Tuesday, 25 August 2009
What Beautiful Days!
What a weekend! Jon and I went to the Beautiful Days Festival at Escot Park near Ottery St Mary, where we had a truly wonderful time! Jon's already talking about going again next year!
This was the biggest festival I've been to, and it was obviously organised very carefully. There was so much to see and do, with the main stage, smaller gig tents, bar tents, souvenir stalls, food stalls, wandering entertainers, rides and shows, etc, etc. There was even plenty to keep the children and teenagers entertained all day, too, plus a separate Family/Quiet camping area. I have no idea how they made everything run so smoothly, but they did an excellent job.
The weather was mostly overcast, with some slight rain and patches of sun; not bad for festival-going, really. The worst bit was Monday morning when we had to take the tent down in the rain, but even then, it only took us about an hour to pack everything up and get it in the car and we weren't too wet. Apparently last year was very wet, and people got stuck in mud trying to leave, so I'd say this year we were quite lucky with the weather!
The various camping accessories, food, souvenirs and other merchandise was quite varied and ranged in cost from reasonable to pricey. It looked like there was something for everyone, and most of it seemed fairly good quality and good fun! Although, one vendor was selling those sky lanterns that caused the stewards a few headaches, we heard - several were let off during the festival and apparently some nearly landed on people's tents! Jon bought a festival programme, a festival t-shirt and some CDs. He was also quite tempted to get a festival tankard by Lea Phillips but didn't have enough money on Sunday to buy one. I bought a new bag, a cool unusual musical instrument (not sure what it's called, sorry!), and a flower hat to wear with my fairy wings on the Sunday (Flower Power fancy dress day - woo!).
In brief, the worst bits of the festival were: petty thievery (my bubbles and Jon's Feeder badge); the showers costing £2, not being open before 8am and having super long queues; one particular steward supervisor who talked LOUDLY throughout the night near our tent. I can't neatly summarise the best bits as they were far too numerous!
And what, I hear you ask, about the bands? After all, it was a music festival! Well, below I describe in some detail what we saw and what I thought. Be warned, this is an extremely long post!
On Friday, we saw the Levellers, John Smith, Dreadzone, Hawkwind. In between John Smith and Dreadzone we wandered about to get familiar with where everything was and we returned to our tent for a barbecue.
The Levellers in the Big Top: The Levellers shouldn't need any introduction - after all, it's their festival! Wikipedia describe them as "an English rock band influenced by punk and traditional English music" if you've really never heard of them, but they are so, so much more than that! They opened the festival with an awesome acoustic set to enormous, well-deserved cheers and much dancing. What a way to begin! :D My rating out of five: 
John Smith in the Big Top: John Smith (not an easy man to Google!) is a young folk acoustic guitarist and songwriter. I was surprised by him. Jon raves about the guy, but I wasn't expecting to particularly enjoy his music. I did. He's a very original guitarist with great songs! My rating out of five: 
Dreadzone on the Main Stage: This band, formed in 1993, blend dub, reggae, techno, trance, and folk in a lively performance. They certainly knew how to get a party started! Very good fun! :) My rating out of five: 
Hawkwind on the Main Stage: Friday's headliners were celebrating their 40th anniversary! Jon loves this band and describes them as "psychedelic space rock" - but it's not quite my scene. :P They were very accomplished musicians, though, and I loved the keyboard/theramin player! He had loads of energy and clearly loved what he was doing! My rating out of five:
On Saturday, we missed the first band we wanted to see (Dirty Scavenger) and also missed Lau while having another barbecue, but we did get to see Jay Jay Pistolet, Ruarri Joseph, Kismet, Drever-McCusker-Woomble, The Peatbog Faeries, The Imagined Village and The Pogues! In between bands we wandered around some more, bought our souvenirs and saw a couple of stand-up comics, including Mitch Benn.
Dirty Scavenger in the Big Top: We missed them! :( They describe themselves on Facebook as a grunge/alternative rock band. I was keen to see them as the programme describes how the lead singer Jo Maultby gained experience busking on the streets of Guildford after running away from home, and also mentions that the band were selected from the Acoustic Magazine competition to play at the festival! Having listened to their music online, I'm quite disappointed I failed to see them.
Jay Jay Pistolet in the Big Top: He's a 21 year old acoustic singer-songwriter from Hampshire. He seemed quite nervous on stage, but had a great voice and his songs were reminiscent of some of my '50s and '60s records, such as those by Johnny Tillotson. My rating out of five: 
Ruarri Joseph in the Big Top: This folk/alternative singer-songwriter started with an ace solo acoustic set and it got even better when his band joined him! Wow! I wants a CD and will definitely add this to my wishlist asap! My rating out of five: 
Mitch Benn in the Little Big Top: This was the second comedian we saw. I forget the name of the guy before him, but he wasn't very funny, anyway. Mitch Benn was hilarious! He did a brilliantly funny song ranting about James Blunt and also is a fabulous Star Wars sound effects man. His version of "What the World Needs Now Is Love" was hysterical! My rating out of five:
Kissmet in the Big Top: Kissmet are a Bhangra rock fusion band from Peterborough. These guys were full of enthusiasm and lots of fun. The crowd were up and away, dancing ecstatically! Jon liked them so much, he went off straightaway to buy a CD! My rating out of five:
Lau in the Big Top: Another band I really wanted to see but missed! Kris Drever is the lead singer and guitarist of this "modern traditional" Scottish music band, and when I heard him with McCusker and Woomble (see the next band), I wished I'd also managed to see this one.
Drever-McCusker-Woomble in the Big Top: The festival programme reads, "Award-winning singer/guitarist Kris Drever, the hugely-respected John McCusker and Idlewild singer, Roddy Woomble all join forces" which to me sounded like something worth seeing! And they were fab! Great folk music! My rating out of five:
The Peatbog Faeries in the Big Top: "Based on the Isle of Skye, the Peatbog Faeries have become one of Scotlands best known names in contemporary folk music." We first heard of these guys from a friend, but seeing them live really is something else. They were spellbinding, especially the fiddler and the piper! :D Wow! I wants a CD!!! My rating out of five:
The Imagined Village in the Big Top: This is a "project" by a group of artists "exploring our musical roots and identity" and includes Simon Emmerson, Martin Carthy, Eliza Carthy, Paul Weller and Chris Wood. The aim is to combine traditional folk with modern sounds. Steve Knightley was a special guest for this performance, but we just weren't too keen. I guess it's not our thing, really. The tent was full, though, so it didn't look like many agreed with us. My rating out of five: 
The Pogues on the Main Stage: They've been around since 1982 and they mix traditional Irish music with punk rock, so it's unlikely you'll have forgotten, or never heard of this band! They were certainly popular, because the field was packed half an hour before they were due on! And they didn't fail to live up to expectations, either - great fun! :) My rating out of five:
Sunday was the last day of music, although we, like most other people, didn't leave until Monday morning. We didn't have any more food to cook, so we had a Cumberland sausage in a hoagy roll and plaice goujons from the stalls dotted around the main stage - a little pricey, perhaps, but very yummy! I think we saw everyone we hoped to see this day, too - we saw The Fabulous Good Time Party Boys, Hatcham Social, The Subhumans, Melo Park (twice), Frank Turner, The Living End, Gong, Cara Dillon, Lamb and The Levellers.
The Fabulous Good Time Party Boys in the Big Top: What can I say? Crazy costumes and silly songs = :) My rating out of five:
Hatcham Social on the Main Stage: This indie pop group are lauded by The Charlatan's Tim Burgess, but they were the first really disappointing band. They sounded awful, and they were far too loud, as if to compensate for their lack of talent. My rating out of five: 
The Subhumans on the Main Stage: These guys are classified as anarcho-punk, and they were the second (and only other) really disappointing band of the festival. They sounded like they wanted to be The Sex Pistols, but were in actuality just dire and ranty. My rating out of five:
Melo Park in the Big Top: This laidback, acoustic alternative band are made up of Sian Evans from Kosheen and Simon Kingman, founder of the Cardiff cenue, The Toucan. They played a nice, chilled set and the singer especially wowed us! We enjoyed their music so much we went to see them again in the Little Big Top an hour later and bought a CD! I'm also thinking of getting a Kosheen album at some point in the near future, having looked them up online today. My rating out of five:
Frank Turner on the Main Stage: The former frontman of punk band Million Dead has changed his musical style to something described as "edgy folk" which we were impressed by. The band were really energetic and played a great set. Definitely one to watch, and apparently his upcoming album is currently Album of The Week on the Zane Lowe show on Radio 1! Well-deserved, if this performance at the festival is anything to go by. My rating out of five:
The Living End on the Main Stage: This Australian rock band sounded a bit like early Green Day. We liked them! My rating out of five:
Gong on the Main Stage: This psychedelic rock band started in 1967 and are still going strong, despite some members of the band being in their 70s! This is another of Jon's fave bands, but I've not been keen before. I have to admit, however, that they were very creative, fun, and much better than the albums I've heard! The female vocalist was amazing! My rating out of five:
Cara Dillon in the Big Top: Cara Dillon is an Irish folk singer who started out in the music business as a teenager in various folk bands and launched her solo career in 2001. As good as Gong were, I decided to leave early to catch the start of Cara's set, and I'm glad I did. She was amazing!!! She blew me away - her voice, the music, everything! I really, really want a CD now! My rating out of five:
Lamb on the Main Stage: Lamb are singer-songwriter Lou Rhodes and producer Andy Barlow, or, as Lou puts it, "an experiment of what happens when you take one technophobe singer-songwriter and one techno space cadet and mix em up" and they have reformed this year! It's been a while since I heard them, but that distinctive voice began to sing onstage and wow! I wasn't too keen on the first couple of songs as they were a bit too thumpy for me, but they chilled down a bit and I really enjoyed all the other songs - I think I needed to be eased in gently. :P My faves were 'Gabriel' and 'Angelica'. Overall, they were a joy to behold! Jon liked them so much he bought a CD in Exeter after we left the festival, so yay! My rating out of five:
The Levellers on the Main Stage: They closed the festival by playing all the songs from their first album, "Weapon Called The Word" and then they played an encore of their most popular hits, including, of course, 'What A Beautiful Day'. They were superb, and the fireworks at the end were spectacular, too! My rating out of five: 
The whole weekend gets the following rating: 
And that was the Beautiful Days Festival, 2009! Roll on 2010!!!
