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Shelford Feast to host Amy Winehouse Band




Kicking off on Saturday (July 1), the annual Shelford Feast provides an impressive array of music, comedy and more – and this Friday (July 7), it is the turn of the Amy Winehouse Band to headline the Grand Marquee at the Great Shelford Recreation Ground.

The Amy Winehouse Band. Picture: Andy Willsher
The Amy Winehouse Band. Picture: Andy Willsher

Boasting members of the late singer’s original backing group – as well as talented vocalist Bronte Shande – the ensemble is led by musical director, bass player and long-time friend of Amy Winehouse, Dale Davis.

“You’re going to get an experience close to the original show with Amy,” says Dale, “we’ve got a great singer called Bronte and it’s a great show – it sounds like it always has done and the band are all originals.”

Bronte, who was ‘discovered’ by Dale singing Amy songs at an event in Bristol when she stood in for a singer who didn’t turn up, has been working with the band for nearly two years.

“I thought, ‘Wow, if I ever get the chance to work with her then I will’,” recalls Dale. “We got the opportunity and she’s been amazing ever since. She really does a great job every night and it’s very enjoyable as a result.”

Although she only put out two albums during her career, which ended when she sadly passed away in July 2011 at the age of 27, Amy Winehouse left behind an impressive musical legacy which includes memorable soul/R&B standards such as Rehab, Back to Black, Love Is a losing Game, Valerie and I'm No Good.

Expect to hear all these and more on Friday. Interestingly, Dale’s favourite Amy song is the lesser-known Moody's Mood for Love off her 2003 debut album, Frank.

“I always said to Amy, ‘Why don’t you do that?’” he remembers, “and she said, ‘Oh, it’s a really hard song’ and then the next day she came in and sang it perfectly so I thought, ‘OK, we’ll keep it in the set’.

“Then on [2006’s] Back to Black, Me & Mr Jones is a song that always… I mean they’re all great songs, don’t get me wrong, I love them all, but they’re the two that stand out for me.”

A global megastar, Amy Winehouse enjoyed phenomenal success during her eight years in the spotlight.

“When I first met Amy, within a very short space of time I realised that she was a special talent,” observes Dale, “and I was the older statesman in the band so I made a point of looking out for her.

“I always thought she was going to be big but I didn’t think she was going to be big that quickly – she got everything right on Back to Black.

“She was such a great talent that she observed everything in life; she observed how to record an album with Frank and then got everything right with Back to Black.”

What are Dale’s fondest memories of the star?

“There are so many,” he replies, “I mean I spoke to Amy three hours before she went to bed for the last time, I was out with her two nights beforehand…

“She was a very warm and generous and a very humorous person. Obviously the media got the sadness towards the end and stuff like that, but she had a big heart.

“If she loved you, she would always look after you so that’s the one thing that I take from my relationship with her.”

The Amy Winehouse Band will be appearing at the Shelford Feast this Friday (July 7). Tickets, priced £21 for adults, £10 for children (+ a £2 booking fee), are available at shelfordfeast.co.uk. For more on the band, visit facebook.com/ theamywinehouseband/.



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