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.

Mike's Festival Diary - Solfest

A bit obtuse, that we set off for Northampton first, but the plan was to minimise the vehicles going to Cumbria. Next challenge was to find Bob and then Hev & Gary in the maze of streets around the city - thank ful for Mobile phones and a running commentary from Katie, we accomplished set one without too much panic.

Next stage was negotiating the M1 upto M18 then A1 to Scotch Corner, with the A66 to Cockermouth and some fiddly bits to finish off. The M1 was busy, getting busier, there was only a slight delay around the West Midlands Airport but the big jam was around the M18 junction, where 6 miles took an hour!. A spot of late lunch and we were only an hour behind BH1. By the time we got to Scotch Corner we had made up most of that (mainly by not stopping, as the van struggles to break the speed limit!). The Pennines past with great views and little trouble and soon we were int he heart of the lake district. the road past Blencathra brought back many memories, as did the view of Cat Beils.

We knew we were getting closer as the roads got narrower, and on the final bit from Aspatria, all the memories of being at the first Solfest came flooding back ... the site entrance was clearly marked and we were soon in the queue to get our wrist bands ... nice touch here - they were material crimped with a simple soft metal ring, but highly effective and noticeable. BH1 had arrived just before us, with BH2 30 mins in front of that. Already the camping area was bursting and we struggled to find an area covering enough space for the complete "paddock" are encampment would cover! After negotiating a tortuous path through the tents at the entrance to the field we eventually found space at the far end - just in time as already this was filling out.


Solfest had grown since last time and was no longer the small intimate gathering it had been - no chance the food would run out! There were great numbers of stalls ranging from the standard festival fayre and food outlets to side shows and impressively a "healing area" with many offerings. There were 4 main venues - the main stage, the bar stage, the drystone stage and the dance tent (massive circus marquee, but not interesting enough to venture nearer than the outside). there was loads of "street" entertainment going on around the site, along with a fancy dress competition - not sure if this was all weekend or just a particular day, but the costumes were many and varied! Adam and Eve were brave in the cold evening! - Andy has plenty of pictures in the big gallery.

The first evening (Friday) the Osrics were playing and Nic being a long time fan wanted to see how they were getting on, but first a trip to the beer tent ... to look at the stage, but also visit the bar!!! Karaoke metal was the music of the moment, but hey if the big boys can do it, why can't the little ones (or girl in this case). The Osrics were blighted by a power problem that had been going on all day ... seems like the power to the main stage was tripping on all 3 phases.. eventually it was down to just one then OK, but it must have been hard to play through that kind of trouble.

The next day we were woken early (as is usual on a packed campsite - earplugs a necessity) but breakfast was just round the corner - bacon butties, and plenty of fresh coffee .. Mmmm
Andy had arrived overnight and he was waiting in his car for us to emerge
We did catch a fleeting glimpse of our next door camping neighbours and their puppet show, but we could have been in different timezones as you look at when we were around the tents. I do hope he was not disturbed too much by our late night comings and goings.

Saturday was going to be a long affair as Bluehorses was not due to play until "stupid o'clock" in the bar tent once the main stage had closed. So everything was very lazy, the girls went window shopping, and there was lots of tea and chatting. As the day wore on and the sun dipped behind the hills, if got quite nippy, making the time creep by ever so slowly.

As the clocked ticked around to midnight, we just had a chance to see the incredible Bodhrain playing of Emma and the professor on the dry stone stage, and then it was time to start the pre show setup panic. the Bar stage was not huge, but we managed to get setup and going relatively easily, with a minimum of level check.

slightly early the band hit the stage.. swiftly moving into the same set as was played at Peterborough. The full set list can be seen on the tailz blog. At the start most people were around the bar at the back, however by the time Witch in Wedlock was finished there was a crowded dance floor . The show went down exceedingly well, especially considering it was in the wee small hours and most sensible people would have been expected to be curled up in their sleeping bags - the tent was crowded.

As there was no curfew on the music Barbara Allen was slipped into the set at the start of the encores, and before the end of Skyclad the tables were in use It was 3am before the band finished, and everything was starting to get blurry - I don't remember much about the pack up and stumbled back to the tent. I was out for the count as soon as my head hit the ground, I could have slept anywhere.

Sunday morning the warmth of the sun woke me up, followed by some brat with a horn - much expletives later round to the breakfast bar, and the morning constitutional ... one of the secrets of surviving festivals is to find out when the S**t sucker goes around for a wash and brush up of the portaloos, then get in straight after - much pleasanter than 10 mins earlier ;).

We would have loved to hang around for the Levellers (Katie was disappointed to miss them) but with a 7 hour journey ahead we did not want to be fighting the bank holiday traffic the following day. We headed back. Luck was with us and there was no real hold ups all the way home .. Mind you the girls would not really have known as they slept most of the way ;)

SetList - Solfest, Cumbria



Bluehorses Set List - Solfest

Cabbage Train
Witch in Wedlock
Blackleg Miner
Gravel Walk
Ostara/ Morrison's
Troll
Billy Boy
Hen
Night Visit
Sitting Pretty
Haslam's Bits
Bigger Gun
Hoedown

----- Encore -----

Barbara Allen
Skyclad
Raggle
Twmbarlwm

Pictures from the show will be available in the photo gallery here

SetList - Peterborough Beer Festival



Bluehorses Set List - Peterborough Beer Festival

Cabbage Train
Witch in Wedlock
Blackleg Miner
Gravel Walk
Ostara/ Morrison's
Troll
Billy Boy
Hen
Night Visit
Sitting Pretty
Haslam's Bits
Bigger Gun
Hoedown

----- Encore -----

Skyclad
Raggle
Twmbarlwm

Pictures from the show will be available in the photo gallery here

Mike's Festival Diary - Peterborough Beer Festival

Peterborough ... another first for me, although the band had played there 10 years ago - i suspect it was not quite so big then!

An early start to get a morning's work in before a leisurely drive up during the morning, and a pause for some lunch, brought us to the outskirts around 2pm. Plenty of time you would think to find the place and park up ready for an afternoon of tele-conferences (the good thing about these is that they don't have to know where you are ;) ). So where were the signs to the beer festival then - many tours of the inner ring road later and various side trips to neighboring suburbs - we finally pulled into a car park, with the last resort to get out and walk, when we spotted the marquees over the fence. Running out of time I sent the girls off to buy a parking ticket, whilst I made my calls. A couple of hours later we pulling in behind the law courts beside the theater and onto the park that was resident to the festival.

Parking up in the staff car park, we quickly found the festival organiser and got the low down of the place. He was the first person (outside of the band family) who remembers "Big" Dave Salmon, or rather his two guitar technique. We just had time to fire off a text to BH1 and 2 to tell them that they needed to made their approach via the "Red gate", and they were pulling up outside.

The organisation had refined things over the years and so we were able the drive right up to the stage, and unload, which we promptly did. We also had the luxury of a full sound check, rather than the more usual festival line check and mad panic at the start of the set.

While "Split whiskers" were setting up and checking we sorted out the evening's accommodation and perused the stalls and beer stages ... there were two sides of the square devoted to beer and ciders from all over. the third side was the stage, and in the middle the staff camping and chill out area.

Dusk fell and everyone was keen to get on with the show, the evening was positively balmy, and there was no need to sit couped up in the dressing room, so taking the smokers lead we decamped outside.

After "Split Whiskers" had finished we had a quick change over with all the kit brought forward. Whilst this was going on Hereford Fm had a competition for beer vouchers centre stage - which made it slightly awkward to tape the leads down etc. however they were all game for a bit of added obstacle course difficulty to answering the questions.

For the first time I have known, Nic and Jay had devised an intro tune, so the band came on to a short piece of pre-recorded music, and this gradually morphed into "Cabbage Train" as the band took over. The full set list is here, however after the success at Cambridge "Troll" or rather to give it it's correct title "Dance with me" is a permanent feature in the set list now, along with "Raggle" and "Waes Hael" from the new album :) .


Soon the "Twmbarlwm" was drawing to a close and the curfew time was upon us. There was a mass rush for signatures as Hev and Bob handed out CDs and DVDs in return for cash. One young lady even insisted that everyone sign her tee shirt, tho I'm not sure it was a permanent marker!

After packing everything away we retired to the sound and lighting crews hospitality tent - where we whiled away the small hours. The next morning came all too soon with the cathedral bells shortly after 7am, which wasn't quite fair play, but did get us up and going.

Next stop Solfest!!!

Comments on Bluehorses at Farmer Phils

Here are some comments I found on Bluehorses at Farmer Phils

One from MidnightList who played in the acoustic tent - here

This is Rhayn's blog from the show - here

Comments on Bluehorses at Cambridge Rock Festival

Here are some links I have found to various comments on Bluehorses at Cambridge Rock Festival ...

This one on the BBC Cambridge site advertising the gig has a prominent picture - here


This is Mr Rich's blog entry for the festival - here and his Myspace entry - here

This is Rhayn's view from MySpace - here

Anotehr from the blog of an Australian Pink Floyd supporter - here

Mike's Festival Diary - Cambridge Rock Festival


I was looking forward to this one .. last year Bluehorses played here it was great and got such a fantastic response for the crowd .. and it was going to be live Live (not "messed" with but straight off the stage) on radio Caroline. The only drawback was the early start time, added to this we had also offered to film The Reasoning who were on stage at 12 noon, which meant we had to get organised at first light (not easy with two teenagers in tow)!

So with the girls asleep in the back of the van I set off before the Saturday crowds (no real problems with traffic until the M25 - but then that was to be expected). Before you know it we were approaching the site, guided by the wind turbine, we were soon in the car park. I am sure that Katie and Steph both think that the drive is easy to all these shows, because they spend most of the journeys asleep!.

The venue had not opened yet so it gave us a great opportunity to look around at the hall before everyone came in. there was plenty of space, with the concrete floor covered in a green carpet. The stage had changed a little and I think was a little further forward, but basically operated on the same principle, one on stage the next preparing behind the curtain, at change over the drum risers were swapped and the backline changed over, but it was all on the same level so no stairs to negotiate Wink

We bumped into Mr Rich and his lovely wife Linda as they were picking up their tickets and caught up on a number of things, but i had to be careful not to spoil the surprise to come later !! so I was a bit

After a quick chat with Matt about what to expect we were ready and waiting the changeover. The girls were either side of the stage and I had the sound desk (from experience of last year, my tripod had a modification - a 2 foot tent pole gaff taped to each leg - this gave it more height to get over everyones heads Smile ). As The Reasoning started Andy rushed in and added his camera - he had been slightly delayed on-route but soon caught up.

After this prelude of entertainment we, well the girls really, toured the retail facilities, and all ended up in the cafe for coffee. As we sat there the rest of the party started arriving, Bob then Stan, followed by BH2. BH1 pulled up shortly afterwards, and was soon on the (un)loading ramp, as we moved all the gear into the marked bay - step one of the set-up. Step two followed quickly afterwards, as we assembled the drum rack and piled all the stage kit neatly ready for a fast change over.

All this happened while "Stray" were on stage; as soon as their last notes were dying away, there was a mass of bodies all over the stage, manovering drum risers, and changing back line boxes. Very quickly this dissolved away to just the sound guys running around checking all the mic connections. The girls were off to the "Pit" - just in front of the stage - with a set of cameras, and I retreated to the sound desk with another. By the time the cameras were set up and ready, the finishing touches were being applied on stage and we were ready to go.

A brief introduction to radio land and the band burst into "Blackleg Miner", swiftly followed by "Witch in Wedlock". From where I was standing there was just a sea of people bouncing up and down, and although it calmed down to a sway during the quiet bits of "Gravel Walk" and "Ostara", by the time this morphed into "Morrisons' Jig" they were back bouncing again.

Time for a new tune, and the first outing for one destined for the new album - "Troll". This was greeted by a great cheer so is destined to be a favorite. The gremlins descended for "Billy Boy" as Lizzie mandocaster let out a big belch of feedback and then refused to play the game, however she moved over to the keyboards and a new version was born - we have the evidence (audio and visual) and it is not half bad!

Lizzie, at this point, sprung a carefully laid trap and embarrassed Mr Rich on international radio ... it had been his birthday a few days before and it definitely needed celebrating - I'm glad I did not give the game away earlier *Wink*

"Hen" brought back the bouncing, which continued through "Night Visit" and very soon time was running out, and there was only one tune left - "hoedown".

As we then rushed to reverse the stage manouvers and clear away the equipment, the cds and dvd were tumbling out of the boxes with people prepared the be separated from their hard earned cash .. if you missed out or wished later you had purchased more, then they are all available from the web shop (quick plug).

Once everything was away we chilled with endless cups of tea and coffee from hospitality (the ladies backstage worked tirelessly all evening) and plenty of chat. We were glad of the gazebo that covered the area as it had started raining whilst Bluehorses were on stage and then refused to stop until well into the night. Gradually we all departed for the various locations, with only Jay and Ruth staying to combat the rain.

So short week this as its off to Peterborough on Thursday - definitely a "work form home" day and then bank holiday weekend in the lake district - we are fingered crossed that the rain moves away.

SetList - Cambridge Rock Festival



Bluehorses Set List - Cambridge Rock Festival

Blackleg Miner
Witch in Wedlock
Gravel Walk
Ostara/ Morrison's
Troll
Billy Boy
Hen
Night Visit
Hoedown

Pictures from the show will be available in the photo gallery here

Mike's Festival Diary - Farmer Phil's

OK its Monday and i have not managed to post anything yet! We had such a great time that I did not get home until late on Sunday, and I had loads of sleep to catch up on ....

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 backdrops

Before 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***

Setlist - Farmer Phils Festival - Shropshire




Bluehorses Set List - Farmer Phils

Cabbage Train
Witch in Wedlock
Blackleg Miner
Gravel Walk
Ostara/ Morrison's
Raggle
Barbara Allen
Billy Boy
Hen
Night Visit
Sitting Pretty
Skyclad
Hoedown

__ Encores __

Twmbarlwm

Pictures from the show will be available in the photo gallery here