Sunday 19 June 2016

Isle Of Wight Festival Part Four - Are We Nearly Home Yet?

Sunday 12th June (cont.) 

We join our heroes in the post euphoria of the Hard Rock Stage gig. I was eyeing Ross' amp warily when we were informed there was a little buggy to take all the gear back to the cars. Oh the relief. There was a cocktail bar with deckchairs and hammocks next to the stage all overlooking the River Medina which looked way more appealing than amp carrying. 

I caught some of Apollo Junction but was a bit gigged out. In the same way as The Struts at Tramlines 2014, Bang Bang Romeo had broken the festival for me. That set would take some following. Plus did I mention the cocktail bar and hammocks?

This is what happened: 





The cocktails were free for artists and crew as well. Why!? Why would you do that. I mean, thanks and all that but I paid for it later. Having sampled A Kind Of Magic and Gimme Honey, Iggy's Pop became the cocktail of choice. So laying in a hammock, sipping cocktails in the sun with my mates, having just watched the set of the weekend. It doesn't get much better. 



The Cribs were on the main stage but I was in a hammock, man. I wasn't moving. The chaps running the cocktail bar coveted my hat but as I pointed out, somewhat eloquently given the circumstances I thought, it was a fine adornment covering a somewhat dubious head and was going nowhere. 




We eventually moved to watch Paves on The Hard Rock Stage. This had to be done, hammock or no hammock. As Rich said after it was a show not just a performance. Doors comparisons are inevitable but also lazy. They're more much more than that. It's full on in your face rock, delivered with what can only be called nonchalant charisma. You simply can't ignore them. Check them out as soon as you possibly can. Another band destined for much bigger things. 



Back to the hammocks and more Iggy's Pop. We were in danger of never going anywhere else ever again. Paves joined the BBR posse for some much needed refreshment, the two drummers sharing a hammock. A drammock anyone? 



Tom is not just an astounding drummer, even while singer Luke is in danger of flattening his kit he's also an astoundingly nice guy. 

We eventually made a move, Ocean Colour Scene on The Main Stage. Moseley Shoals was pretty much my 90s soundtrack (sod Oasis) and this couldn't be missed.  When you can open your set with The Riverboat Song you've pretty much won already. Follow that with The Circle and, my favourite OCS song, Lining Your Pockets and we're entering delirium levels here. 



And so it went on, You've Got It Bad right up to set closers Hundred Mile High City and The Day We Caught The Train (possibly the best singalong all weekend). 

My opening line in pretty much every conversation I had all weekend was either 'I had heart surgery last year' or 'Yeah well I saw Queen with Freddie in '86', More often than not a combination of the two. I'd have punched me eventually. I know people who slate Queen (I have done myself for political reasons) but you can't deny their output. But, having seen them with Freddie Mercury in '86 (I may have mentioned that) I was in two minds as to whether to watch them with Adam Lambert or head over to The Big Top for The Wonder Stuff. I was enjoying the company so much though that I stuck with Queen.

What they do now is a very fine line between  genuine rock Gods and a tribute band. They get away with it. Just. Having Freddie on the big screen dueting with Brian May for Love Of My Life is an excellent and emotional touch. Likewise the image of David Bowie as Under Pressure kicks in.



Adam Lambert is an excellent singer with great stage presence. As he says there can only ever be one Freddie Mercury and it's an honour to sing these songs with these two legends. Roger Taylor takes lead vocals on A Kind Of Magic and even has a drum duet with his son. When Brian May's guitar solo kicks in I know from experience I have time to get to the toilet and the bar and be back before the next tune kicks in. I do, just in time for Tie Your Mother Down, Bohemian Rhapsody, Radio Ga Ga, We Will Rock You and finisher We Are The Champions. They can't really fail.  

We're not done yet. Main Stage was finished but we still had Feeder at The Big Top. This is were it all goes wrong for me. I lost everyone. I think I'd gone to the bar. Big Top was heaving so no chance of finding them. I watched Feeder from the back of the tent, I remember Buck Rogers but little else. Everything was going a tad wobbly and the next I remember is lying half in and out of my tent. Sam nudged me at one point to get in my tent. My reply was gnnnrrrraaaghup. Holly Pocket woke me at one point to go partying. Again my reply was just a noise. Joel reliably informs me that I did get up and walked past him at one point only to return an hour later and resume my foetal position almost in my tent. 

Monday 13th June

I awoke in my tent, in my sleeping bag but have no recollection of getting there. At 48 maybe I should stop trying to party with the 20 year olds. Nah, sod that. Sam had found a staff party apparently and spoke constantly of Andy Treacey and the BBR T-shirt. Ross and Katrina had to leave early with the car full of gear (all part of the same logistical nightmare that lead to us leaving late on the Friday). Ellen got back to her tent after they'd left. That is how you party.  

The minibus loaded with people was booked on the 4pm ferry so plenty of time to stare at showers then opt for coffee. We got packed up and headed off to find a pub lunch. Ross was having a nightmare journey having broken down and there were phone calls a plenty trying to arrange to get people and gear in the right place in about 8 hours time. My brain wasn't up to that amount of work. Ellen's JD weekend was taking it's toll.



Fragile doesn't cover it. A beer on the ferry had the opposite of the desired effect. Credit to Keith for driving all that way and Rich again for the navigation skills when basically we all felt like this:



So that was pretty much it. Glastonbury '89 was the best festival I'd ever been to. This was better. The perfect size, so friendly, incredibly helpful staff and just a seriously good time basically. 

It was made all the better by my fellow travellers:

Starsie, Rich, Ross and Joel - Bang Bang Romeo - destined for Main Stage and more. (Credit to Joel for surviving the weekend despite his skin colour being that of a sheet of glass by Monday morning). Thank you so much for inviting me. It was an honour to share this amazing time. 

Sam: A friend for life and just great company. Organised when it mattered.

Holly Pocket: A small ball of energetic fun (also had the best dress of the festival). Apologies for getting the nickname wrong.

Katrina: Mrs. Cameron (to be) who has a knack of looking stunning at 8am despite the excesses of the night before.

Ellen: Photographer extraordinaire and a party animal up there with the best.

Keith: Manager and despite the stresses brought it all together. Genuinely and unnervingly funny.  

TV's Chris Walker: Always a joy to be around. Nearly left his wine in the dog kennel. 

Charlotte: (Mrs. Stars.) Had an absolute blast throwing shapes together. Love you!!! :-)

I should also mention Ross who travelled down with us. He was DJing at This Feeling Friday and Saturday before heading off to France. I berated him for playing Mr. Brightside straight after Hidden Charms even though he wasn't DJing at the time. Apologies.

And the film crew Gary and Lewis who I barely spoke to cos they were always filming!

It's been emotional. Let's do it again.




Saturday 18 June 2016

Isle Of Wight Festival 2016 Part Three - I Carried An Amp

Sunday 12th June

Only the 2nd morning but I'd already got into a routine: Stare at the showers at one end of the field then stare at the toilets at the other end, leading down to the site and coffee and bacon. Any festival goer will tell you that first thing in the morning is the time to brave the toilets. So it was the wet wipe wash and go source coffee and bacon. This morning I added orange juice to that list. It's no exaggeration to say without the fresh OJ I wouldn't be here to write this now. OK it's a massive exaggeration but that's how it felt. Lifeblood coursing through my veins etc. 

We'd had some rain in the night which had infiltrated Stars and Charlotte's tent. They had to move in with Ellen after that. It was with a sense of irony that Stars and Ross were booked to do an acoustic set in the Love Your Tent field.  We trudged our way to the field. Trudged is the only word. We were all a tad fragile. I tried a beer. Fail.

A nice intimate little acoustic set with Stars' voice perfect as always. God knows where it comes from. Dodgiest photo yet but it kinda sums up how I felt: 



The sun was breaking through, coffee number three kicked in and I was back on it. The band were due on The Hard Rock Cafe stage at 4.20. We wandered down to the Main Stage for Twin Atlantic. On the way down me and Sam discussed the Hard Rock set and though we'd played it down and concentrated on Saturday's Big Top performance we both agreed that this could be even bigger. You have to walk past Hard Rock to get to the Main Stage. Potential for a massive crowd. The worry was Starsie's voice. She'd felt it go towards the end of the acoustic set and wasn't allowed to speak till she was on stage again. It was bliss.

The Main Stage was awash with bubbles. 



All very pretty and made up for me not showering but soon my pulled lamb baguette tasted of soap. Plus behind them somewhere Twin Atlantic were being just a bit good. Not a band I'm familiar with but after a blistering set I intend to rectify that.

Finally caught up with TV's Chris Walker. He wasn't camping with us. He'd gone all posh in what he'd call his dog kennel. A dog kennel with a comfy bed and electricity though. Chris agreed that Hard Rock could be bigger than yesterday. 

Unfortunately there was no way of driving all the gear to the Hard Rock stage so it was back to the vehicles to grab amps, guitars, breakables etc and carry it across the site. I volunteered for Ross' amp. I'm the biggest, I used to do this for a living, piece of cake. I should have had a word with myself. One brief tour in 1986 does not qualifying as 'doing it for a living'. In 1986 I was 18. Thirty years of less than healthy living had took it's toll. Also on that one tour I didn't have to lug amps a mile through a crowded field with the sun beating down. (Apologies to mates who went to Download but the sun really was beating down). 

I picked up said amp. Easy. Twenty yards later I was already defeated. Onwards though. It's for the band, man. Got to Hard Rock backstage and collapsed. Our artist liaison offered me water, I offered my hand in marriage. Had a chat with Jimmie Mac (he gets everywhere) who was down with Leeds band Apollo Junction and were on after BBR. Our dressing room was ready, another fridge full of beer. I was recovering nicely.




Show time. Loaded all the gear on stage and let Sam and Rich do their stuff. Don't ever let me mess with anything expensive. I'll carry it but don't risk any more. I'm still amazed Sine FM let me loose in a radio studio. 



There should have been no worries over Starsie's voice. As soon as Revolver kicked in we knew all was well. There was already a sizeable crowd and whereas people walking past would normally stop for a couple of minutes they stayed. They all stayed. I don't know for definite but I would say this was the biggest crowd the band have ever played to. Certainly the biggest I'd seen. Whether it was the sun, the crowd, the lack of nerves or just the knowledge that what they were delivering was pure class, I don't know, but they were on fire. It was simply the best I've seen them play and that my friends is really saying something.



From Revolver right through to Invitation Stars had the crowd in the palm of her bejewelled hand. 



There was a mosh pit, there was dancing, there was pure unadulterated joy. Whereas on the Saturday I cried throughout this time I had the broadest of grins. (OK I may have cried a little during The Bliss). 



TV's Chris Walker is a massive Sheffield Wednesday fan, I'm Rovers till I die. I asked him if the greatest moment he'd seen with Wednesday compared to this. The answer is no. I agreed. The music won. Music always wins. 


Proud Father moment
An Irish guy grabbed me after the set to tell me it was the best set he'd seen all weekend by ANY band on ANY stage. The band had a queue of people wanting to meet them, buy CDs, shake hands, get autographs and just be genuinely nice. Lots of 'should be on the Main Stage' comments. The future is very bright indeed for Bang Bang Romeo. 

This was gonna be a 3 part blog but I've waffled on and I'm still to mention Paves, free cocktails, Ocean Colour Scene, me being an insufferable bore about Freddie Mercury, Feeder and, yes, me crashing and burning. We'll do that tomorrow shall we?

Laters.


Friday 17 June 2016

Isle Of Wight Festival 2016 Part Two - Pop-Up Leopardskin Tents

Saturday 11th June (cont.)

As I'm sure you recall our intrepid adventurers were chilling in the Big Top dressing room. 



Even though they had two more sets to do on the Sunday we'd all said The Big Top was one the one and after that the band could party. We'd underestimated The Hard Rock Cafe stage. More of that tomorrow though. BBR had a couple of interviews to do then we'd been invited backstage at the This Feeling Jack Rocks Stage by Mikey Jonns. Mikey is the driving force behind This Feeling, the UK's premier indie nights. No one works harder for up and coming bands and if you see a gig with the This Feeling tag get on it. You will not be disappointed. And if you see a bloke in a red and black chequered hat just say thanks for all he does. 

Found our compadre Ellen Offredy (BBR's still photographer), briefly shook hands with Mikey and chatted with Sheffield promoter Aaron Procter about the sadly no more Dexters. A bottle of Jack Daniels was thrust in our general direction and we just kinda hung out, man. 


A photographer, some Bang Bang Romeo and a Hidden Charm

I'd got all my timings wrong and went over to see The Damned at The Big Top but watched The Dolls and Buzzcocks instead whilst everyone headed Main Stage for The Kills. I should have stuck with them. Nothing against Buzzcocks, just that I've seen them loads. Dolls I can do without. Getting a crowd to sing 'I wanna be anarchy' just seemed a tad ironic to me. 

We met up at the Main Stage (to the left of Chinese, Thai & Japanese) for Iggy Pop. How that man is still going I have no idea. I was struggling to keep going after half a bottle of Jack. Mr. Jimmy Osterberg still has it though. Nightclubbing was wonderfully filthy, I Wanna Be Your Dog is still one of the greatest songs ever and new songs Gardenia and Sunday were just pure Iggy. There's just one thing Dude, do you have to use so many cuss words?




Richard Ashcroft next up delivering what for me was the Main Stage set of the weekend. Me and Sam (Flat cap when stage teching, baseball cap when partying and just a thoroughly all round decent human being) had decided that at some point during Ashcroft we had to get back to the tents for more beer as we wanted to catch The Who from the start. No chance. From Verve classics to songs off latest album These People every song was an absolute gem. His stage presence was a masterclass in holding a crowd. His voice was immaculate. Lord Ashcroft was loving it. We were loving him for loving it. We had to get closer and ended up (reasonably) stage front with the BBR posse. Set closer Bitter Sweet Symphony (dedicated tongue in cheek to Allen Klein - google the story of Klein and Bitter Sweet. It sucks) was simply one of the greatest live performances I've ever seen. 



Time to yomp back to the tents (follow the orange hat), quick freshen up, grab beers and back to the Main Stage (meet to the left of Chinese.... you get it now I guess) for The Who. Hot footed it back pausing briefly to watch Adam Ant blast out Antmusic at the Big Top to a massive crowd. 

I saw The Who about 2 years ago and blogged then as to whether without The Ox and The Loon they could still be classed as The Who. I'm not going through it all again. But if you're gonna replace two legends you can't do better than Zak Starkey and Pino Palladino. 

If there are two people who could rest on their collective laurels it's Roger Daltrey and Pete Townshend but they really don't. Daltrey's voice struggled a couple of times but proved that it can still be a force to be reckoned with, a 22 song set ending with Won't Get Fooled Again and he still nailed the scream. Townshend still windmilling like it's 1965. The Who are synonymous with The Isle Of Wight Festival and Townshend regaled us with historical anecdotes throughout. (Hendrix was crap when he played here - too much acid). We were throwing some serious shapes by now. I truly lost it during Join Together, You Better You Bet, See Me Feel Me, Love Reign O'er Me, Baba O'Reilly. Scrub that. I truly lost it during their entire set. Two hours that just flew by. 



So where next? I know Sam, Starsie, Charlotte (Mrs. Starsie) and myself ended up in the Hipshaker tent dancing to some serious cheese. I remember Y.M.C.A. Not much more. Some Welsh guy took a shine to Charlotte but had so much going against him. Most notably the fact that he has a penis. He was also very drunk. OK we all were but he was on a different planet. At one point he grabbed my arse and I can only presume he thought I was Charlotte. That will give you an idea of his level of drunkenness. 


Identical right?

That all ended I think at around 2am. Starsie found somewhere to lead a Fleetwood Mac singalong to a group of people who it seemed had no idea who Fleetwood Mac were.



Then we wandered off to find a party. I should point out that we had been invited. We weren't just gonna find a party and say 'It's OK. Dave invited us'. The main problem here is that we had no idea where said party was. Me and Sam called it a day, grabbed a burger and headed tentwards. Stars and Charlotte carried on to find what they would later call 'the worst party ever'. No idea where the rest of the team were. Joel certainly wasn't back as his leopardskin pop-up tent was no longer popped. I'm sure no-one had flattened it deliberately. 

And so ends day two. Tune in tomorrow for the third and final instalment which includes the set of the weekend and me finally crashing and burning. 

Thursday 16 June 2016

Isle Of Wight Festival 2016 Part One - Flat Caps And Festival Hats

So after a 20 month break the blog is back. I could come up with many excuses for the bloglessness: Running a shop, heart surgery, solving the Ecuadorian marmite issue but basically it's been laziness. But (too many buts? (You'll see I still have my love of brackets)) after a stunning weekend at The Isle Of Wight Festival I thought the blog/diary should at least make one more appearance. Who knows, I may get the bug again. Speaking of which I think there's still some kind of bug in my now packed up tent.

I was there working with Bang Bang Romeo. I say working. I carried an amp and sold some CDs. I spent more time in a hammock. So lets diary it up. Predictably that said dairy it up originally. We were heading to Cowes though.

Sorry.

Friday 10th June

It would take too long to go into all the reasons why a 9am departure became a 10.30am departure for the heavily packed car and minibus. It just happened, O.K?  All was going smoothly till about 90 minutes from Southampton we realised we had an hour before the ferry left. Richard Gartland is an extraordinarily talented drummer but his real forte lies in navigating. What with that and manager Keith ignoring most of the rules of the road we got to the ferry port ten minutes before we were due to depart. Ferry was half hour late. Bloody thing.



Got to the island, had my first Waitrose experience (crayfish and rocket sandwich anyone?), found the festival site, eventually found where we had to pick up all our passes. First mistake of the weekend, put my wristbands on too tight, nearly lost my 2nd favourite hand. Our camping gate was the one before the passes gate so had another drive around the fascinating one way system till we eventually got to where we needed to be. Spent an hour trying to put my tent up. I was putting the wrong pole in the wrong hole. Once I'd got the right hole it only took me 2 minutes. I think I need to stop this now.



I should point out before we enter the festival proper that it all got a bit messy so the memories are hazy at best (it is now 4 days since The Who played and I only remembered singing my head off to See Me, Feel Me because it came on my iPod this morning).

Festival hat on and we're ready to go on. A bright orange hat on a 6'5" bloke became a very useful meeting point over the next 3 days. First port of call was Main Stage to meet Faithless drummer Andy Treacey. He's worked with BBR in the past and is a big supporter of the band as we'd find out later. Said hello to the Everything, Everything boys who had just come off the Main Stage, had photos took with Jess Glynne, met one of the greatest drummers on the planet and then back into the main festival site. It was about time we actually saw some bands. 

This Feeling Jack Rocks stage for Hidden Charms, a band I've heard but never seen. I was reliably informed that live they are something very special indeed. They are. First band in and the bar is already set very high indeed. 


Hidden Charms

Do I need to point out the beer had been flowing freely for sometime now. This is where it all get hazy. Main Stage for Stereophonics, a band I've kinda lost my way with in recent years. I was with them till 2005 then we just drifted apart. Like an ex parading her new fella who is better than you in every way they showed me I'd been wrong to leave them and should have fought for our relationship. Indian Summer and Graffiti On The Train in particular were magnificent. Kelly Jones surprised us all with some serious shredding. They were simply brilliant. 



Chris Walker (who just to make things easier for all the people saying 'I know your face' we rechristened TV's Chris Walker) had bumped into a mate running a cocktail bar. Free cocktail's to look forward to. Various members of our party went wandering with the instructions 'Meet to the left of Chinese, Thai & Japanese. Look for the orange hat'. That noodle stall became the centre of our universe. 
TV's Chris Walker and his more famous daughter


Tall man in orange hat and the stage tech legend that is Sam Craggs

A friend of mine questioned Faithless headlining over Stereophonics. To me it made perfect sense. Faithless are quite possibly the ultimate festival band. I once saw them do a 1pm slot at V99 and still wipe the floor with all that followed. Dusk was kicking in, stage lights getting frenzied as Andy Treacey's drums thundered round the site and there it was: First big screen close up and he's only resplendent in a Bang Bang Romeo T-shirt. Heaven. The band joined him on stage and launched into Emergency. It's a stunning 18 song set. God Is A DJ, Muhammed Ali, Insomnia, Bombs and closer We Come 1, all magnificent.






So BBR were playing The Big Top at 1.20pm on the Saturday. That's primarily why we were there and commendably the band set themselves a Friday night curfew which, after sampling the free cocktails, they all stuck to. 

Saturday 11th June

So I wish I could tell you we awoke refreshed and raring to go. I wish I could tell you that. Still, we were awake and slowly coming round. The main thing was to get band and gear to The Big Top for 11am. This we duly did, loaded the gear back stage and retired to our dressing room. This is the life. 







So beers in the fridge, food laid out, showers, Iggy Pop's crew nicking my fags and guitar hero Ross Cameron ironing Starsie's dress. Rock 'n' Roll. 



Show time. I made my way stage front in my new role as official merch guy. I'd tried security and drum tech and failed. (I soon lost the merch role to Holly Pocket and resorted to type as the bloke who could lift heavy things). I think Chris, Sam and myself were more nervous than the band. This was huge. This was a main stage at a major festival. We needn't have worried. It should never have been in doubt. IOW organiser John Giddings has tipped BBR as a future Main Stage headliner and for good reason. They belong on the big stage. Christ, they owned a big stage. 



They have the songs. Invitation, Revolver, Carnival, Reach Out, Johannesburg are all massive tunes. I mean seriously massive. Joel Phillips and Richard Gartland are as tight a rhythm section as you could wish to see. It is since these guys came together that the band have stepped up to another level. 










Ross Cameron's guitar is just sheer genius. It swirls through the songs, wraps itself round them, batters them into submission before letting them loose like a 'savage butterfly'. All this while the man himself looks the epitome of cool. 




And stage front is Miss Anastasia Walker. There is no better female singer in this country right now. Throw any name you want at me and you wont convince me otherwise. Her voice is a weapon. It fills the massive Big Top and floats over the festival site drawing people in from all over. Her stage craft is magnificent. Certain performers have that quality that you just can't take tour eyes off. Starsie has that. She was born to do this.




So hard to pick a highlight but new song The Bliss is just pure class. It's the band taking us to a new level, Starsie's mid song rant pulling us in further. I can't do it justice. You truly have to see it live to believe just what a phenomenon it is. 

I have to confess to crying my eyes out all through the set. The emotion of seeing a band I've followed and loved for years putting in a world class performance at such an important moment in their career. I'm not sure I've ever felt so proud.



Also seeing your mates on a big screen is always a bit special.

So after selling some t-shirts and a boat load of CDs it was back to the dressing room to empty the fridges and reflect on what had just happened. It was all a bit breathtaking.