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Having been to the last 8/9 years of Shadowmania I have to say I am so upset that this was the last!
I have met so many wonderful interesting people, (now friends) that I would never have met had it not been for this annual event. Cathy & Roy's involvement has been amazing and I don't know how to thank enough. Where else could you get up in front of all other guitarists and individuals who appreciate Shadows music and play? (Nowhere that I know of!) Wonderful, just wonderful.
Regarding the actual event this year though, I have to say I personally was a little disappointed. The fact that it was "the last one" in my opinion, did tinge the evening with sadness plus all the references to people sadly no longer with us, Jet, Tony, John etc plus the fact that this year Phil Kelly was also unable to appear and this did make the biggest difference to the evening for me.
Phil in my humble opinion has the closest sound and technique to Hank that I have ever heard and I have been a Shadows fan since 1958. I know Justin is a fine guitarist but has not had the experience nor expertise and sound that Phil has managed to emulate over the years. I wish him well and would love to see him play again soon.
Hope we all get together again somewhere - somehow and carry on The Shadows legacy.

Kind regards Jeff Marks

We hope so!

I suppose you're entitled to your opinion, but from what I have seen there was other stuff that I would have criticised far more severely should I wish to start nitpicking. At least Justin offered some sort of performance and Daniel was flawless from the video evidence - that is a first in Bruce's set.

As Ive said in another thread Daniel was the star of Shadowmania - he played two flawless sets and one would have thought he had been with Bruce's Shadows for years - not the short rehearsal time he had. If Bruce does do a few more gigs - not Shadowmania - and Phil is not well enough - Bruce knows he has a first class lead guitarist who can cope with anything he throws at him! I would imagine a few of the numbers in Bruce's set, Daniel had never played before , but his performance was exceptional!

I've got to agree that Daniel's playing was superb in Bruce's Shadows at Shadowmania (and with The Foottappers of course). Vocals as well !

Everyone who performed onstage at Shadowmania gave it their all - yes, Dan did a super job and so did Justin; to be asked to play Shadowmania is an honour and to be asked to play in Bruce's band even more so, so well done to both lads! Phil is a superb guitar player as we all know and I for one am sending him nothing but best wishes for the future.

Nuff said!

Nick x