Wychwood Festival 2024 ( Saturday )

 

Back in June ( what do you mean, it's 2/3 of the way through July already? ), Sarah and I spent two days on a racecourse. And we didn't put any bets on. Yep, following last year's fantastic weekend at the Wychwood Festival in Cheltenham, we were back for more. To be honest, much of the lineup this year didn't really grab me, but we'd had such a good time in 2023 that we knew it would be worth going again. We had the added incentive that our good friend Caz was playing on the Saturday with her band, Dub Catalyst, and had managed to get us one free ticket. So, we rocked up to the "production" tent at the racecourse and Sarah was given the keys to the kingdom... or at least a wristband that admitted her into the arena.

The first band we caught was The Zangwills, who'd progressed from the Garden Stage last year to the main stage this year. We only watched two or three of their songs before heading off to see Dub Catalyst, but their muscular indie-pop was a fine start to the weekend.

We got down the front in the Garden Stage tent and plonked ourselves in front of Dub Catalyst's amazing horn section, featuring ( of course! ) Cazbo on trombone. DC's summery, positive-vibe-imbued reggae / hip hop perfectly suited the gorgeous June weather, and they soon filled the tent out with happy, dancing punters. As always, they were incredibly tight and professional, with every member of the 11-piece band giving their all (even the tambourine player who was living his best life), and the crowd absolutely loved them. Surely the main stage beckons next year?

I caught half of a set from Amy Moore, a Country singer who had a very strong, soulful voice and some equally strong tunes ( and a kick ass band, it has to be said ), and then we went for a wander around the site. ( I mentioned "gorgeous weather" earlier and it was really good, but the photo below looks deceptively grey. )

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One of the great things about festivals is that everyone feels they're all in it together, all having a good time, all ( you could say ) connected...

And that clumsy segue leads me on to the next band on the main stage, the dancetastic Stereo MCs.

Leaning heavily on the material from their Connected album, the band brought us the rave like it was 1989 all over again. In a similar vein to last year's headliners, Happy Mondays, the MCs' blend of indie, hip hop and acid house was a perfect way to re-energise a festival crowd on a Saturday afternoon. Although lacking in the banter of a certain Mr. Ryder, the band's frontman Rob Birch had an energetic stage presence, coming across as a boiler-suited Albert Steptoe enjoying his first trip in the Hacienda. They played both of "the hits" - Connected and Step It Up - which naturally got the best reaction from the crowd, but it was all 'shroom-flavoured fun.

After this, we caught up with Caz to have hot dogs and chips on the top deck of a bus ( as you do ), while listening to some familiar tunes drifting across the field. Jangly, early-sixties Merseybeat pricked my ears up and dragged me out of the bus and I found myself breaking my "no tribute bands" rule...

Well, it's more of a guideline than a rule. The purveyors of this aural time warp were, of course, The Bootleg Beatles, the premier Fab Four tribute band. Looking spookily like the Liverpudlian icons ( I think some prosthetics may be involved ), the band were also note-perfect in recreating their sound and onstage banter. I mean, this is the closest you're going to get to a Beatles gig, so why not wallow in the nostalgia. They progressed from the raw, early songs like She Loves You and Can't Buy Me Love, via a solo "Macca" version of Yesterday, and on to the post-psychedelic era with the likes of Get Back and Revolution. It was a fun singalong and actually quite moving to hear those songs being played with such authenticity. One crowd member near me, on hearing Hey Jude ( my all-time fave Fabs song ), said "Nobody's written a song this good since the '60s", which may be an overstatement... but I can see where they're coming from.

Next up were some genuine Liverpudlians, early 2000s eclecticists The Coral.

These Scouse folk/indie types wore their Fabs influence on their sleeves, with plenty of jangly melodies to chill us all out. In theory. To be honest, I found their stuff pleasant but dull and the band had zero charisma, looking like they were going through the motions and thinking about the paycheque. Of course, the good thing about festivals is that you can always go for a wander ( again ) and Wychwood is perfect for this, with something else happening around every corner: craft-making tents, dance classes, story-telling for kiddies, even over-priced massage therapy sessions. By the time we'd taken all this in ( and probably queued for the toilets, another festival joy ), the sun was slowly sinking over the Shire and we headed back to the main stage for the headliners.

When the headliners for this year's Wychwood were announced, I was fairly unimpressed ( Ocean Colour Scene? Really? ) but there were enough acts on the bill that looked interesting, so we thought it was still worth going.

Texas are a band that I was never too bothered about back in the day, but I thought they were sure to put on a decent show. ( Can't you tell that this is yet another example of me totally underestimating a band? ) And, yeah, they really did. Straight out of the blocks with their debut single I Don't Want A Lover, Texas hit the ground running, with frontwoman Sharleen Spiteri bouncing around the stage, fizzing with energy. After a brief pause to say how amazed they were at still being in the business 35 (!) years after this song had kickstarted their career, the band launched into the anthemic, pulsing Halo, the line about "bright light city" absolutely bang on as the crowd was illuminated by the main stage lights.

Texas are one of those groups who you listen to and think "That's actually a bloody great song. Yeah, and that one. And that one." Bangers like Summer Son and In Demand give us tune after tune, and hook after hook. I probably looked on them as being a bit middle of the road previously, but as a live act, they were totally convincing, and far "rockier" than on record.

Sharleen still has an amazingly soulful and powerful voice and an absolutely magnetic stage presence.

She told us a few spicey stories, one in particular about a radio interview she'd given recently where she'd dropped a couple of F-bombs. The next day, her sister called her up to say there was some fuss online because somebody had taken offence at her "potty mouth" - Sharleen's response was "Have they ever fuckin' been to Glasgow? That's basically how we communicate."

Texas finished the set with Black Eyed Boy and Say What You Want, both total pop classics with a Country Soul twist - and the way Sharleen sang "tiiime" on the former sent shivers down my spine. They encored with the dancey Inner Smile, a song I'd completely forgotten about, but which was a euphoric, uplifting way to end the night. We headed for home, tired but happy, planning to get back there early the next morning for a meeting with a certain canine...

To be continued, cockers...

On Election Day: Let's Kick Out The Tories (Newtown Neurotics)

Restore Nature Now 2024

 

Sarah and I are so proud to have been part of Restore Nature Now, in London yesterday. 300 organisations and 60 - 80,000 people marched in celebration of our beautiful natural world, and with a mission to take leaders to task over their failures to protect our environment. It was just a small step ( well, about 20,000 steps in our case ), but it was a beginning. And *what* a beginning!

We'd previously taken part in the Walk For Wildlife back in 2018, but this was a much larger gathering. Six years on and things have only got worse ( rivers full of shit, habitat being destroyed, animal populations in decline ), so we had to step up and join in with this huge event...

It was a wonderfully inclusive, family-friendly day where groups of people from all walks of life came together for a common cause - even the likes of The National Trust, the RSPB and WWT joined in with the more radical groups like Just Stop Oil and Extinction Rebellion. The only way we can force effective change is for us all to unite in defence of the environment as one voice.

We assembled at Hyde Park Corner, then marched down Park lane and into the heart of London, passing through Piccadilly Circus, Trafalgar Square and Whitehall to all assemble in Parliament Square. Here we heard speeches from various concerned naturalists, young and old, including host Chris Packham, Megan McCubbin, Dale Vince ( my mate Kev's boss at Ecotricity ), Feargal Sharkey, Dr. Amir Khan and Nemonte Nenquimo, an indigenous activist who has secured environmental safeguards for areas of the Amazon. This last speaker ( and her interpreter ) only highlighted how environmental destruction is indeed a global problem that the whole world needs to address.

We made a lot of noise and turned a lot of heads. Many people laughed, cheered, took photos and honked car horns as we passed. Many more also looked bemused and / or dismissive, but nobody said this would be an easy struggle. So many people have other issues in their lives in these days of a cost-of-living crisis, and the plight of the environment may not be at the forefront of their minds. We're aiming to remind people how crucial nature and the environment are for their lives and for the life of the planet. Extinction Rebellion's Red Rebel Brigade ( above ) dress in Masque Of The Red Death-style robes to symbolise the blood we share in common with other species. After all, we're all in this together and there is no Planet B...

It was a fantastic day and we've pledged to return as often as possible to keep up the fight and to

Restore Nature Now!

I've just seen a Face: Retro Magazines & Film Posters

It's like the 1980s never ended! Here, for your delectation and delight, are a few covers from long-gone fashion / lifestyle magazine The Face. I never bought this mag back in the day, as I thought it was just a style Bible for pseudo-intellectuals. I mean, it was really, but these issues I picked up in a junk shop recently have some great articles and interviews, plus some *very* of-their-time photos, which are fun to see from a 21st century viewpoint. And isn't that Human League cover the most '80s photo ever?

An absolutely gorgeous pic of Siouxsie...

And another gorgeous pic, this time of the legendary Rankin' Roger ( RIP )

And, yes, another gorgeous ( in a mean 'n' moody kind of way ) pic of the Godlike genius that is Kevin Rowland.

Staying with an '80s theme ( and with some '70s and '00s thrown in for good measure ), here are some cool reimaginings of movie posters that we saw in an exhibition in Stroud a couple of months ago. Aren't they lovely?

 

Recent(ish) gigs: Echo & The Bunnymen and The Beat

It's been a slow start for gigs for me this year, so I played catch-up last month with two cracking gigs and only one day of rest ( I didn't rest ) between them. First up: a Wednesday night in Bristol with Liverpool's legendary Echo & The Bunnymen.

The Bunnymen had only a few days before played a warm-up gig for this tour at my fave venue, the Gloucester Guildhall, but I'd only found out about it after it had sold out. Bugger! I quickly snapped up a couple of tickets for the newly refurbished and renamed Bristol Beacon ( formerly the Colston Hall ) and Sarah & I soon found ourselves heading down that familiar M5 route to the city of Aardman and Banksy.

My first impression of the Beacon was... wood. Lots of wood. Everything seemed to be wood-panelled, which was... nice, but a bit bland. They're obviously going for a very upmarket, concert hall vibe. Sarah pointed out that this was Bristol ( as said above, the city of cartoon critters and iconic graffiti ) so, she'd expected it to be a bit funkier. Oh, well! It was still cool to be there. We only caught a couple of songs from support act, violinist Erica Nockalls, but weren't too bothered, as what we heard was pretty dreary and tune-free. I'd been looking forward to seeing her, after catching her with Miles Hunt at the Gloucester Guildhall some years ago, and being impressed by her talent and statuesque image, but this performance drifted into the murkier backwaters of art rock and was just a big yawn.

But then it was Bunny Time. Sorry, that sounds too much like a CGI-ed kids' TV show. It was "Bunnymen" Time...

Mac and the boys played two sets, the first comprising deep cuts and new material, the second slanted more towards old favourites. They kicked off with two very Goth-y Crocodiles-era stompers, Going Up and All That Jazz, before they wheeled out the first big, singalong anthem of the night with Rescue, and a cracking new song called Brussels Is Haunted. Not sure how accurate that statement is, but we'll believe them. All My Colours ( Zimbo ) and Never Stop were from the more pop-y end of their spectrum and were fun fun fun.

The first set ended with an immaculate version of Bring On The Dancing Horses - "Shiver and say the word..." - and the word was "loo break", which came in very handy for an audience of a certain age. Some of the punters seemed a bit non-plussed by this intermission ( wot, no choc-ices? ), but previous nights on this tour had apparently followed the same pattern. It was, however, a far cry from the time I saw The Dandy Warhols have a mid-set break in the Bristol O2 Academy and spark up some ciggies...

The second set saw the Bunnymen pleasing the hardcore fans with a pummelling Over The Wall, before an anthemic Seven Seas had us all "kissing the tortoise shell", and why not? And then a gorgeous Nothing Lasts Forever became a monster singalong as the song morphed into Walk On The Wild Side. Mac, who had been hilariously incomprehensible throughout, told us of his repertoire of accents: he can apparently do Scottish and Irish, but if he tries Brummie then nobody can understand him. Most of us agreed we can't understand him at the best of times. But, through the linguistic haze, he came across as somebody who loved the music and was thoroughly enjoying himself, albeit in his own too-cool-for-school, lugubrious way. The main set ended with an unstoppable duo of The Killing Moon and The Cutter, both absolutely euphoric. They encored with a sprightly Lips Like Sugar and then, after another gap in which a few people left for the last bus / train / camel home ( The house lights were still up! A rookie mistake ), a beautiful Ocean Rain to finish a superb evening.

Two nights later and we were in our aforementioned fave venue, Gloucester's gorgeous Guildhall, for a contrasting but equally fantastic gig. This time it was the turn of The Beat, bringing some Caribbean-via-Birmingham sunshine to our grey Shire. Our good friend Caz also came along and it was lovely ( as ever! ) to share the experience with her.

This was our second time of seeing The Beat minus legendary frontman, Rankin' Roger. It was five years to the month since Roger's sad and untimely passing, and it was still a wrench to realise he wasn't on stage. Happily, his son, Rankin' Jr, still carries the flag for his dad ( as one of their songs puts it ) and does a terrific job.

The Beat essentially played the same set we saw them do at the Wychwood Festival last year, but what a set! Kicking off with Stand Down Margaret, they instantly upped the energy levels in the venue by 1000% ( yeah, maths was never my strong point ) and soon had everybody dancing and grinning. Rankin' Jr was on winning form, hurtling around the stage, his passion and joy infectious, his shirt and waistcoat short-lived as he soon discarded those in the Beat-generated heat. For your dancing feet. Alreet?

As ever, a Beat set served to remind us just how many perfect pop songs the band had up their sleeves: Too Nice To Talk To, Hands Off... She's Mine, and their cover of Prince Buster's Rough Rider were all singalong, danceable treats. Carry The Flag, as mentioned above, was Jr's beautifully heartfelt tribute to his late dad, while Twist & Crawl was pure, old skool Ska magic. Complementing Rankin' Jr's livewire stage presence, the band themselves were on fine form, cooking up a heady brew of Ska and Reggae, with flavours of Jazz, and hints of Punk anger in the condemnations of the bad vibe merchants out there.

No Tears Of A Clown this time ( I don't think they played this at Wychwood either ) but the overwhelming positivity, the joyous calls for love and unity, and the red-hot music, more than made up for this. The final duo of an extended Ranking Full Stop, in all its stop/start glory, and ( of course! ) a final Mirror In The Bathroom ( pop perfection! ) finished the set in a sweat-drenched, smiling from ear to ear, kind of way. As expected, the encore was perennial set closer, Jackpot, a perfect end to the evening: "I'm sorry to say I'm on my way / Won't be back for many a day / So goodbye everybody"

 Well, that wasn't quite the end of the evening: most of the crowd moved on from the Guildhall and piled into the Cafe Rene, just down the road, for the "unofficial aftershow party", where we all danced to more Ska 'n' reggae classics into the small hours. A wonderful night!