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ventaSome time back, a festival was announced on Blackheath. OnBlackheath, in fact. We looked at it and thought, hey, look at Sunday's line-up. Frank Turner! The Levellers! And err... probably some other people. The tickets were £60+, and we decided that weren't that excited.
Then ChrisC spotted a deal somewhere, selling tickets for less than half price. He grabbed a couple quickish, and then we realised... everywhere was selling them cheap. Possibly everyone else had decided it was too pricey, too, and stayed away in droves. Would it end up being cancelled at short notice?
In the end, no. Blackheath is a very long way away from our bit of London, but a tube, a train, and a bit of walking got us there. And wow. You may remember me describing Latitude as the most middle-class festival every. Not so! OnBlackheath had celebrity chef demos, and a stall advertising and demonstrating the latest model of Neff oven... Probably not that surprising, given that it was sponsored by John Lewis. Rock and roll, man.
Obligatory list:
Rhys Lewis and the Relics, [Athlete], Stealing Sheep, Levellers, Steve Mason, Imelda May, [Red and Pink], [TOY], Frank Turner & the Sleeping Souls, Radiophonic Workshop
Hip burger stalls abounded, the Meantime Brewery had several stalls selling decent beer (though scarily priced), and one could have an oven demonstrated. There was a total absence of what I'd think of as "festival stalls". I couldn't have purchased a tie-dyed shirt even if I'd wanted one. I certainly couldn't purchase any form of hair-slide, even though I did want one. Parents shepherded toddlers around, and a man with a giant bubble-net sent cloud after cloud of bubbles streaming over a gaggle of excited children. One end of the site was given over to kids' activities.
Without much in the way of a plan, we meandered gently between stages trying to avoid Athlete. The interesting discovery of the day was Stealing Sheep, a band of three young-looking girls who seem to have been listening to a lot of Warpaint and Lykke Li, and decided that they'd like to make music like that but cheerful. Definitely worth investigating.
The Levellers are... well, hardy perennials, aren't they? You know what you'll get. I'm disappointed that they seem to be continuing their policy of everything-is-better-if-you-play-it-faster to its illogical conclusion. But by the end of their set people were jumping up and down like it was 1993 again. Special mention goes to the bloke just in front of us who seemed to be auditioning for one of the catastrophically wrecked people you need as extras in any film about Madchester.
Imelda May I hadn't heard of, but as soon as she appeared - all red prom dress, red Converse and quiffy black/white hair - it was obvious what she'd sound like. (Her set was later, but she did: straight-up rock and roll, with a proper slap bassist and everything.) She joined the Levellers, and I thought eh? how's this going to work? Exceedingly well, as it turned out - she sang all the vocals for Beautiful Day (a song I don't usually care much for) and it sounded awesome.
Steve Mason (Mr Beta Band) was good value, finishing off a tour for his new album - which I hadn't heard, but enjoyed bits of live. Although he finished with a song which I inexplicably knew; I'm bewildered where from.
Frank Turner and the Sleeping Souls were the main stage headliners, belting out their usual rousing set of sing-alongs. Frank Turner usually seems to have moderately fanatic fans; it was slightly weird being in a crowd were lots of people didn't know the words, and were quite happy carrying on their conversations. It dented the atmosphere a little, but the songs are pretty robust. He introduced a few new ones with the request "can we keep the smartphones away from the new songs, please" - as far as I could tell, people complied - and they seem decent. I'm looking forward to the new album. He finished with Four Simple Words, and people began to drift away, still singing the "Ah - ah - ah -ah" refrain.
I hadn't realised that the Radiophonic Workshop was exactly that: some people from the BBC Radiophonic Workshop, escaped from their dark rooms and playing bits of BBC themes and background music with spinning reel-to-reels on stage and trippy graphics. They curfewed ten minutes or so after the main stage, meaning we managed to arrive in time to hear them closing out with the theme from Doctor Who.
Then ChrisC spotted a deal somewhere, selling tickets for less than half price. He grabbed a couple quickish, and then we realised... everywhere was selling them cheap. Possibly everyone else had decided it was too pricey, too, and stayed away in droves. Would it end up being cancelled at short notice?
In the end, no. Blackheath is a very long way away from our bit of London, but a tube, a train, and a bit of walking got us there. And wow. You may remember me describing Latitude as the most middle-class festival every. Not so! OnBlackheath had celebrity chef demos, and a stall advertising and demonstrating the latest model of Neff oven... Probably not that surprising, given that it was sponsored by John Lewis. Rock and roll, man.
Obligatory list:
Rhys Lewis and the Relics, [Athlete], Stealing Sheep, Levellers, Steve Mason, Imelda May, [Red and Pink], [TOY], Frank Turner & the Sleeping Souls, Radiophonic Workshop
Hip burger stalls abounded, the Meantime Brewery had several stalls selling decent beer (though scarily priced), and one could have an oven demonstrated. There was a total absence of what I'd think of as "festival stalls". I couldn't have purchased a tie-dyed shirt even if I'd wanted one. I certainly couldn't purchase any form of hair-slide, even though I did want one. Parents shepherded toddlers around, and a man with a giant bubble-net sent cloud after cloud of bubbles streaming over a gaggle of excited children. One end of the site was given over to kids' activities.
Without much in the way of a plan, we meandered gently between stages trying to avoid Athlete. The interesting discovery of the day was Stealing Sheep, a band of three young-looking girls who seem to have been listening to a lot of Warpaint and Lykke Li, and decided that they'd like to make music like that but cheerful. Definitely worth investigating.
The Levellers are... well, hardy perennials, aren't they? You know what you'll get. I'm disappointed that they seem to be continuing their policy of everything-is-better-if-you-play-it-faster to its illogical conclusion. But by the end of their set people were jumping up and down like it was 1993 again. Special mention goes to the bloke just in front of us who seemed to be auditioning for one of the catastrophically wrecked people you need as extras in any film about Madchester.
Imelda May I hadn't heard of, but as soon as she appeared - all red prom dress, red Converse and quiffy black/white hair - it was obvious what she'd sound like. (Her set was later, but she did: straight-up rock and roll, with a proper slap bassist and everything.) She joined the Levellers, and I thought eh? how's this going to work? Exceedingly well, as it turned out - she sang all the vocals for Beautiful Day (a song I don't usually care much for) and it sounded awesome.
Steve Mason (Mr Beta Band) was good value, finishing off a tour for his new album - which I hadn't heard, but enjoyed bits of live. Although he finished with a song which I inexplicably knew; I'm bewildered where from.
Frank Turner and the Sleeping Souls were the main stage headliners, belting out their usual rousing set of sing-alongs. Frank Turner usually seems to have moderately fanatic fans; it was slightly weird being in a crowd were lots of people didn't know the words, and were quite happy carrying on their conversations. It dented the atmosphere a little, but the songs are pretty robust. He introduced a few new ones with the request "can we keep the smartphones away from the new songs, please" - as far as I could tell, people complied - and they seem decent. I'm looking forward to the new album. He finished with Four Simple Words, and people began to drift away, still singing the "Ah - ah - ah -ah" refrain.
I hadn't realised that the Radiophonic Workshop was exactly that: some people from the BBC Radiophonic Workshop, escaped from their dark rooms and playing bits of BBC themes and background music with spinning reel-to-reels on stage and trippy graphics. They curfewed ten minutes or so after the main stage, meaning we managed to arrive in time to hear them closing out with the theme from Doctor Who.
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no subject
Date: 2014-09-29 03:35 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2014-10-01 11:48 am (UTC)Good luck on Sunday! (I assume?)
no subject
Date: 2014-10-05 08:32 am (UTC)Bah! failed, for the first time ever.
*cries*
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Date: 2014-10-05 08:58 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2014-10-05 12:24 pm (UTC)oh woes! for some reason I was under the impression you got your ticket through a charity thing and didn't have to join the refreshfest. Ironically, the system seemed to be working really well this year...
Afternoon tea at 3pm in the Ritz on the relevant Thursday?
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Date: 2014-10-05 01:18 pm (UTC)It's possible I may be able to get some bar work via the charity-thing if the resale doesn't come through, but it would fairly substantial limit what I could see and wouldn't help the friends I'd been planning to come with- I suspect 'll still try for it if it comes down to it though!