Korona Blues in Sorlandet with guests from Australia and the USA: Photos, Video

September originally set up a program with guests from Australia and the USA in Fiona Boyes and Heather Crosse respectively in addition to good Norwegian names like Steinar Albrigtsen and Monika Nordli, Nave & The Ghost Collectors and Jolly Jumper & Big Moe and The Jimbo Jambo Band. It was not supposed to go that way, but it was a concert.

The coronavirus led to cancellations, and it was unclear for a while if there would be any blues at Brekstad at all this weekend. But the gang behind the festival did not give up so easily. They put on a replacement concert, a so-called corona concert, at BarRock in Brekstad on Saturday 26 September. This was a double concert with Mats Nerli and Jolly Jumper & Big Moe and The Jimbo Jambo Band. Only 70 tickets were displayed at the door, and there was table service and full focus on arranging an infection-free event. The nightclub BarRock has for many years collaborated with Ørland Bluesklubb and stood out once again with fast and friendly service.

Jolly Jumper & Big Moe and The Jimbo Jambo Band at BarRock.

Mats Nerli

Mats Nerli from Istad outside Molde started the evening at 20. Mats was well described in the previous edition of Bluesnews after he played at Skjærgårdsblues on Veiholmen outside Smøla this summer. Mats delivered the same concept at Brekstad. On the repertoire were his own songs in Norwegian language costume, tied together with good stories. He was very well received on Veiholmen, but the concept suited Intimate BarRock even better than at the large community center on Veiholmen where the festival was forced to hold the concert due to infection control. Mats captivated the audience for 90 minutes with a small warning early on that talking during the concert was not so popular on stage. And from then on the audience listened.

Mats Nerli (pictured above) solo differs from his band Nerli There which is an americana / rock band that mostly sings in English. Solo, he appears more in the direction of a singer / songwriter. Both melancholy and humor are prominent in lyrics and performance. He should be ready for a larger audience, even though he himself says he is a little unsure whether, for example, easterners will understand the Romsdal dialect. There should be absolutely nothing in the way of that, and organizers across the country can be sure that guests will appreciate both lyrics, songs and performances.

Jolly Jumper & Co

At 10 pm, the trip had come to Jolly Jumper & Big Moe and The Jimbo Jambo Band. The band hardly needs any further presentation, and especially not at Ørland Blues Festival where the duo Kjell Inge Brovoll and Jan Erik Moe have been involved every year since the beginning. It will be 21 years in a row! Daniel Røssing on piano and Arne Skognes on drums complement the duo perfectly. The band delivers sky-high quality in several blues genres, and it was a playful set of 90 minutes where, among other things, Pengegaloppen by Vidar Sandbeck was also served in a light blues format. The boys were not allowed to leave the stage until an extra number was given.

It was probably not the big audience visit that the organizer hoped for, but the artists still delivered a fantastic concert. Primus engine and sound engineer Syver Srøbka said after the concert that it was a pity that people do not show up when you try to arrange something in the local environment that in terms of quality absolutely meets goals and should be to your liking. He still wanted to thank the attendees and the artists who really delivered this evening.

In the neighboring village Råkvåg there was the same evening a blues concert with local Blue Aspic, but since there was so limited capacity in both places (in Råkvåg there was room for 50), it was not expected that this would create major problems for any of the organizers.

We wish the festival good luck with the planning of next year’s festival. And then the blues jam, one of Norway’s best jam sessions, is back as well. See you at Brekstad in September 2021.

Primus engine in Ørland Blues Club, Syver Srøbka.