Xmas Mini Tour part2

Previous section here

Up bright and early to miss the traffic, and I was heading South... a minor deviation to miss the M6 Toll and then straight line home.

I arrived as everyone else was just getting up Confused so I had a good opportunity to mend some kit - my mini disc player had failed at the Flowerpot and a quick look showed the power supply had a broken lead - easy to see in the daylight, but not in the half light of a mixing desk.

After a quick lunch and walk for the dog I was back on the road, this time with the girls. A cross country trek is the easiest way to the Railway, and it wasn't long before we were pulling onto the car park, just in time to help with the unloading.

Deja vu, came to mind as we sorted the kit out, except overnight Jay and Lyndon had decided to change sides, being Bijou and compact the stage at the Railway does not lend itself to much moving around, so it does mean that the girls do not have to fight the jostling at stage front from the mosh pit. All the stage cameras were working as fixed, although we did try some interesting angles.

The show was to be the same set as the night before. The girls disappeared into the crowd as the band fought their way onto the stage - at the railway the dressing room is at the opposite end to the stage, which always provides an interesting entrance! - and I was left to look after myself.

Things went without a hitch, and again the new material stood up extremely favorable with the crowd, my favorite new track keeps changing. I guess it wi9ll be some time before I settle on one - if at all

At the intermission, there was a pause for fancy dress prize giving - there were some excellent costumes, but in the end Angie and a fairy (sorry did not get your name) took the prizes.

All too quickly we were at the end again, the only difference was that we did not have to drive anywhere so a few drinks were partaken of .. and some strange dance routines ... Mark - I still think you were impersonating a handbag surrounded by all those ladies Laughing

Sleep came easy and provided the recharge for the next day ... back to the Midlands and Bilston.

Some Additional comments from Hev

... I think Gary and I have one thing to add.....

During the last track Gary came up to me and asked when the encore was after going outside for a fag. I unwittingly told him that this was it... nothing seemed suspect.

Unfortunately Gary had missed his opportunity to get Lizzy to ask me a very important question. So, while Lizzy and I were having a drunken boogie after almost everyone had gone he slipped a piece of paper into her hand.

Lizzy dragged me out to the corridor and showed me what the fuss was about.

I can happily say that I said yes to Gary's proposal of marriage. But I did make him promise to ask me again when we were sober... which he did.. and I still said yes!!!

Dates won't be set until after Oz next year... so you don't have to worry about hats for a while

The best gig of my life!!!!!


Next Section here

Set List - Robin2, Bilston


Bluehorses Set List - Robin2, Bilston

Xmas Mini Tour


Cabbage Train
Witch in Wedlock
Dance With Me
Barbara Allen
Raggle Taggle
Ostara/ Morrison's
The Ride
Night Visit
Ray of Light
Billy Boy
The Fool
Sitting Pretty
Calling My Loves
Blackleg Miner
Waes Hael

----- Encore -----

Bigger Gun
Skyclad

Pictures from the show are available in the photo gallery here

Set List - The Railway, Winchester


Bluehorses Set List - Railway, Winchester

Xmas Mini Tour


Cabbage Train
Witch in Wedlock
Dance With Me
Barbara Allen
Raggle Taggle
Ostara/ Morrison's
The Ride
Night Visit
Ray of Light
Billy Boy
The Fool
Sitting Pretty
Calling My Loves
Blackleg Miner
Waes Hael

----- Encore -----

Skyclad
Bigger Gun

Pictures from the show are available in the photo gallery here

Set List - The Flowerpot Derby


Bluehorses Set List - Flowerpot, Derby

Xmas Mini Tour


Cabbage Train
Witch in Wedlock
Dance With Me
Barbara Allen
Raggle Taggle
Ostara/ Morrison's
The Ride
Night Visit
Ray of Light
Billy Boy
The Fool
Sitting Pretty
Calling My Loves
Blackleg Miner
Waes Hael

----- Encore -----

Skyclad
Bigger Gun

Pictures from the show are available in the photo gallery here

Xmas mini-tour part1

Xmas mini tour ..... 3 dates in 3 days .. its been a long time since I have been on anything this intense, so it was with a mixture of trepidation that I left on Friday mid-day for Derby. For a Friday afternoon the journey up was uneventful, even with a stop at Coventry for a phone conference (the nice thing about these is that they do not need to know where you are ;) ). Pulling into the car park beside the Flowerpot there was even a slot available.

As I loaded the camera gear into the hall, Bob turned up and quickly followed by Sid the sound. Before long BH1 and 2 arrived and the gear was unloaded. This was the first time I was going to hear Lyndon play live .. he had been at Saul to record the sound for the Live DVD .. So I was looking forward to seeing how he would bring all his experience to the BH tunes.

The warm up and sound check chased away any nagging doubts and showed that everyone was comfortable playing together. A couple of the new tunes were used during the sound check and came through with flying colours ... tonight was going to be a blast.

I have videoed at the Flowerpot a number of times now and have a good idea for which camera positions work and what to avoid. Though this time i had a new toy in a little bullet camera. I planned to mount it in a mic. stand to get hight and unobtrusiveness, and record through a camera body. I also had one to look down on the drum kit, which I hoped to allow a wider camera angle.

A quick chance to say hello to Rich, Lynda, and Graham, who were ensconced in prime slots besides the speaker bins row 1. Andy arrived fresh from the dash up after work and that was the cue to get ready, the show would be starting in a few minutes. A quick dash around all the cameras, winding them up before Lizzie led the team into the stage.

The start was as has become normal for the last couple of years, and then we were into new material. The full set list is here, however Dance With Me, The Ride, Raggle Taggle, The Fool, Calling My Loves, and Waes Hael all got an airing. Along with many others I had been listening to the samples on MySpace from the new album - Thirteen Fires - together with the tracks from the summer festivals, and wondered how they would transform to the live stage .... There was no issue - the live arrangements fitted superbly into the set, and Lyndon looked very comfortable as he competently fulfilled the guitarist role, belying the short time he had to learn the set.

There was one incident of mirth - Jay broke his Bass strap about two thirds of the way through. All the crew assumed he was messing around kneeing on the floor, and took a while to help out with a spare one (bit of baller twine and gaff tape). All credit he didn't miss a note!!

As always seems to be the case, the show finished way before I wanted it to, and there was a mad rush to Hev and Gary on the merchandise stall to swap £10 notes into CDs. Quickly clearing the cameras away gave me an opportunity to catch up with a few people before the packing up started. I must mention a very big "Get Well Soon" for Stan who misses the tour after an incident with a tail lift and some ice (what is it with Ice and this band.. Nic had a contretemps with some a few years ago). Mind you Bob stepped up from apprentice to fully fledged technician without visible hitch.

Packing up was real quick - it was freezing outside so not a night to hang around, and soon we were gathering at the local kebab shop for the traditional feast. For some reason we picked up the local eccentric and endured a diatribe whilst disposing of the food - excellent method of serving a doner kebab .. in nan rather than pitta bread. Leaving her behind we tootled off to the accommodation.

As i had to leave early to get the girls, diverting on the way to Winchester, I slept in the van. Comfortable and relatively warm - until, that is, I rolled over and lost the blankets - One way to wake up quickly!

Next installment here

Comments on Bluehorses at Solfest

Here are some links to what others are saying about Bluehorses and Solfest

Rhyan's myspace blog and thoughts - here

This is the blog of the Hairy atmospheric scientist - here

Andy's festival Diary - Solfest



Last festival of the year, and a great way to end it. A second appearance at Solfest, the first time being 2004, the first year for the festival. Its great to see what Glastonbury must have been like in its infancy appear in the lovely location of Cumbria.

After working from 7am driving like a loon around the Welsh Valleys, i sped back home with the speed of a thousand Gazelles to chuck my stuff in the car and get going. What meant to be a quick brew in Pershore while i dropped my dogs off for the weekend turned into a couple of hours.....time was ticking.

I finally left the Pershore Lair, and headed straight for the motorway at Worcester, leaving behind two very confused dogs. Hit the motorway dead on 1am. I was stocked up with one litre of coffee, nibbles, and the BBC adaptation of Lord Of The Rings to keep me going. I loves driving this time of night......i flew. It wasn't till i got near the Lakes i needed to stop and have a break......wide awake, but needing coffee and a stretch.

The whole trip through Lancashire gave me warm memories of my childhood. Familiar sites and names of towns. I went to the lakes so many times as a kid I've lost count, but i still remember the usual whine to my Dad...."are we there yet" NO!!!!.

I finally reached the festival site at 4.30 ish. The odd drunk walking down the lanes. I found the entrance for artists, and grabbed a steward to direct me to the artist camping area. She didn't have a clue....she pointed me to another steward....he was drunk, and so where the people he was with. I got some kind of directions, but it ended in the left, then right,...right! right ok, no left.....forget it, i as 90% sure it as the gate way id passed on the way, so i left them staggering off towards the stone circle, i went back to the car and tried my luck in the site. I abandoned my car by the portaloos, and walked, and quickly found Fort Horse, the vehicles tend to stick out like a baboons bot. I homed in on the snoring from Stans tent and the farting from Rhaynes...yup, this is it.

I had to work my way through the maze of guy ropes and camping gear , drive to the top, swear several times due to lack of turning space, and reverse back. I eventually came to rest along side the others. it was now beyond putting a tent up...no space, so i just dragged out my air bed, folded down the seats of the car and shoved quilt, pillows and valuables in the back then realised that my brand new air bed pump that id bought a few hours earlier was still in the office at work....bugger.

The attempt to blow the air bed by mouth was pretty poor, but i didn't care. Stan staggered out of his tent...fag already in gob, and tried to focus on this strange site of me wrestling with an air bed it, must have looked well dodgy. We chatted for a few mins then crashed out.

First to up.....Nic, and then me (typical). So, we sat in the van guzzling coffee and chatting while the others slowly surfaced.

It was soon munchies time...via the portaloo. Mike came back with a smart looking bacon roll......trotters n all......so that set me and Stan off on a hunt. Two egg n bacon rolls later, and couple of coffees we were ready to take on the world....well, the portaloos anyway.

The whole day was a blur of drinking coffee, wandering around the stalls, and chatting. It was a chance to take in the atmosphere and see what the festival had to offer.

The set up as generally the same as 2004, just much more included. The dance tent had been moved and was a much better set up. Many more stalls and food outlets. The Camels Arse and the Porridge stand were excellent. We had a wander towards the drystone wall stage and got more coffee. Bojangles were playing away at the top of the slope, i stopped off to take some pics (now on their webpage....ta for the credit guys ... hell, even the BBC credited me for womad '03). There was also a small pyramid in the middle of the arena which lit up at nightand shone projections through clouds of dry ice!

It was the usual stuff you would expect to see at the stands of a festival nature, but i had a nose all the same. I wandered off taking pics.

Soon the need to sleep caught up, and since the bands start time was 12.45 ish it was an all round decision to hit the hay and grab some sleep while we had the chance. Four hours later...i woke.

The moment i woke, i just knew Mike would have been lurking with a camera.....and i was right. After getting some grub, we just sat and chilled, and gassed the last available time away before having to move the van up to the stage area. The Undertones were playing away while we walked up. Nic drove the van up. I had to abandon duty, and find the loo. I don't think the Cumberland sausage agreed with me, so off i waddled like a penguin with its knickers round its ankles and headed for the nearest available loo. I was gone some time....was feeling a bit dodgy, in fact by the time id sorted myself out, the band had been playing for two mins.


The stage was a reasonable size, with a great light system. We had a look earlier in the day, and it was nice to see they had taken on board Jays request to remove the large pink sheeting on the front barriers and keep the dry ice down to a decent level. I think the word muttered were ... back in 10 mins ... and flame thrower, or something like that. Actually the guys working the stage were really cool and couldn't help enough.



The venue was full of people having a blast and really getting into it.
The set itself was more or less the same played at recent festivals.
Lizzy, even at 1am still looked stunning as ever and danced the night away. The whole band played their hearts out, and had the crowd dancing the early hours away.




Most of these people had never seen Bluehorses before, but the crowd around Bob n Hevs stall showed what an impact they had. Many hand shakes from the crowd at the end of the set, and autographs given.



After the crowds had cleared, we quickly packed away the gear and headed off back to Fort Horse for coffee. A usual the wind down wasn't over quickly, coffee, chatting etc back at base till it was really time to collapse in our pits.

The sleep in didn't last long, we didn't really hit the hay till must have been 4.30 - 5am....at a guess. We all seemed to surface fairly early, probably down to the little darlings playing an instrument at 7am a few tents over. Should we send over Lizzy to politely ask them to shut the hell up, or maybe send Jay over wearing nothing but New rocks and armed with a plastic crow, or the final option....Stan and me just go and dive on the tent.. However, the whole site was woke by the sound of the air ambulance flying over head. It must be serious to have them sent. Unfortunately a woman on the camp site had been having chest pains, and sadly died. A tragic and sad way to end our time at Solfest.

We all staggered off for a porridge breakfast and coffee overdose before packing up and heading home. All i had to do was get in the car and drive....i didn't actually unpack anything.


The trip back was sound, no hold ups, a clear run all the way. A brief stop at Sandbach Services for a few mins shut eye, a coffee, and a stretch, and i was fine, home in no time.

Solfest had managed to provide an excellent festival, and improved it in many ways. Like Farmer Phils, it has the right kinda people going, who truly appreciate festival life. Its also organised and run by dedicated festival lovers not for major financial reasons, but for the love of festivals and the area they live in, and as long as that attitude remains, it will always be a successful and well loved festival.

Massive thanks again to Simon & Sarah & all of the crew who made such a special effort to put on such a brilliant event.