik this evening. A star booking of a band that has been going on ever since its inception in Los Angeles in 1996. Unfortunately, it was a glitzy and weary crowd that greeted them when they first entered the stage at 00.45 night to Saturday. Those who endured got in close contact with an amazing band that plays powerful, heavy, messy and energetic blues. Guitarist Smokehouse has developed a wonderful interaction with front figure Johnny Mastro on harmonica and vocals. Together they thunder loose and engage the audience to join their music. Unfortunately, it was only the most ardent who brought this gem of a show, but those who endured happily left for the night to continue the party in late and bright night hours.

Award Ceremony

On Saturday, it was time for awards ceremony in Kjøpsvik, first by representatives from Sparebanken Narvik, who has been a sponsor of the festival. They presented an honorary prize to the Cementbluesen festival manager, Birgit Stenseng, for the festival’s work and dedication to Kjøpsvik and for their involvement with teams and associations that help during the festival.

The festival received an award from Sparebanken Narvik for its involvement in the local community.

Viking of the year

The Viking of the Year Award was given to Freddy Iversen, the departed festival manager who this year was the first guest at the festival he started 17 years ago. The award is given to people who have meant something special to the local community in Kjøpsvik, this applies to both politics and all volunteer work. But Freddy has not just driven the blues. His involvement started with football 35 years ago, first as a player and later as a coach for both the youth, the A team and the women’s team. But it is the commitment to the Köpsvik blues club and the festival he is best known for, not only here in Norway, but also Europe and the rest of the world, where he has contributed to putting Köpsvik on the blues chart.

JazzBluesNews visited Freddy’s music room, where he often looks for new artists, and reads up on blues and blues history. He has a large collection of CDs, DVDs and literature on blues. Freddy says that one of his goals has been to give people a little more understanding of the different genres in the blues. Hence this idea of ​​creating big banners with key artists for each genre. These hang around the walls of the festival tent, 15 in the number so far, but more are coming. At each festival a special theme is chosen, and a tribute band is booked to pay tribute to the chosen style.

In addition to being festival director, Freddy has also had a booking company, which has resulted in his having established a large network of contacts in the blues world. It should also be mentioned that he joined and started the Narvik blues club, where he sat as manager for the first six months. Freddy is also responsible for booking for the Codstock Festival in Henningsvær. As we understand, Freddy is a major driver in the Northern Norwegian blues community.

Swedish Jump 4 Fun did a tribute concert to New Orleans legend Fats Domino.

Tribute to Fats

The theme for this year’s festival was Fats Domino, and the band Jump 4 Fun did a tribute concert to Fats.

Italian Egidio Juke Ingala delivered a good concert, to a not fully engaged audience in the heat. If Johnny Mastro & Mamas Boys were the big positive surprise and talkie on Friday, they were just as impressive as the backing band for Ghalia on Saturday. Ghalia, who is from Brussels, has been known and noticed in the US as well and played at several festivals “over there”. Ghalia is a tough and raw artist that we will probably become better acquainted with eventually. In her energetic stage performance, she went down on her knees in her tight dress, jumped off the stage and climbed over the railing into the hall, and walked across almost all the tables in the hall while singing – much to the excitement of the audience.

The Troubled Three from Sweden, a rockabilly style show band, managed to bring the audience to life, and the dance floor filled up even though it was getting late at night. This tough band has not played many jobs in Norway before, but they should certainly come more often. There was energy and full power from the first note.
The inn had full houses at all concerts, from Reloaded started on Thursday until Boogie Banausen hit the youth on Friday and Saturday.

The cement block was a success this year as well, says a satisfied festival manager Birgit Stenseng to JazzBluesNews when it’s all over. Especially Friday there were a lot of people out. The non-alcoholic youth event where the Purchasing Week itself decided the program was a huge success with almost 600 people inside and a great atmosphere.

There will be another festival in 2021, you see.