COLNE felt the full force of an American invasion as the Great British Rhythm and Blues Festival drew to a close.

The International Stage at Colne Muni truly lived up to its name with a trio of artists heading across the Atlantic to round off the festival in spectacular style.

This was arguably the strongest line-up of the entire event, a fitting climax to what was widely judged to have been one of the most diverse and enjoyable festivals in recent years.

For Jordan Patterson, who opened proceedings, it was a special moment. Twenty years to the day after his last performance at Colne he was back with his new band as he returned to the live stage. The one-time 'blues prodigy' who turned his back on performing to go into artist management and promotion is back - and how.

Patterson first came to prominence through his harmonica playing and he's lost none of the skill that so impressed the likes of the great Bobby Parker.

Couple that with a heartfelt vocal style and it's easy to see why so soon into a 'comeback' the blues world is sitting up and taking notice.

Numerous times during his set Patterson asked the audience 'how about the band?' as though even he couldn't quite believe how good they were. With twin guitarists Bobby Thompson and Darryl Romphf leading the way, this was a powerhouse of a band equally capable of delivering the dirtiest, slowest blues or hard rocking numbers that threatened to take to roof off.

On the back of just one set, Jordan Patterson proved beyond doubt he's back where he belongs.

Having given the festival such a great start, could next act Sari Schorr and the Engine Room maintain the standards the standards that had been set?

I should say so!

It's no coincidence Ms Schorr's debut album is titled A Force of Nature. She has a voice so expressive and so powerful she should require a licence to use it in public. But she's not a 'shouter', there's a depth and an emotion which most singers would die for plus power in abundance.

Her set featured songs from the debut album, including a dramatic reworking of Black Betty which has a Southern Gothic feel to it which totally transforms the song into something terrifyingly wonderful.

With one-time Robert Plant guitarist Innes Sibun at her side it was fitting that we had a Led Zeppelin cover thrown in for good measure and she totally nailed an amazing version of Rock and Roll.

This was quality stuff from a quality band.

And there was more to come with the Devon Allman Band.

After a slightly sluggish start - forgiveable seeing the band had virtually spent the previous 24 hours travelling having flown over from Canada for the gig - they soon got into their stride mixing blues, rock and roll and even a little soul.

Devon Allman, son of Gregg in case you didn't know, was an excellent frontman getting the audience whipped up and singing along. We had covers of Bob Marley and beautiful soulful rendition of a Spinners song which demonstrated the versatility and quality of the band.

It was the perfect way to round off the festival.

At the start of the year the festival was in doubt due to budget cuts. Thankfully it got a reprieve. As for next year? We'll just have to wait and see but as anyone who has been in Colne over the past few days will tell you, surely it's just too good an event to let go.