Lounge on the Farm Festival 2010

Bad Manners at lotf © 2010 Nichol Keene. All Rights Reserved.
Rundown
After returning from performing poetry at Lounge on the Farm Festival last weekend I wanted to give you guys a quick rundown of what turned out to be a really great festival! I wasn’t expecting much as it is has only been running 5 years, but it turns out little festivals are really where the fun is. Some quick personal highlights…
Getting a kiss on the check and a bear hug from Martha Reeves
Dancing in the front row for Bad Manners and Toots and the Maytals
Really good local ciders and food at reasonable prices
Being told that my poetry was the female equivalent of Mike Skinner from the The Streets
On to the best of the bands!

Gaggle at lotf © 2010 Nichol Keene. All Rights Reserved.
Gaggle
This 20 strong all girl choir, head to toe costumes, defiantly demand attention. I’ve never seen anything like it… they gave me chills. I was around when they were doing sound check and people kept trying to get into the tent… they are magnetic.
blk.wht.clr
Really good set, they engaged with the audience and were very chatty but unfortunately there was a mighty long sound check. Other than sound desk difficulties, which they can really be blamed for, everything went really well for them. They had a real effect on the crowd and got people going and up off their feet, which in 30 degree heat was quite an achievement. Considering this was their first ever festival performance they did really well
Two Wounded Birds
Again with a long gap between bands and extensive sound checks…. 15 minutes of sound guy banters… not cool… but not the bands fault. Two Wounded Birds make me think of a cross between the Beach boys and some nameless indie cool band… with amazing guitar riffs, with enough treble to keep the specials happy. They were definitely worth a look.
King Charles
This was an epic set; to be honest i don’t know why King Charles aren’t really really successful yet? Why aren’t they doing sell out shows at the o2? Why aren’t they on the main stage at Lounge on the Farm…? Suffice to say they put on an amazing show; the bass lines gave me chills.
Example
Well Example defiantly got the crowd dancing and screaming in the Cow Shed (LOTF main stage is an actual cow shed…). Everyone was going mental, it was such a great atmosphere. After the set finished, I was taking a short cut through the backstage bit and two girls were standing at the gate… they asked me if I was celebrity spotting… I said no… I felt they might murder me for being able to go backstage…
Martha and the Vandellas
This was a somewhat strange experience, Martha and her Vandellas were on top form hitting the highs and the lows like there was no tomorrow. The crowd was going wild and as i looked at who i was surrounded by…. lots of over 40 men and people under the age of 16… i was a bit confused but it didn’t stop me from singing my heart out to every song. AMAZING.
Bad Manners
What can a say, the man is still shaking his belly and sticking his tongue out like he isn’t 60 odd and its great. I was jumping around in the front row with all the old guys who probably came to Bad Manners First gig.
Toots and the Maytals
Toots was on after Bad Manners and so pretty much the whole crowd stayed… for a hour… waiting for the music to start… people started getting a bit restless but as soon as the band came on all was forgiven because Toots and the Maytals have definitely still got it. He had the crowd doing whatever he wanted whenever he wanted and the music was incredible.




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