Tuesday 4^th of October was definitely something different. The night featured five acts on stage instead of the usual three.

Fiona Read of the West Coast Blues Club in Rockingham organised young blues players from all over the country to be flown in funded by government grants to play a few shows around town before heading on down to the annual Blues at Bridgetown.

Between the scheduled acts some of these young, up-and-coming blues players took the stage to perform a few numbers as part of the National Youth in Blues Workshop and the Perth Blues Club were delighted to be able to showcase their talents.

First on the bill were 19 Twenty, two lads (Jason David on drums and Kane Dennelly on guitar and vocals) touring the country in a Toyota Camry playing a host of country, blues and folk tunes.

The instrumental Irish Jig began slow and gradually became faster until ending abruptly to audience applause. The next song Forty Five Degrees was a country tune written while in Port Headland about being away from family paid homage to Paul Simon.

Their set came to a close when they played a number entitled Hard Times Killing Floor Blues, a vocally focused slow blues which mirrored their first song Irish Jig in that the tempo began slowly and went rampant as Kane jammed over a stomping beat laid down by drummer, David.

Playing between the first and second acts were Tom Richardson on 12-string electric acoustic guitar and slide, with Michael Brown and Lachlan "Locky" Bell on rhythm and lead guitars.

The trio played a short set of upbeat covers including Robert Johnson's Dust My Broom, Jimi Hendrix's Red House and AC/DC's TNT. The level of talent on stage not only gave every song its own uniqueness but also proved that the blues is alive and well. 

Headlining the night was the Blues Preachers from New South Wales, who captivated the crowd with a mixture of high-energy covers and originals. With Brother John and Captain Bluetongue dressed to match wearing suit pants and vests they seemed as if they were straight out of the Mississippi Delta.

After playing their version of the John the Revelator - a traditional gospel song that has been recorded by Son House & Blind Willie Johnson and features on their newest album Dry So Long - they played through Mississippi John Hurt's Lewis Collins.

In their respect for Mississippi John Hurt, the duo played a few more of his tunes. Brother John took the time to describe and explain the lyrical content of his song Pay Day and did the same for the following Prodigal Son. Some excellent harmonica playing from Captain Bluetongue was met with applause from the crowd. 

The slow mournful Saint James Infirmary really moved the crowd and was their stand-alone song, followed by their final song Robert Johnson's They're Red Hot.

Playing three original songs before the final act came on stage were two more National Youth in Blues players, Lightning Jack (guitar and vocals) and Mick Burleey (harmonica). Their set began a little shakily as there were some technical difficulties involving the guitar lead, but was soon fixed by Mick.

Motherless Children came next and had the dancers dancing while the duo jammed over dual stomp box action in which one was set to sound like a bass drum and the other was made to sound like a tambourine or hi-hat.

They ended with Money Driven, a song in which Lightning Jack commented on how society is driven by the "Almighty Dollar" while there are so many better things to be focusing on.

The James Southwell Band was back on stage at the Blues Club playing a mix of characteristically overdriven distorted funk, rock and blues songs.

James Southwell (guitar and vocals), Harry Brus (bass guitar) and Mark Kennedy (drums) seamlessly combined powerful rhythms and soaring solos into a frenzy of sound during their first song Sugar Sweet.

A fast 12-bar blues progression provided the backing for Fallen Angel and had the crowd moving towards the front of the stage to dance. Blues Blues and Morning Good Morning were simple in their rhythms yet no less effective as James threw in an electric slide solo.

Some other highlights of the night were when at one point during the early part of I Can Tell James jumped into the audience and played in amongst the dancers and when bassist Harry improvised a slap bass intro to The Heart Wants What the Heart Wants.

The band played a solid cover of Stevie ray Vaughan's Leave My Little Girl Alone with some very convincing vocals from James and finished up the night with the two Jimi Hendrix covers Cross Town Traffic and Voodoo Chile.