The weekend started early .... I had to visit Salisbury on Friday night, however it did mean that we were an hour or so closer to the venue **Wink**. Saturday started with a leisurely drive up to Cheltenham to pick up Andy, before heading up the M5 to Birmingham. This involved negotiating the queue at Birmingham where it meets the M6, but did avoid the road closures around the A49.
We arrived at the site towards 3pm - finding it was easier this year, but only because we knew where it was and which lane to turn down - for future reference it is the steep one with a battle tank at the end!
The first person we met was our old friend the Janitor, he and the family were down for the weekend. Somehow he had managed to blag the only flat space on the camping field, and guess what! there was loads of room for the Bluehorses contingent. One very minor drawback ... right next door to the muddy section (could be missed by walking around), and downstream of the paintball shooting (with the occasional escapee wadding - but no harm was done) ... ok so that was two.The nature of this festival is so friendly that we had a large group this time. We gradually all arrived over the afternoon, BH2 (Jay, Ruth, Jai(mini)me, and Buffy) with Rhayn tagging along under his own steam, then Stan with Claire and Hester, and finally BH1 who had caught up with Bob having a fag on the long Myndd (yes we did all the jokes)
As the sun was out and the light excellent we took the opportunity to take a few snaps of the band in stage attire, and various poses (including using the tank as a prop - very Mad Max!!)- I am sure that some of these will see light of day around the album launch time. Incidentally talking of the new album, Nic was full of stories from the mixing desk, so positive progress has been made.
Andy found a Unimog which had him reminiscing about the flood and what fun can be had in one! however playing with the sword was a different matter.. and called a bit of first aid! 
After this we went back to more conventional sets ... neutral backdropsBefore long we were needing to get all the kit laid out on the back side of the stage. Farmer Phil, had converted a milking turntable for use as the stage, and so we built all the kit and mic'd it all up, on the reverse side and this turned around at show time, ready for final checks. The stage was larger than last year with an earth mound extension out front and a separate side pod for the monitor desk and crew, all under a big tent. opposite the stage and behind the sound desk was a further awning covered area to cover any rain incidents. This gave an outdoor feeling with out the getting wet bit!
The girls and Buffy had a final briefing on camera arrangements and I had a chat with the sound and lighting people, as well as finding a good spot for the front of house camera. After last year, where every shot had a layer of people's heads and paraphernalia, Heath Robinson had come to my aid with an idea to extend the tripod by gaffering 3 tent poles to the end of the legs ... this worked well, but did make it a little more wobbly than usual.
9:20pm and we are off .. the stage revolves and everything gets moved into place. A line check and before we know it the green light is on and all systems are go. The full set list can be found on the tailz blog here, however it followed a very similar route as Spratton. Blackleg Miner was dedicated to Leah daughter of Janitor - she finally overcame her shyness and had requested it from Lizzie earlier in the afternoon. However there had been a plan to include a version of The Devil went down to Georgia, but this had to be dropped when all the rehearsal time was taken over by the new album... I am sure everyone will be forgiven once the album is available.
Rather than add a load of photos here of the concert Ghastlyone has added a link to some in the forum topic and there are also loads in the gallery. There may even be a couple of the 2 stage crashers who were ably removed by Stan and the security staff.
After the show, and whilst Bob was getting moved on for causing a crowd at the merchandise stall whilst the marshals were trying to move everyone back in readiness for the blues brothers police car ** Rolling Eyes ** We had the kit removed and packed away. Time for more autographs and general chit chat, before retiring to the encampment.
Now given the circuitous route to the tents (steep hill and boggy bits) added to the fact it was now pitch black due to the rain clouds covering the sky - no chance of seeing any shooting stars to-night then - not as simple as it may seem.
this was the van moving over the field
then where it ended up,
and how it was sorted out!The next day it was a leisurely chilled pack up - we had to dry the tents out first - good excuse for loads of coffee and plenty of chat, and then we all headed off in different directions.
The excitement had all got a bit too much for Andy .... he just could not stay awake any longer ***Evil Grin***
