Converted to the blues.

Smokie blues concert in aid of Malawi funds . Knox's church , Arbroath, Scotland.

Doug  MacLoed.

first of all I have to explain a few things about this concert .number One .!It was held in a Church. Number two .! 90% of the audience had never heard a blues singer and admitted to me that they had no idea what blues was all about and had bought a ticket to support the churches Malawi Group where all the profits were going .. In the presence of about sixty people ages from teens to senior citizens. we were fortuned to have someone in Doug MacLeod with  the intelligence, .the humour, the patience , and the downright talent . to convert this  audience to a new gender of music , and I can say with all sincerity of all the concerts and festivals we have organised this particular one gave me the most satisfaction of all , I can only compare it with having a horrible game of golf and wanting to get into the clubhouse as soon as possible then coming down the eighteens you hit a beauty and make a birdie and all is well again .

When Doug spoke at the start he explained exactly what the blues was all about not the doom and gloom many people relate to it . The first song [Take my blues ]was in its self a explanation of the individuality of the music , this went down very well , next Doug talked himself into[ Working man blues ] by this time you could feel the audience loosening up ,by the time he got to[Brand new Eyes ]he had the audience well and truly going ,with a great rapport  between each song he carried on with [Welcome in your home] . when Doug announced a short interval you could sense the disappointment .this audience were hearing something they had not expected and were up for more .

after the short interval[ Nature of the man ]was the first song all  the songs were penned by Doug , the humour with [Bread aint done ] .brought the house down , we were really in the swing of it now , [One  good woman ][,Sun shine down] ,[ I respectfully decline],[ long black train ],Doug finished of with a tribute to Mary with [This old river ]you could see hand reaching into pockets for tissues. with  the beautiful slide guitar accompaniment this was a night when the blues gained a new audience . no rock no loud music just one man and a guitar . if you did not see Doug on tour this year you will have to wait until next year now , but don't you dare miss him if he is near you next year . Alfie Dickson . Smokie blues