River Park Blues Festival 2021

The Self Righteous Brothers
The Self-Righteous Brothers are Derek Jacombs (vocals and acoustic guitar) and Nigel Masters (vocals and upright bass), moonlighting members of well-known blues & roots band Kokomo. They have performed at everything from prestigious Arts Festivals to backyard BBQs, offering an eclectic mix of blues, folk, country, Americana and anything else that takes their fancy. Their music ranges from Bessie Smith to Bob Dylan, Guy Clark to The Alabama 3, with a bunch of their own songs thrown in. Skillful musicianship, sweet harmonies and cool songs.

The Flaming Mudcats
“Blues sunny side up, over easy, spicy or funky it’s all on the menu with these guys.”
The Flaming Mudcats were formed in March 2009, by four Auckland musos that “shared” the same mistress and passion The Blues. The band is fronted by Craig Bracken on vocals, harmonica and sax, along with guitarist Doug Bygrave, bassist Johnny Yu and drummer Ian Thomson.

After eleven years they are now regarded among our country’s premier Blues outfits. They have released three albums, performed in festivals and clubs around New Zealand, Australia, the Pacific Islands and remarkably taken their blues back to its source the US of A.

Their energetic sets blend original material and covers drawn from their eclectic influences. Killer grooves, blazing licks and harp wizardry. Dance your socks off to butt-shaking belters, soulful grinders with everything in between … welcome to the Flaming Mudcats show.

The Recliner Rockers
The Recliner Rockers play a mixture of rootsy Blues and Rockabilly with a dash of psychedelic spice thrown in. Expect a flying double bass called “Mr Horse”, ably ridden by Geoff Fitzpatrick, machine gun guitar toted by Al Lavis, R18 drumming courtesy of Steve Rooney and a dash of smooth, smoky sax courtesy of Bruce French.

The Recliner Rockers have left a trail of broken strings, sticks and shattered beer glasses from Invercargill to Paihia. Be warned.

The Recliner Rockers history begins in 2005 when Al and Geoff were playing together in a covers band and started talking about their love of rockabilly, blues and other roots music.

Putting on a colourful, energetic show just came naturally with Al's seriously dynamic guitar playing and Geoff's crazy, spinning double bass acrobatics. Along with Steve's flamboyant drumming and Bruce's smooth sax style, their flare for showmanship truly matches their musical prowess.

Tony Painting's Stevie Ray Vaughn Tribute Show
Tony Painting's UK roots are well known having spent the better part of the 70s, 80s and 90s as a working musician, touring the many pubs and clubs in the UK, and later after the release of his “Band of Gypsys” album where Tony penned all but two of the songs, was invited to either support or play with some of the Uk’s best known artists including, UB40, Jools Holland Big Band, Ozzy Osborne, Ruby Turner and Robert Plant.

Brilleaux
Brilleaux play high-energy, hard, driving, British-style rhythm and blues in the style of bands such as Dr Feelgood and Wilko Johnson, and in a similar vein to earlier exponents of the genre such as The Pretty Things, Early Rolling Stones.

A typical set by Brilleaux consists of a mixture of British R&B Classics and exciting original material that these masters of Rhythm and Blues have been performing at festivals around the country since 1999. There is nobody in New Zealand playing Rhythm and Blues like these guys! It is unique, refreshing and extremely lively. If you are looking for slow, cruisey, renditions of old blues classics then you have got the wrong band! These guys go from 0-100 mph in the first set! Brilleaux have proven themselves to be a very welcome and fresh addition to all the festivals throughout New Zealand as their musical sound and style is very different to the usual Texas, Chicago or traditional style American variations of the genre.

Camping
Price to camp is $5 per person per night.