Hove, Sunshine and a Bloody Mary!

Bloody Mary – Rocking in the sunshine

Sunday the 13th. A date many will remember as it was the last day before the COVID – Rule of 6 kicked in. The sun was out, the temperature was climbing. An audience was starting to build and so was the atmosphere as the pre set 70’s and 80’s music filled the air.

Bloody Mary are a local band and their Facebook page describes themselves as “Playing the best of rock and glam from the 70’s and beyond, including Queen, Bowie, Quo, Thin Lizzy, Sweet, Slade, T-Rex and many more to get you rockin’ ”  That’s quite a claim, lets see how it pans out…

Bloody Mary are a charismatic three piece outfit. Bass, guitar and drums and a percussion pad.

Bloody Mary

The music stopped and the band took to the stage area. I have to say some impressive array of PA and guitars on display. Julie, dressed in her very ABBA blue Waterloo outfit, strapped on her SG.

I promised not to to divulge the full set list. So if you want to hear the full selection you will have to go see them play!

The Set

I love to Boogie was the perfect opener. It sounded pretty damn good. A rather tasty cover of Handbags and the Gladrags was in there. Some serious guitars were let lose for a rendition of Bostons hit More Than a Feeling. I think this was the longest song of the set as we were treated to those glorious riffs.

A Rubettes number was up next and then a shout of “Baby Baby Babeeeee” as we were blasted by the Slade classic Cum On Feel The Noize. Great stuff. Julie had reminded me that Bloody Mary has opened for Slade a couple of years ago at Concorde 2. That’s pretty good going.

Quo vs Lizzy

This was great, the crowd had grown considerably – and good to see social distancing being observed. This meant everyone had room to stand, dance and sing. It became clear that there is no way you could guess what was gonna come at you next. A few songs in, we had a mini Status Quo medley. And then we were off into Thin Lizzy. For a band of three they were putting out one helluva impressive full sound. Some great guitars, some top bass lines and the man at the back piling in on the leads and fills on the drums. A break was up next. It was now really warm and the sun beating down on the crowd.

Into the crowd!

Break over and a change into something cooler for Julie and were were off with a couple of blasts of Queen magic. A tasty slice of Pink Floyd – Another Brick In The Wall had the crowd up and joining in. Of course it had to be in there as that familiar bass and guitar opening for You Sexy Thing. The Smokey classic, Living Next Door To Alice was up and glad to hear the crowd joining in with the clean version of this song. To round off a Sex Pistols cover finished the set with a punch.

We had also been treated by some fine drumming throughout and top thumping for those Sweet classics and a Glitter Band stomper. with the percussion pad giving off the Sirens and timpany drums for Blockbuster. Some great skill on display there. AN ELO classic was in the mix, and it was just perfect for a hot sunny afternoon by the sea, Mr Blue Sky.

The two Status Quo songs had gone down really well earlier and so two more songs went down a storm, the Live Aid opener and Whatever You Want. Again these two songs were nailed down perfectly and greeted warmly by the appreciative crowd. A couple of slower numbers gave the band a chance to catch their breath and cool down a bit before a Sweet and Mud barrage was launched.

Ok, so that was it. These guys had played it hard for nearly 3 hours and in that heat – well played Bloody Mary! So looking back to their Facebook profile I quoted at the top – I can confirm, with a huge smile on my face, that yes, they did it.

A Video – Bloody Mary – Bloody Marvellous!

Turn this one UP!

These guys above had stopped off for a minute – but stayed until the end!They wanted a photo – here it is! Hope you find it!

Everyone at Hove & Kingsway Bowling Club had a great afternoon. The club announced that this was indeed the last live event until the pandemic situation changes. I, and about a 100 people were so glad we were there! This may have been the last live music event for a while.

Bloody Mary – I’ll have mine on the rocks!

Thanks to the guys for a great afternoon and a real pleasure to meet and chat with you. Things are tough, real tough, for musicians just now and it was great to see a pint pot filled with contributions from the crowd. Well deserved. I imagine these guys play a lot louder, maybe pack in even more songs in venues, go check them out! You foot will tap and you will leave with a smile on your face.

Bloody Mary are on Facebook

Thank you to Hove and Kingsway Bowls club

And Finally…

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All original pictures / video – copyright to IANB/MEDIA WORKS/ SCENE SUSSEX – Ian “The Lens” Bourn 2020.

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