Portsmouth's Amba Tremain Wows the Stockton & Lincoln Blues Festival Crowds
Portsmouth’s Amba Tremain Band had a very busy weekend appearing at the two Blues, Rhythm & Rock Festivals held in the Stockton Arts Centre on Saturday and The Drill Hall in Lincoln on Sunday.
The band had a great start to the year when they were announced winners of the ‘Introducing Stage’ at the 2025 UK Blues, Rhythm & Rock Festival, that took place at the beginning of the year at the Winter Gardens, Blackpool.
As Amba commented ‘This was our first time playing the Stockton and Lincoln Blues, Rhythm and Rock festivals and honestly, we were blown away with warmth, support and love the audience members showed to us across both days. Stephen and the Solid Entertainment’s team are just the best people to work with and every act they put on blew us away.’
‘The blues scene is actually quite broad and I felt so at home bringing my more soulful set to the table. But everyone who performed brought their own flavour and made for a truly diverse weekend. We had the pleasure of playing in Blackpool at the start of this year and with this weekend being so great, we can’t wait to play some more Northern shows now.’
The band line-up was Amba Tremain (vocals), Col Lewis (drums), Liam Robins (guitar), Ben Corner (guitar) and Nick Bowley (Bass).
With Amba’s band taking to the stage they gave us a selection of styles from soul, blues and funk all with Amba’s great vocal lead.
They started with a heavier number with ‘Yeah’ and followed with ‘Keep me Running’ with its heavy funky beat and soulful vocals from Amba
This was followed by a new track with ‘Call Me’ with a more soulful and funky sound with passionate vocals from Amba.
After all the classic songs that Amba listens to here was another soul based classic song with bluesy guitars with ‘No One Like You’
The band are very tight with great guitar work from both Liam & Ben, supporting Amba’s vocals underpinned with the solid rhythm section of Col on drums and Nick on bass. ‘How Do you Feel’ from recent EP ‘Magic’ with its up-tempo funky beat with strong vocals from Amba supported by Col with his heavy drumming.
‘Breathe’ was a heavier and funky number with a slower tempo, with Amba’s vocals filling it out on top, with some nice harmonies - a great love song. Followed by a bit of funk with
‘Voodoo’ with Amba’s plaintive vocals
The set was finished with the title song from EP ‘Magic’ with slower its blues soul style with lovely soaring vocals from Amba, and ‘With a Little Help From My Friends’ the Joe Cocker version of the classic Beatles song.