Summers End 2010

Started by Ash, October 11, 2010, 09:09:38 PM

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Ash

Early days I know but thought we needed a thread to review the weekend.

I was quite disappointed with the lack of DoftR attire worn.  I think mine was a lot better than my Two J's attempt  :lol:  
I was pleased that I had made the effort cos my hilight of the weekend was Pete Trewavas looking at Nellie and I and saying something like "how wonderful" and smiling and clapping his hands.  Though this may have been the merchandise layout and nothing to do with what we were wearing.  :D

Again, I still hold to the opinion that Pete enjoys himself a lot more when is not playing with Marillion.

So my review (cut n pasted from tank) is as follows:-

Resonance Association - Thought oooh interesting when they started but then found it very repetitive.

Tinyfish - AWESOME!!  When I was asked by JamesA what the sound was like where I was, I thought it was fine but he said that you were having some problems.

The Defence of the Realm - May have preferred Hogarth phone calls to Phil but still a very special show.  May have preferred a couple more Frost* tunes.  May have been seen singing along to Marillion.

Model Village - bit rubbish really and cold

arK - absolutely brilliant nostalgia fest, can't wait to see them again when they support Frost*.  I can probably see what the appeal is for fans of Twelfth Night n Pallas is.  Such memories.  I can also see why RobH would not be impressed.  It probably did sound 80s but in my opinion not so 80s as some other prog bands.  Or maybe that is just me and it has dated??

Unitopia - liked the sax but overall a bit dull.  Was hungry and waiting for curry.

Curry - not enough coke

Whitemead club - The Mustangs - performing quite a good selection of covers.  Very entertaining.

Bristol Zoo - very nice

Caught the end of Fido

Sylvan - fab!  Love german bass players   :D   He is sooo lovely.  In a Jem/Simon way not in a phwoar way.

The Watch

TOOO LOUD!   Sounded much better when I put my fingers in my ears.  I think I have seen better Genesis covers bands but they did seem lovely people.

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2 ... d17c89a20a
Ash
xxx

Nellie

You looked absolutely stunning in that uniform!
My funny moment was bursting through the double doors while David Robinson was grovelling around on the floor fixed cables down with gaffa tape. As I'd surprised him, he suddenly looked up and said "Oh God, I'm in heaven" or something like that. :lol:  :lol:  :lol:  :lol:  :lol:
It's in the post!

Ash

You looked excellent!!! I have no idea how you lasted in that jacket for so long!  It was a tad warm!
Ash
xxx

RacingHippo

Quote from: "Sarah"I was pleased that I had made the effort cos my hilight of the weekend was Pete Trewavas looking at Nellie and I and saying something like "how wonderful" and smiling and clapping his hands.  Though this may have been the merchandise layout and nothing to do with what we were wearing.  :D
Are you kidding?!
When I saw the two of you gorgeous ladies (and I really do mean that - I love you both to bits) in uniform, the clean translation of what I was thinking was something not unlike Mr T's "how wonderful"  :mrgreen:
* May contain nuts.

The Cosmic Lawnmower

OK review time... well that was the first time we'd stayed at Whitemead and we really liked it, so much better than the cottage we'd rented the previous two years.

Friday 8th
The Defence of the Realm - Another unique performance, so many great little moments and such a lot of great music.
Tinyfish - Played a blinder despite problems onstage... excellent
The Resonance Association - For me the songs didn't really get going and it seemed a bit samey, some of the therimin bits were fun though.

Saturday 9th
Karmakanic and Agents of Mercy - Great playing I thought , I preferred Agents of Mercy of the two, Nad Sylvan's kinda camp demeanor somehow reminded me of Marc Bolan! It was kinda strange having two bands with all the same personel but playing different music. Always good to hear Mr Stolt though.
Unitopia - Seemed very popular, played very well and were quite overwhelmed by the response it seemed, I found them a bit dull, the front guy had little stage presence. I was towards the back of the hall for this so maybe I was missing out on some vibes.
Ark - A lively and fun performance, good stuff although the singer died at least twice onstage! No dear, I mean theatrically!
Haken - Musically good, great bass player... I just couldn't take to the singer.

Sunday 10th
The Watch - Apart from DOTR & Tinyfish these were my fav of the weekend, despite some sound problems (couldn't hear the bass drum & the guitar seemed to be up and down in the mix) I thought the singer was really good, very Gabe-a-like. And they finished with 'The Knife', (my Genesis epiphany song from all those years ago in 1973) what's not to like!
Sylvan - I rather warmed to these although the singer was having throat problems and his voice was pretty shot by the end, a good set though.
Phideaux (USA) - Again very popular and well played, can't say it did that much for me (I must be missing something!)
Dead Heroes Club - I quite liked them, it was fairly straight ahead stuff, but the singer sang well and worked hard... the mic stand over the shoulders was a tad cheesy though!
Multifuse - To be honest, it didn't do a lot for me... went off and had a mingle half way through.

Ash

Quote from: "RacingHippo"Are you kidding?!
When I saw the two of you gorgeous ladies (and I really do mean that - I love you both to bits) in uniform, the clean translation of what I was thinking was something not unlike Mr T's "how wonderful"  :mrgreen:

you are going to make me start giggling again Mr Hippo
Ash
xxx

Ash

and hello to my neighbour cosmic lawnmower, I hope you couldn't hear my whining daughter  :roll:
Ash
xxx

Pedro

A good review there, Cosmic.

I agree with quite a lot of it but I had the advantage of having heard some more of the music before so Unitopia scored a big hit with me. As they said, being used to performing in front of 5 or 6 people it was overwhelming to get such a loud and prolonged response.

Haken's singer put me off a little by walking out after the first song had started and expecting/beckoning-for a round of applause...at a festival where a good proportion of the crowd had not seen or heard them before. Thankfully someone broke the silence and a respectable ripple ensued. Shame really cos he's got a good voice and the playing of the others was similarly impressive. I'm actually struggling a bit with the album (that I bought on the night) apart from the much talked-about cookie monster nonsense - I find myself a little too amused by the fairgroundy bits and lyrics like "I was fishing for my dinner" which is probably unfair of me....I don't have the talent to write or play that well. I hope they get the support they deserve and make the second album even better.
"Putting food on the table is more important than 7/8"

Tricky

For me the highlights of the weekend were the Friday Tinyfish & DoTR sets; plus the Unitopia on Saturday...
But for completely different reasons:
Anything involving a Godfrey always seems to contain an immense sense of 'fun', even when things go slightly wrong or off-schedule.  
This is good. :D
In contrast; a polished and flawless set is also a joy to behold, although with repeated performances there's the danger of staleness setting in.  Unitopia put in a wonderfully 'tight' performance, which was lifted from any possibilty of becoming mundane by Mark Trueack's obvious delight and surprise at the reception it was getting.

The Agents/Karmakanic set was in danger of falling into the mundane camp (and there was certainly plenty of camp) - though I would have liked to see the first part of the Karmakanic set which was missed due to a slow curry  :(
When the future\'s looking dark, we\'re the ones who have to shine...


gr8gonzo

Welcome, hoboslobo! You must be my counterpart in the Godfrey forum exchange program.  :D
...and I can feel the world is turning...turn around

hoboslobo

Thank you gr8gonzo. As I write this I am actually listening to your podcast. Great show.

gr8gonzo

That's very kind of you. Thanks!
...and I can feel the world is turning...turn around

robh

One of the best things about Summer's End is that there is something for everyone.  There were some bands that I didn't enjoy, but some that I liked a lot.

My ramblings (previously published elsewhere)...

Resonance Association. That held my attention for about two and a half songs before I figured that I'd seen everything they had to offer.

Tinyfish. I'm biased, but to me, they put in a good solid set overcoming difficulties with their kit. Of course, there was nothing on their stand to buy that I don't already have. Nice cakes though.

Defence of the Realm. This included the same mayhem and joking around as at the 2Js concerts last year. Of course, the joking was only between songs. I'm not a Marillion fan, and I don't know much of the Kino music, but I enjoyed everything they did. And they played a great rendition of the Dividing Line. I bought a t-shirt and grabbed a Frosterisk-shaped biscuit (yummy).

Haken. A lot better than the last time I saw them. But, in the end, I couldn't enjoy the Cookie Monster vocals and solos that were unconnected with the melody.

ArK. Not my thing.

Unitopia. Absolutely magnificent. They certainly had the crowd with them. They put in the performance of the day for me. I bought The Garden. I probably could have got in more cheaply from F2, but I felt that their performance deserved a "thank you".

Karmakanic. It wasn't quite what I was expecting – a combination of bar room blues and jazzy playing. I found some parts really good and other parts went right by me. The singer delivered Eternally (possibly my favourite on Who's the Boss) really well. The set only lasted 55 minutes, which was a pity as I would have welcomed another 15 minutes.

Agents of Mercy. Given that the same people were on stage, it was surprising how different the sound was. Most of the songs left me unmoved. At least until the last two songs which I quite liked. The less said about the encore, the better.

Multifuse. After about 2 minutes of playing a few notes on the two keyboards, I thought that I wasn't going to like them. But, in the end I thought that they were really good. I could have done with a little more guitar. I bought the album, which I've listened to a few times – very nice. A female singer – the only band of the weekend without a male singer.

Dead Heroes Club. I saw them in London at the start of the year and so I knew what to expect. I was in a really bad place at the front (very unusual for me) getting loads of guitar. What a voice the singer has – he puts everything into the delivery and at times was almost in the crowd. I would have bought the albums, but I already bought them.

Phideaux. 10 people (band practice must be hell) and every one of those 10 people did their part to perfection. I hadn't heard any Phideaux before, but they went straight into the set of bands who I will track in future. The vocals were top notch and the guitarist had a definite Gilmour sound. He even play a bit of lap guitar. I sent David to buy 3 albums & a t-shirt, which he did by getting the albums suggested by James Allen and a t-shirt for himself as they didn't have any my size (tent) left.

Sylvan. By this time I was was more or less out on my feet so took refuse in the bar area. I liked every song, but I thought that they were all delivered at the same pace and pattern. This might have been because the singer felt that these were the best ones to sing as he had a sore throat. David bought the latest album, and listening to it, there does seem a lot more variety.

The Watch. The absolute perfect way to end the festival. They sound so much like early Genesis that they could be Genesis. They have their own material which fits in so well with the covers, that these songs sound like they were also written by Genesis. I didn't buy anything because I've already got the last two.

And so ended another fantastic festival. A big thank you to Lambsie & Huw.