The last time we caught up with Sam Coe and The Long Shadows they blew us away with a set at the Hard Rock Cafe, a set full of pace and attitude. They duly followed that up with an excellent album that really captured that spirit, so expectations were high that they would close the festival with something of a bang.
The set begain with the big drum intro that kicked into .“Rhinestones” , Sam leading from the front as the festival closed out on a Country vibe, followed with a sing from her first EP “Moving On”. This was our first viewing of Sam in an extended performance as normally her sets have been at C2C or showcase slots. It was back to the album for “Whiskey Dreaming”’s country shuffle.with prominent guitar work making this a great success
Sam’s “misery song” is “End In Tears”, a bluesy song giving Sam a chance to show her vocal range as the song moves through he gears, complete with a deliciously mournful pedal steel solo. The next song “Rocking Chair Regrets” was another true country song taking the celebrating living life to the full and not ending up with a life of regrets. with the band providing the excellent backing vocals. This was as country as it gets by the coast with a cargo ship sailing by as Sam sang. A huge round of applause followed from the large crowd who had remained to the very end.
Ain't Gonna Love You Again" – the B side of the "Full Moon" single – seemed far to good to be relegated to a B side, it was punchy where the additional backing vocals elevated it to being something special. A new song “Make Believe” had just Sam opening on guitar for first 1st verse, with the band gradually coming in to build up the sound. eventually building to the full band perofrmance, even on first hearing this would seem to be an excellent song with a vocal delivered with some aplomb. The first cover of the set was a Margo Price Hurting On The Bottle”, a suitably tune for a country festival . joyously uptempo and rowdy – just what was required for an early Sunday evening,
From the album, “Salvation” was another wonderfully uptempo song , displaying some of the spirit that made the album such good fun, this was a set that started good and got better and better as it progressed The almost new wave spirit of “Hey Heart Breaker”, got the audience up and dancing, as well as a number of the previous bands including members of Royal South, Phoenix Morby, and our hostess Lily Garland. Proper country “Yeehah” followed with “Motel Cherokee” which kept the crowd dancing along. The closing couple of songs saw the single of last year the truly kooky offbeat “Full Moon” with Sam’s unusually quirky vocal over an incessant pedal steel riff. One final festival blast came with “Comeback Queen” Sam introducing the song with her acoustic guitar, before the band kicked in and took the song to another level – a fantastic set that saw Sam and her band give their absolute all, one that sent festival goers off into the night with big smiles on their faces.
As festivals go this was one of the best run we’ve come across, with a great spread of music, showcasing artists on a great stage – congratulations to Lily Garland and her team – same time next year? - we hope so!!!