The weather was perfect for a festival, warm and sunny. Having picked up Mike on the way, we got to the festival around 5pm, the others had beaten us to it, so the gear had already been unloaded.
It wasn't a big festival site, no more than the large marquee behind the pub, with one food stand, one merchandise stand at the entrance, and a bar at the rear of the marquee. It was still however, a well organised, successful set up. This was the festivals 19th year, so its not surprising that it was done well.
The stage was very impressive, loads of room, looooads of lights. Infact, more lights than at a regular venue. Really impressive looking.
A sound check was done late afternoon, then a mad rush to clear the stage so Shoogenifty could do get on the stage and do a sound check as well. During this time, we chilled out and made the most of the down time.
The change over time between bands was very short, so the moment Shooglenifty finished it was all hands on deck. I was walking back into the back stage area with both hands full with platic cups with very hot coffee, when i heard a shout from Nic that we were ready to go......really bad timing on my behalf, i had a 20 second headless chicken moment looking for somwhere to dump the coffee that wasnt anywhere near anything electrical, or on something that wasnt about to be launched on to the stage in the next 60 seconds....not as easy as it sounds when you have a small backstage area, 2 bands equipment and all the electrical stuff for the lights n sound
so, after scolding myself several times, the coffee was dumped and off we went like men/women possessed. The drum kit had only been partly taken apart from the sound check, so, most of it was still attached to the frame, and was lifted straight onto the stage behind the riser. Nic, Lizzy, Jay and Nath didn't take long to get themselves sorted. Myself and Mike then jumped into the safety area at the front of the stage, one at each end so we could film it from both angles.
The set was going to be slightly shorter than normal due to timings, but it wasnt a major problem.
Lizzy looked stunning in her new outfit, a full length....extremely tight fitting sort of bottle green, crushed velvet kinda thing. Really smart, and she as always looked amazing.
Cabbage train opened up, and you could see it had taken the crowd by suprise. All day thay had been listening to easy going chilled out stuff, but now their ear drums were being hammered by a full on rock band.....and they just loved it.
Witch in Wedlock next, and the band still giving it 100%. The crowd were just floored, many people who this was their first experience of seeing the band were catching on to the chorus and singing along
Gravel Walk, Mad Tom, Ostara all followed. The Fender Mandolin came on for Billy Boy. I overheard a bloke saying something on the lines of.....is there anything she CANT play
Barbara Allen, Sitting Pretty, Night Visit and Skyclad finished off the main part of the set.
Twmbarlwm then finished off the gig. It was a huge success, and many a new fan walked away from the festival veeeery impressed. One bloke came up to Lizzy and shouted up to her, that they were the band he had been wanting to discover for years.....he was totally converted.
It was a great festival, the staff were lovely, and the crowd were a pleasure to play to. It would be great to go back there sometime in the future.
Gear was packed away in record time, then the usual nattering and socialising went on for some time before we all piled into the vehicles, and drove off in convoy to the Sussex countryside to crash out at Mikes.
A class weekend and i personally think that their claim of the biggest little festival are well justified.
