This year marks the fourth time the Berkelblues festival has been held in the beautifully situated open-air theater in Eibergen. Organizer Hans Weeink and his team have once again put together a fantastic program.
The perfect, sunny weather, of course essential for an open-air festival, cooperated wonderfully. With nearly 500 visitors, it was well-attended, ensuring there will be another one next year.
The festival features a vintage market, beer tasting, and food and drinks. Due to illness, the LP booth unfortunately had to be canceled.
Twelve Bar Blues Band: This band is well-known in the Dutch blues scene and is led by veterans Jan J. Scherpenzeel (J.J. Sharp) and guitarist Kees Dusink. They open with the beautiful slow blues “The Blues Has Got Me,” and J.J. Sharp’s beautiful, warm, full voice is immediately noticeable.
Sharp shines through perfectly, and guitarist Kees Dusink takes the lead with his unique sound and melodic style. Other slow blues songs include the B.B. King classic “The Thrill Is Gone,” “You Gonna Need,” and “Life Is Hard.”
Wonderful up-tempo numbers include “Don’t Ask Me Why” (a delightful funky blues), “Love Is Pain” (a beautiful solo by Peter Langerak and mouth harp by Jan), and “Bluesman” (guitar playing by both guitarists with an Allman Brothers Band feel and a super-tight rhythm section).
A nice, tight, groovy blues is “I Can Make Everything Hard.” A steamy boogie (unfortunately, no title is available) allows for a long solo by Peter Langerak. “Everybody Makes Mistakes,” a song by Jan from 1988, closes an excellent set that resonates with the audience.
The music isn’t innovative, but if Chicago blues has to be played, so be it!
What the FRNK is the second band to take the stage. Their setlist features a whopping sixteen songs, making it quite short. This perfectly suits their musical style, which is a mix of blues and rock, but primarily funk, soul, and swinging.
The band normally consists of four people, but they’ve now expanded with the horn section, The Longhorns, which is a welcome addition to their musical style. Singer Frank Schurgers has a beautiful, clear voice and also plays guitar.
Keyboardist Guus Langeveld plays a major role throughout the performance. The set features many funky numbers with horns, along with a few songs without, such as “Waited,” which features a beautiful guitar solo with a deep sound. There’s also a single ballad, “Goodbye Carolina,” a bluesy “Blues In My Head,” and “Had To Leave,” which includes a touch of reggae.
A bit of rap is included in “Don’t Play The Blues,” and heavy rock is included in “Tightrope.” As shown above, a variety of musical styles are featured, making for a wonderfully varied performance. Due to an accident involving singer Frank Schurgers, the band hadn’t played for a year, and that was noticeable in the first half of the show, which was a bit chaotic at times.
It took some getting used to again, but the second half was much better. All in all, a good and energetic performance.
Henrik Freischlader։ This German guitarist has been working hard for years and performed with his friend Joe Bonamassa, and years ago opened for B.B. King, Gary Moore, Peter Green, and Johnny Winter.
He played for years with keyboardist Moritz “Mo” Fuhrhop, who passed away last year after a months-long illness. Out of respect for Mo, Henrik decided to continue without a keyboardist for the time being, and the delightful duets between organ and guitar are a thing of the past.
The Blues show has become rockier as a result, with the guitar dominating even more and plenty of solos. So now it’s a three-piece band consisting of bassist Gregor Sonnenberg and drummer Leon.
The band opens with a powerful rocking “Give The Blues To Me,” followed by the groovy “Free.” Henrik possesses a unique, distinctive voice that comes through perfectly. The songs feature many surprising breaks and tempo changes.
All the guitar solos reveal him to be a truly fantastic guitarist with a completely unique style that’s instantly recognizable. “Disappointed Women” (written at sixteen!) is more groovy, up-tempo than rocky.
This is followed by a calmer song, followed by the break-filled “The Bridge.” “I Got It Made” is up-tempo with a calm ending, and Stevie Ray Vaughan’s “The Sky Is Crying” features a unique interpretation with a long, quietly sensitive middle section.
“Break Out” is a powerfully rocking, groovy track, featuring a bass solo whose sound could definitely have been a lot louder. The set concludes with a blistering rendition of the well-known “Foxy Lady,” pulling out all the stops once again.
Then it turns out there’s still time for one more song, and the Foxy Lady tour continues with “CrossTown Traffic,” which concludes a concert that’s more rock-blues than blues-rock.
During the changeover breaks, the acoustic duo Gumbo & TheMonk will play on the small stage. They play, as they call it, the “Primal Blues” with a deep Southern sound, taking you on a musical journey of discovery through the blues.
Between songs, they’ll talk about the history of the blues. The instruments were all homemade, right down to the tube amplifier, to achieve that old blues sound.
It sounds beautiful, pure, and analog, and singer Fabian Schramer has a beautiful, clear voice. A great choice for the changeover breaks.
Conclusion: Berkelblues had three excellent bands, all playing different music. Twelve Bar Blues Band played delicious, lush Chicago blues, What the FRNK played more soulful, funky blues, and Henrik Freischlader played a solid rock blues.
Well-attended, great weather, good sound, excellent organization, and beautiful weather. A fantastic day!!
