My first return to Butlins Bognor Regis in a long time I was surprised by the changes. I stayed at Wave, one of the three hotels they have in the resort, and was amazed at its design and style. After booking in at 12:00pm I was seen by the reception who were very friendly and helpful.

The room was modern with everything you'd want including a fridge.

The only thing negative was they had bins for smokers right outside the main hotel door, which meant you had to walk past many people and if like me you don't smoke, it's not nice. It would be good if they were moved just away from the main doors as that's all it would take.

This weekend was Festival of the 60's and I was presented with a nice pocket-sized book detailing the line up for the event.

One thing that stood out was the way they've organized the concerts. In the past I'd often miss some bands because I'd be watching others at another venue there, but now with only a slight exception most bands play twice once in each venue. This makes what could be a hard decision of who to see into a win-win result. I decided the smaller venue Reds was my best bet for the Friday night concerts.

A major annoying factor about this venue is waiting to get into the venue means waiting out in the cold, and if it rains there is no shelter. This has been an ongoing issue for years with Butlins; it's fine in the summer but not in the cold winter or general bad-weather days. It would be so easy for them to deal with this issue which I heard others in the line complain about.

The first band was Dave Berry and the Cruisers and as always Dave and his band brings the "wow" factor.

Performing his hits as well as some rocking covers, Mr Berry is a master at his craft and with such talent should still be releasing new songs via a record label.

Next up was Vanity Fare who not only played the big and minor hits but turned out some great California style sounds. They are one of the best harmony bands out there and remain a big draw to their shows. They also know how to play the crowd and I could see the room getting busier as they were about to come on the stage.

Last band of the night were The Swinging Blue Jeans who I'd seen many times but this was only the second show I'd seen since Ray Ennis retired a few years ago from the band. This concert unlike the first felt they'd regained some of the lost rock n Roll thunder they had had with Ray but they're also still lacking. They're all good musicians and singers but the show didn't always flow with too-long gaps as they'd talk to the crowd or tell bad jokes.

One thing that shouts to me is that they have Pete Oakman who's not only a great bass player he can also sing very well. The writer of "A Picture of You" (which he sang), he is very much under-used as a vocalist and I'd like to see him do more lead vocals. That's not saying anything against Alan Lovell, who can indeed Rock and Roll. Personally, having heard that Ray Ennis is looking to return to music again, I'd love to see the current Jeans invite him back; now that would make one hell of a band with all those elements in place.

Sunday

Bit better from the centre stage DJ this afternoon with less talk and more music.

Time for Centre stage venue for two live acts starting with The Kinx—who, yes, as you may have guessed, are a tribute to The Kinks. The band blasted through the greatest hits and were indeed very entertaining.

Next is one of the original British Rock n Roll stars, Marty Wilde and The Wildecats. Having seen them before it was noticeable he had added other rock n roll songs I'd not heard him sing before. This turned out to be one of the main highlights of the weekend as Marty who has been in the business for 56 years shows no sign of stopping. He loves the crowds cheering him on as he blasted through one song after another. As always came the heartfelt tribute to Billy Fury, whom he was friends with. Marty Wilde is a star and still bundles so much talent.

Evening

One person, a lady whose name I don't know, who works as resort safety person, must be given attention here. Not only did she do her job but was very helpful to people, going out of her way to finds unused chairs and taking them to people looking for somewhere to sit.

I'd also noticed her keeping areas clear and safe for people and she was very friendly.

I don't know her name but Butlins, if you read this, she's the only lady doing that job I've noticed, and wears glasses, so special mention to her here.

Marmalade were the first on this evening and are a favorite of mine but sadly Sandy's lead vocals could hardly be heard for the first 20 minutes or so. Not happy about it and having no way to tell the band or speak to the sound person, I took to twitter to let Butlins know and they got it sorted and contacted me back.

The power of a tweet.

Once that was sorted I could hear why this band still enjoys continued success. Top musicians and vocals and an amazing version of "Norwegian Wood" in their own style. This was except for technical issue a great concert.