I never met Big Al, but heard so many complimentary words about his skills at the Sonic Kitchen Recording Studio, and those sentiments were always backed up by kind words about the man himself. This weekend’s 10th annual Grooves On The Green was dedicated to his memory after he sadly passed away on 25th June.

There is something quite idyllic about Grooves; the setting is wonderful, a great location, perfect size, and the fact that every year thousands pack the park at Ashley Cross with little or no promotion is testament to the superb job both Solid Air and Le Bateau do. Okay, it’s free, and you can take your own nourishment and booze, but the reason for its success is largely down to the fact that it just seems to bring the best out of people. The sun helps too (Grooves has a pretty decent record for being sun-blessed), but as with the best outdoor events the vibe is set by the promoters; choosing the right bands, knowing what works, catering for families and just simply doing things right, and more often than not Grooves gets it right.

At the vast majority of events I rarely point my camera away from the stage, but at Grooves I have the opposite problem. That’s not a reflection of the bands on it, but it’s very much a social event and like I said… it brings the best out of people. I won’t critique the bands, but will simply say I enjoyed the sounds very much. A variety of bands were picked to suit a variety of tastes with Spyders (Spiders?) and Monkey Puzzle both bagging sought after slots despite a very brief existence. Both bands however are packed with experience, and carried off their sets with aplomb. Tunes provided from Connie were (as always) another highlight, his non-appearance at this year’s Larmer Tree Festival (after a residency dating back to the last millennium) being rather unfathomable.

Smiling faces, summer sounds, sunshine supernova. Big Al would have loved it.

To take a look at Grooves performances from Spiders and Fearne, check out our You Tube page…

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