Tenby Blues Festival – Day 3 – Every Shade of Blue

by Nigel Summerley · November 17, 2025

Aisha Khan and her Rajahs Photo©Nigel Summerley

If proof were needed of the fact that the blues comes in many shades, then yesterday’s finale concert of the Tenby Blues Festival could be cited as irrefutable evidence.

Can the blues be glamorous, verging on showbiz cabaret? It certainly can when it wears a glittering ballgown and carries the name of Aisha Khan, a larger-than-life chanteuse with a penchant for witty lyrics delivered with panache – and for displaying quasi-orgasmic delight in her sidemen’s solos.

She even managed to top it all by bringing Sister Susie on stage for an impromptu You Can Steal My Husband But Please Don’t Take My Man and some obvious mutual admiration.

Aisha Khan Photo©Aline Whitaker

Aisha and Susie Photo©Nigel Summerley

The blues is at its best when it hits you simultaneously in the gut and the heart – and also makes you smile. Khan and her band, the Rajahs, definitely ticked all those boxes.

So too did Jo’ Buddy and his Stompin’ Four who gave a delightful lesson in cool jump blues, played exactly as it should be, with guitar solos using perhaps five notes where others over the weekend (no names) would have used 50. There was also some beautiful interplay between guitar and sax backed up by supertight drums and standup bass.

It was clear that Jo’ has been around a while and paid his dues… and we were the beneficiaries of his long musical journey.

Jo’ Buddy Photo©Nigel Summerley

At the other end of the blues spectrum to Aisha Khan were Panic Station, with their gritty and traditional 12-bars, powerful vocals and oodles of superlative slide guitar, all played as tight as a band can be.

Panic Station Photo©Nigel Summerley

On the festival’s Blues Trail of free gigs around town, honourable mentions should go to the Worried Men who packed out Tenby Bowling Club with their insane mix of downhome electric blues and off-the-planet musical astral travels; the Whisky Flowers whose outstanding singer Steph Ashcroft and guitarist Aiden Pryor also embarked on some otherworldly sonic adventures from the Clarence House Hotel; and the Macaroons who mixed jazz, soul and funk with their blues in front of an appreciative full house at the Five Arches Tavern. (I have to declare an interest in the latter, as I was enjoying that gig from the drummer’s chair, the best seat in the house, as they say.)

All respect to Malcolm Crawley and his team for pulling off yet another memorable three-day festival in Tenby and reminding us all of the power, reach and depth of the blues.