Joanne Shaw-Taylor at Northampton Roadmender

On home soil once more for what promises to be a great double bill of Joanne Shaw-Taylor and the rapidly rising Kris Barras Band.

Highly regarded as the 'Queen of the Blues' and labelled as a 'Superstar in Waiting' by no less than Joe Bonamassa. It is well known  that the girl from the Black Country was discovered by Dave Stewart  of Eurythmics fame.

We have only seen her once before , supporting Wilko Johnson and she was superb.

First up is the fast rising and highly thought of Kris Barras Band who have just finished a major headlining tour on the back of the new album 'The Divine and the Dirty.

 Tonight it was was just an acoustic set , although that doesn't really do them justice.It was a half hour set compromising of six songs . I's a good sound and warmly appreciated by a packed audience.

For me the highlight was the final song of the set 'All along the Watchtower' the Hendrix classic.

As a former Mixed Martial Artist, the singer and guitarist has fought in front of 8000 people so tonight's crowd isn't going to phase him!

 His first guitar hero was the late and great Gary Moore and his first introduction to the blues.

Kris Barras

Joanne Shaw- Taylor

Joanne’s debut album White Sugar first opened the door and Joanne’s career has since gone stratospheric, with her breaking the notoriously hard-to-crack US market. She beat the stereotypes of her age and gender, gaining acclaim from critics and peers alike. Subsequent albums; Diamonds in the Dirt, Almost Always Never and Songs From The Road followed and saw Joanne’s fan base rise globally.

JST  kicks off with 'Dying to Know' from the Wild album. 

The songs are fairly evenly split between  four albums; White Sugar (2009), Diamonds in the Dirt (2010), The Dirty Truth (2014) and Wild (2016).

It is a versatile performance mixing the genres of blues, rock metal and even hints of jazz... She can play that is for sure and slips effortlessly into one soaring solo after another .


There is very little interaction with the audience , although she must have introduced the band at least six times ? A little strange. She did mention one little anecdote near the end of the said mentioning that she had lived in Daventry for a few years.

Bassist Luigi Casanova

Overall a cracking night of Blues rock at it's finest and I doubt anyone went home disappointed. We had to wait for the encore for my favourite and her biggest hit to date 'Mud Honey'.

Thanks to Marina who managed to get a copy pf the set list , saving me a bit of typing!

Set List

Menorca - Binibeca Vell

With some trepidation we ventured out from the safety of our hotel. It had been another painful night with the stomach issue rearing its ugly head again. We caught the bus into the capital Mahon and after a quick wander around caught another bus to Binibeca Vell.

Binibeca Vell is located on the south-east coast of Menorca in an area of outstanding natural beauty. The main reason for visiting Binibeca Vell is its Menorca styled fishermens village designed by Spanish architect Antonio Sintes in 1972.

Binibeca or Binibequer ? The correct name locally is Binibequer and many road signs will use this name. Most English guide books (and the English ) will refer to it as Binibeca. Ihad noticed a lot of place names start with ‘Bini’ , time for a bit of research. (Bini means 'belonging to the son of…' from Ben Arabic for son.

At the other end of the resort, where the beach is located, lies Binibequer Nou and neighbouring Cala Torret. The beach at Binibeca is a lovely deep beach with gently shelving sands in a quiet cove, offering safe bathing for all.

There's not much evidence of any fishing going on for a ‘Fishing village (if there was indeed ever one?) but there are a collection gleaming whitewashed 'hobbit style' houses bunched together overlooking the small harbour front

It reminds me of a film set in all honesty. Not unlike the one in Malta built for the Popeye film and now a tourist attraction. Apart from the tourists, locals were thin on the ground ,the array of ‘Please keep Quiet’ signs on the buildings probably told their own story.

I took the opportunity to call at the local medical centre , interestingly the waiting room doubled up as the seating area for a bar. The Doctor was out on house calls so no nearer to sorting my stomach pains.

Menorca - St Tomas 2018

Good to be back in Menorca again for some sun and relaxation! Once again I have come out fully armed with a cold . However this was to be the least of my problems as I shall explain later.
As we are back in the same resort of San Thomas this is really just an excuse to post a few photos really.

Our room was on the fourth floor this time affording great views along the coastline. The coastline of Majorca was visible on the horizon. There is something very special about being able to lie in bed at night and hear the sound of the waves lapping on the rocks below. Not to mention to be able to sit on the balcony with a cold beer and watch the sun go down.

It's  a 5km walk up the coast to the next resort of Son Bou. The beach at Son Bou is reputed to be the best beach on the island and is a very pleasant trip across some rugged coastline and then a nudist beach...... 

 Unfortunately on our second night I had a terrible night with stomach pains and fever. Something that didn't let up much during the weeks stay. A couple of visits to the medical centre provided some relief at least during the day.

Nothing for it but to take it easy then.