By the time we got to Woodstock, we were half a million strong...
Well, maybe not, but the Huddstock crowd was into three figures when we arrived, and half of them seemed to be the Still Buzzin' entourage!
First band, 10 Floors Below Society were well into their set and my first thought was, "Oh god, I hope we're not in for an afternoon of Coldplay wannabes".
Actually, TFBS didn't make me want to kill anyone; decent tunes, well played. The singer looked a bit uncomfortable stuck behind his keyboard, mind. Or maybe it was just that he looks uncannily like William'n'Harry's locked-in-the-attic secret brother?
Next were Still Buzzin'; our reason for being there early. This lot have been heavily plugged on these boards, haven't they? A good, fun set which led to the invention of our pastime for the afternoon – Edge Bingo, or the "what songs won't the Jaggies be playing?" game.
Very good covers of When September Ends and I Predict A Riot were overshadowed by a storming version of Hanging On he Telephone. Guys, you have no idea how close you came to being burned inside a giant wicker Debbie Harry. Covering Blondie is dangerously close to sacrilege in my book, but you pulled it off – back of the net!
Singer Nat has a fabulous set of pipes - thought about having a go at any Annie Lennox numbers?
Oh, yeah - scratch Jaggie song number 1 - It's My Life
With all due respect to those who'd already played, Red Star were the first act of he day who looked like a rock band. The singer, Will, prowls the stage like the bastard offspring of Johnny Lydon and Joey Ramone and sports the best sideburns since Charlie George. His attitude is love-me-or-loathe-me-you-will-not-ignore-me and, on top of all of this, he can actually sing! The acapella introduction to the set was almost prog rock-like and the music, although obviously heavily influenced by punk, Oasis and assorted other Manchester bands, owes more to Sunshine of Your Love than Wonderwall.
Me likey!
Oh, Red Star also gave us our first mad dancer of the day, a borderline-anorexic named Gordon.
Next up were Chasing Amy, a band popular at the YorkVic, apparently.
They opened with Teenage Kicks which, I have to say, was a bit creepy coming from a bloke on the wrong side of forty. Among unusual covers (I have never heard anyone play a Cult cover - Li’l Devil was pretty damned good), the Amy boys went overboard in helping us chalk off songs from the Jaggie set as favourites like Sweet Child o' Mine and Whole Lotta Rosie were "borrowed". The vocalist sounded a lot like Feargal Sharkey on the higher-pitched numbers and a bit like Larry the Lamb on more than one occasion.
Now, here's a confession; I likes me a bit of well-executed soul/ska. The whole Two Tone thing blew up when I was at high school and, much to the wife's dismay, I know all the words to Too Much Too Young to this day.
I had high hopes for Northern Beats, but they didn't quite scratch me where it itched. "Best dancers of the day" to their little group of followers, though, and their guitarist wins the "least rock'n'roll name at the festival" award. Cecil, mate, you need a nickname.
Remember that first time you bumped into one of your old schoolteachers in the pub and it took a few seconds to recognise them in unusual surroundings? Top marks to whoever lifted Give Me What’s Mine for interval music – it sounded fabulous through the big PA! Give me a shout if you want the rest of the album – a real overlooked 80s gem.
But then…
Aaargh! My ears! Bleeding! The noise! Make it stop!
It's official. I am Getting Old. It is the duty of youth to produce music which their elders do not understand. When they fail to do this, we end up with a hundred Coldplay soundalikes.
Ridgevex fulfil their duty admirably and I salute them for that.
But can they do it somewhere else in future?
Oh, mad Gordon had a dance partner by now – a somewhat larger chap the sun was slowly turning into a pink Tellytubby. I’ll bet he suffered come Sunday morning.
Bongos and a trumpet made an appearance on-stage and my heart sank just a little.
From what I could gather, Steam Powered are a sort of local blues/jazz/funk supergroup. Sounding like Robert Johnson meets Carlos Santana this is not normally my idea of fun but, given the weather and the vibe of the day (man!), a perfect fit.
Anyone get a full house in Edge Bingo? I was waiting for More Than A Feeling for my fourth corner.
Jagged Edge opened with the Higher Place/Runaway/Don't Want To Miss A Thing trifecta and, for the first time all afternoon, Dave B was looking chilled (stressful day behind the desks, eh?).
I don't know how well it fed back to the stage, so I'll tell you - that bloody Aerosmith song got the biggest, most overwhelmingly positive reception of anything, by anyone, all afternoon.
Danny's solo was awesome. I think he got The Bumper Book Of Guitar Hero Poses for Christmas as he made use of the extra stage space to throw all the shapes from Aldo Nova to Zakk Wylde.
Love Walked In led to Separate Ways (top vocal from Dave R) and Don't Stop Believing before Comfortably Numb inspired all the stoners to light up (again). Danny owned the stage.
Way too short a set, but that's the nature of festivals.
Modeliste were nex...
Oh who cares? The headliners have left the building...
Footnote:
Anyone else been watching Any Dream Will Do? We got home in time to see Lee doing a damned fine Living On A Prayer and it got me thinking; that Will from Red Star? He could be Joseph.
