Author: sipadvisor

Saturday August 10th 2024

This weekend sees us doing two festivals, today we are heading to Orpington in Kent for Priory Live and tomorrow we are in Linlithgow, West Lothian for the Let’s Rock Scotland/Party at the Palace.

Priory Live, a family run business began in 2014 as a community festival designed to offer a platform for original artists and bands to perform to new and expecting audiences. It’s held at Priory Gardens a grade II listed park and gardens in Orpington, Kent.

The sight of the smaller silver bus waiting for us at Sort Rehearsal rooms filled us with trepidation as we already had a gruelling schedule.

Kent – Yorkshire – Edinburgh – Liverpool

The title of our film seemed appropriate…

We couldn’t watch it though, as none of us knew how to eject the previous movie…

Weather looking good today…

Thoughts immediately turn to our day out and where to stop off – Peter suggested Henley-on-Thames…

After getting petrol one of the younger tech guys fixed the video player…

We enjoyed watching the film and the accompanying documentary…

We were now two and a half hours into the journey…

We decided to watch another couple of episodes of Father Ted…

Getting nearer now….

Eventually after 4 hours on the road we arrive in Henley-on-Thames…

Our pub of choice was ‘The Angel on the Bridge‘…

It was heavenly😇

Jennings of course…

No need for sparklers here…

According to Jennings…

Floral notes…

The menu…

Food was fabulous…

All supped up, we made our way back down towards the river…

Ales from the riverbank…

Some facts…

Everybody back in the van…

A quick look at the map showed we still had a way to go…

Summer’s coming…

At last, 2 hours later…

What a great festival…

We touched lucky at the bar area…

A guy who’d seen us in Clapham Common in 2005 was at the bar and bought us both a pint of the Hop Rocket…

It was a lovely evening…

Great light…

The festival site is only 5 minutes walk from the high street and the nearest pub ‘The White Hart’ was serving a popular beer…

We chatted to a couple of regulars…

Meanwhile back at the festival…

Backstage we met up with West Ham legend Bob Morris who volunteered to look after our rider…

Good to see some old friends…

Next up were the Rifles…

Great crowd!

We were on next…

Fantastic crowd!

Backstage Peter met the band Maze who’d played earlier…

It was a great festival and we played well and got a fantastic reception…

Scotland here we come…via Yorkshire!

Scroll down and click on the ‘Let’s Rock Scotland/Party at the Palace 2024‘ link to see how we got on…

Saturday August 3rd 2024

Today we’re off to Colchester in Essex for the ‘80’s Calling!’ festival.

Castle Park is a large, scenic and well maintained Victorian park in the heart of Colchester’s city centre. As well as being a perfect location for a spot of fresh air, quick walk or picnic the park also provides a perfect setting for a huge range of events including shows, festivals and concerts. 

We’re all up early today as we have to be in Colchester for 2.

I’m on the train…

Carl & Peter are in a cab…

Roy got dropped off…

And Keith was already there in the ‘Team Mullin’ motorhome…

Today we are in the gold bus…

With a few snacks to munch on…

And maybe a nip of this later thanks to Roy…

There’s a good 4 and a half hour journey ahead of us…

So time for a video…

We enjoyed the film and also these excellent cloud formations…

After a while we decided to stop at a services…

Newmarket…

Lunch was now very much on our minds and Peter had found a pub in Great Henny, very near to where we played our gig the other week in Sudbury…

Just time for some daftness…

Can’t be long now…

At last…

Four pints of your finest ale please landlord…

We took our drinks outside while looking for a table…

The pub backed on to the River Stour…

It was a great pub and pint…

Time for some food…

Just time for another pint…

We finished our drinks and headed outside where Quinnie our driver for the day was waiting for us…

Still a way to go…

Some beautiful scenery…

Eventually we arrived at the festival gates…

And pulled up inside…

We collected our passes and headed over to the dressing room…

We inspected the rider…

Here’s the running order…

Keith had watched The Christians earlier on…

We managed to have a quick chat with them before they left…

Time to go out front and have a look around the festival…

Straightaway we bumped into huge Farm fan Jon…

The festival was busy and especially the bars…

Eventually after 20 mins!!!

Carl arranged to meet up with former colleague Sophie…

Next we went to watch Hue & Cry…

We were on stage soon so we headed back to the dressing room…

Last minute preperations…

On we go…

Fantastic crowd…

What a gig!

After the show backstage…

Alex’s mum Liz with Aunty Emma…

Just time for one more picture…

Then back to find the bus…

It’s going to be another long journey home…

But what a fantastic day!

Saturday 20th July 2024

Today we’re travelling to Suffolk for the Smile Festival in support of ‘The Smile of Arran Trust’.

The venue is in the grounds of AFC Sudbury in Suffolk…

As we weren’t on till 9.40pm we decided to meet up in town about 1.30 as it was quite a drive…

We have a new front of house sound mixer today…

And a new look Keith…

Gold bus today so hopefully some videos…

Off we go…

Roy had been to the farmers market and bought Scotch Eggs and a Dickensian pie…

Weather was changeable…

Time for a video…

I’m really enjoying this pie…

Peter suggested for dinner we head to Huntingdon, the birthplace of Oliver Cromwell…

Still a way to go so we stuck on an old favourite…

After a while we started seeing signs…

Soon enough we arrived in Huntington…

We were heading for the Brampton Mill on the River Ouse…

The pub is situated in a picturesque setting…

It was an old corn mill…

Time to see what was on offer…

We sat outside…

Keith was full of the joys of spring water…

The rest of us were all doombarred…

Food was fantastic…

Time for one more pint…

Another look at the river…

Then back to the van…

On our way again…

Still over an hour to go…

Some facts…

Enjoyed views of sunny Suffolk…

Then eventually some signs…

AFC Sudbury!

At last the venue…

Everybody out…

The Smile Festival is in support of ‘The Smile of Arran Trust’ and in memory of Arran Tosh. We met Arran’s sister Abbie who made us all very welcome and explained to us how the trust came about after losing her brother to a brain tumour at the age of 13.

This year’s event will mark 10 years since the Smile of Arran was created and also 10 years since Arran passed away.

This was the running order of the festival…

Time to have a look around the site…

We found a bar and ordered the Ice Breaker…

Carl loves ice cream vans…

We had a lovely chat with the sponsor of the festival and ‘Happy Monkey Drinks’ boss…

The festival was busy…

Toploader were performing so we popped into the arena to watch them…

There was a great atmosphere but we couldn’t stay too long as it was time for us to go back stage…

Wise words…

Time for Abbie to introduce us…

Great pics!

Stage Invasion…

The gig was brilliant and what a crowd!

Many thanks to Kevin Rogers & Roger Cuthbert for their fantastic photographs!

After the show we signed t shirts for the trust…

And spent time with the family and their friends back stage…

Everyone flowed back to the dressing room amid rumours of more ale…

A great gig for a great cause…

What a day!

Saturday July 6th 2024

Todays festival takes us to the Chiltern Hills in Hertfordshire for the annual Chilfest.

It takes place at Pendley Meadow near Pendley Manor, Tring.

We were needed at the festival about 2 so we arranged to meet at 9.30 at Sort with the band travelling in the people carrier…

The gear was going in a van so that gave us more time to stop-off somewhere for lunch hopefully in one of the home counties…

More horrible weather is forecast…

Alas no films today so conversation and pub research is king…

About 11 o’clock we started thinking about lunch…

Peter suggested we head to the ‘Kings Head Inn’ in Aylesbury as it ticked all the boxes…

Still over an hour left to amuse ourselves…

To save time when we get there, Peasy downloaded the food menu from the pub…

The circus has come to town…

Eventually we arrive in Aylesbury…

The pub was in the old quarter and was over 500 years old…

Here we go…

Great selection of beer from the ancient Chiltern Brewery…

Carl & Peter had the Pale Ale…

I went for the session IPA…

We quickly gave in our food orders and found a table…

Carl and I ordered the beer sausage…

And the beer pickles…

Peter and Roy ordered the Scampi…

Most satisfactory…

Time for another pint surely…

That was great fun…

Back to the people carrier and it’s a short journey to Tring…

We arrive in no time…

The dressing room is situated in the nearby Tring Rugby Union Club…

We all got a lift over in a courtesy van…

Tuning up…

Gearing up…

Quick look at the running order…

We decided to walk back over and have a look around the festival but it was very muddy…

Instead we travelled over in style…

Front of the stage…

East 17 were performing…

We walked over to one of the bars and enjoyed the local Tring Brewery’s ‘Side Pocket For A Toad’😳

Some interesting Spanish food was on offer…

Fancied a change when we sheltered from the rain in this cider bar…

Ordered another one – it was really nice – then walked back through the crowd as we were on soon…

Back at the rugby club our dressing room had been moved to the bar area…

One for the stage maybe…

We all walked over to go back stage…

On we go!…

Crowd were fantastic!

More Groovy Train videos

https://www.facebook.com/reel/789083089960493?fs=e&s=TIeQ9V

https://www.instagram.com/reel/C9Fj1u2o474/?igsh=NXRiZzZ3dnA4dmxw

We went down really well and as we had an hour or so before leaving, we went back out front to watch The Selecter…

Back in the dressing room, Carl had a nice chat with Pauline Black…

Then we collected our gear and got back in the people carrier for the long journey home…

Another great day out!

Sunday June 30th 2024

Our fifth festival of the year and it’s the big one – Glastonbury!

Every year the festival is hugely populated with thousands of music fans thronging the place to watch their favorite bands perform. The festival site is located only a stone’s throw away from Glastonbury village in the county of Somerset…

Friday…

Roy came well prepared…

And was up early…

Everywhere people were loving the farm…

Even Toyah & Robert…

And of course Lulu…

Good to see our former agent Martin Horne…

Groovy times ahead…

Watching Paul Heaton…

Peter followed the directions…

To watch Billy Bragg…

Another fan…

I wasn’t due to arrive at the festival until Saturday so I was staying in a village nearby called Godney…

About a mile away in Lower Godney was the Sheppey Inn…

Lovely quirky pub and my pint of choice was Notorious by the Bristol Beer Factory…

The food menu was great as well…

Ed, Alex & Ben…

Ed’s band Mutant Vinyl…

‘Nu’s Model Army’…

Next on, LCD Soundsystem at the Pyramid Stage…

Then over to the West Holts stage…

To watch headliners Jungle…

Saturday…

My first day at the festival…

It had a great atmosphere…

I was instructed to find the Cider Bus…

Had to try one…

We had a fantastic afternoon…

Earlier on, Jamie Webster was at the other stage…

And the Skatalites were on at West Holts…

There were plenty of places to eat and drink…

It was a lovely sunny day…

Alex enjoyed watching the Staves…

And later on Little Symz at the Pyramid stage…

Top marks for Roy’s favourites, English Teacher…

Ed was performing and having a few pints at the Avalon Inn…

Coldplay were the headliners at the Pyramid…

Ed & Alex enjoyed Goldie…

And backstage Peter met Everton boss and huge Farm fan Sean Dyche…

Sunday…

At last the big day has arrived!

Keith’s former student and Lipa graduate Jalen Ngonda was playing at 12.30…

I went for a little walk around the site…

Lunch was Pazzo’s Pizza and Otter Ale…

James were on at 3…

Shania Twain at 3.45…

At last Carl & Keith had arrived but it was so packed we couldn’t meet up…

We’d gone over to the Other Stage to meet up with our friends…

Watching Nothing but Thieves…

Took absolute ages to walk back from the Other Stage to the Left Field tent but eventually found Carl in a bar…

Finally met Keith and our good mate John Robb…

Alex is so excited…

And Jamie Carragher was spotted wearing a Farm/Glasto t-shirt…

The time has come…

Brilliant crowd, packed the tent and spilled outside into the festival…

Billy Bragg👏👏

All Together Now stage invasion!!!

It was a fantastic performance but everything has to come to an end…

A unique experience and one we all hope to replicate in years to come!

And finally a big thank you to Kelly, Kirsty, Andy and all their friends who helped make it all possible. ❤️

Saturday June 22nd 2024

Our second Stone Valley Festival this year takes us to Thoresby Park, a beautiful country estate located near Newark in the heart of Nottinghamshire, England. The park is home to a stunning 17th-century mansion, a world-renowned art collection, and over 1,000 acres of parkland.

10 o’clock start today as we have to be in Newark for 2…

There was plenty of beer left from the last gig so we took it with us just in case…

We were soon on our way…

Plenty of time to watch a film but the DVD player was past its best…

Off the M62 and onto the M1…

We’d planned an interesting stop-off in a pub called the Muskham Ferry in the village of North Muskham…

Next a pit-stop in Worksop…

Some nice scenery…

And eventually a signpost…

As a keen genealogist (see my other blog ‘Who Do You Drink You Are’), I’d always wanted to visit North Muskham as it was the village where my maternal grandad married his first wife…

At last we arrived at the pub…

To save time, Roy had compiled a list of our choices off the menu…

https://themuskhamferry.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/Main-Menu.pdf

The local security didn’t seem to approve of his efforts though…

We leapfrogged to the bar…

And plumped for the Monterey Hop from the Maypole Brewery whilst handing over Roy’s list…

As it was a nice day we headed outside…

The parish church was only a 2 minute walk from the pub along the footpath…

It was a very old beautiful church but we had to get back to the pub as we hadn’t got much time…

Food was great…

Still had time for another pint though…

We bid farewell to the pub…

And we’re soon back on the road…

Twenty minutes later we were there…

Wristbands collected…

Great to see James, the promoter of the festival here with our manager Peasy…

Welcome to the pleasure dome…

Inside was Keith – Team Mullin had gone on ahead this morning…

And on the way kindly picked up Carl’s lad Chay who was teching for us…

Quick look at the stage times…

Just time to go out front and check out the bar…

This was a great pint!

We went to the front of the stage to watch Peat & Diesel, a great band from the Western Isles in Scotland…

Alex was meeting her dad at the festival and they came over to listen…

Crowd were enjoying them…

They were great!

Another pint of Mad Jack then we headed back stage to have a photo with them as they were heading back to Stornoway…

Time for us to go on stage…

Fantastic crowd!

We got a great reception and went out front to return to the bar area…

Enjoyed a good hour or so talking with fans and watching The Soup Dragons…

We met this lovely bloke from Pop Will Drink Itself…

Sadly it was time to head backstage…

Time for a quick bite to eat…

Team Mullin here with some new signings…

Alex with her family…

One last look at the festival site…

Then off we go…

What a fantastic day out we all had👏

Saturday June 1st 2024

Today sees us return to Greater Manchester for IRLAM LIVE, an annual music festival that takes place in a beautiful tree-lined outdoor arena in Prince’s Park, Irlam, nine miles west of Manchester city centre.

We set off from our rehearsal rooms around 11.30 as we had to be at the venue for about 1pm…

Keith is travelling with us this week…

No time for a film though as we arrive at our destination earlier than expected…

Time to get our passes as we park the bus…

Back stage!!!

We met up with Louise Orange and Helen Barnes of Loving 80’s Music…

Out front it was time for a hotdog and some beer…

Where’s Roy when you need him?

Cocktails were on offer with DJ John Locke…

More fun backstage…

And of course there was Peroni…

And an unusually large amount of fruit…

Keith here demonstrating Newtons law of universal gravitation…

A quick team photo before we go on…

https://youtu.be/E46Lo2DQ_wQ?si=_ok_ankI3dmaIuUf

Brilliant crowd👏👏👏

More fun with Loving 80’s Music…

Great interviews here⬇️

https://youtu.be/0KyM7iYRFEY?si=iRIvV-UNhBH_SCzz

It was a brilliant day out in the sunshine and what a great time we all had.

Saturday May 25th 2024

Our first outdoor festival of the year is the Stone Valley Festival South which takes place in Great Amwell, a village and civil parish in the East Hertfordshire district, in the county of Hertfordshire, England.

We were due to appear at 4:15 and wanted to stop off for some lunch along the way so we met up at Sort Rehearsal Rooms at 9:30…

Straight away we realised there could be delays as both Manchester clubs were playing in the FA Cup Final at Wembley at 3pm…

Help was at hand…

We were trying to find a country pub not too far from the Venue as we were needed there around 2pm…

The traffic was taking its toll…

Team Mullin were travelling separately and went ahead earlier…

Resigned to no lunch we carried on with the film…

We passed a Milton Keynes ombre panel warehouse…

…before stopping at services for a quick snack.

At last…Great Amwell

The man with the passes was heading our way…

Keith had already arrived back stage…

Time to check out front…

The Barstool Preachers were on stage…

Thumbs up from Roy & Alex…

Backstage with Peter…

…and Keith

Had a great catch up with the Soup Dragons who were in the next tent…

Time to go on!!!

Great crowd!!!

After the show we spoke with John from Cast…

Next we bumped into Captain Sensible from The Damned…

Happy talk😉

We had a quick bite to eat then got back on the bus for the long journey home.

What a fantastic day out!

Saturday April 13th 2024

Our first concert of the year takes us to Newcastle City Hall, a concert hall located in Newcastle upon Tyne, England. It has hosted many popular music and classical artists throughout the years, as well as standup and comedy acts.

Doors were opening at 4pm so we met up at mid-day at Sort Rehearsal Rooms, Liverpool…

Silver bus today…

Finally we set off and we were glad to see the weather improving after a stormy few days…

Last time we used the Silver bus we watched this film, must’ve left it here…

After the film we stopped off in the village of Wetherby…

On the way to find food, we spotted this plaque…

Our pub of choice was the Mews…

Carl’s beer of choice was the Hawkshead Brewery’s Windermere Pale…

The rest of us went for the Brew York Brewery’s ‘Calmer Chameleon’…

Food menu was good…

Carl had the burger I had the Steak Pie…

We had another round of drinks then headed outside…

…before heading back to the van refreshed.

We were still an hour away so we had time to put a few bets on as it was Grand National Day…

At last we arrived in Newcastle…

Today’s running order…

Today’s rider…

Today’s guests…

Time to go on stage…

Great crowd!

After the show, guests Gillian Thomas and friends came backstage. Roy had heard her telling her ‘first gig story’ on the Sara Cox show on Radio 2 but she said she couldn’t remember the gig as she was sick so he emailed her and offered her a guest list…

We watched some of the Wedding Present then went downstairs to the bar to meet up with a couple of fans…

However temping it was to upgrade….

…sadly it was time to head home – although we had no rider and we hadn’t had chance to eat anything.

Problem solved…

Kirkby Stephen’s finest ‘Santorino’s …

And over the road…

The Pennine Hotel re-opened their bar for the thirsty Farmers…

What a fantastic opening gig for 2024 and yet another great day out!

Sunday November 19th 2023

Our last concert of the year takes us to Butlins Minehead – situated across the street from Minehead Beach and the Bristol Channel, this casual resort is 1 km from the A39 road and 6 miles from Horner Woods in Exmoor National Park.

Early start today as we have to be in Minehead for around 3pm.

The Gold bus is off the road so we’re in the Silver bus…

Carl recently had an operation on the ligaments in his hand…

It was a great success and amazing that it had healed up in time for him to play today.

Time for breakfast…

Weather not great yet…

We stopped off at a Moto for coffee & a sandwich…

From here we had a 3 hour drive to the venue…

Time for the film…

Great film, certainly kept our minds off the journey…

Weather’s improving…

Some nice scenery as we were nearing Somerset…

We decided to stop off in the village of Watchet for our dinner…

The Star Inn…

We ordered our food…

and sampled the local beer which is sourced from the nearby Nuttycombe brewery…

We had a room to ourselves!

Carl had the fish & chips…

While we all opted for the roast turkey…

We chatted at length to the pub landlord and ordered more beer, this time I went for the Otter Ale…

All good things must come to an end so headed off back into the van…

We weren’t that far from the venue so we just had time to watch a bit of Blackadder…

Soon enough we arrived in Minehead…

The venue in the distance…

Not our hotel this time😟

This will do I suppose…

Time to go backstage…

Keith had arrived first…

The rider…

Anyway, time to go on…

Fabulous crowd!!!

Time to explore the venue…

Gig was fantastic but we were all a bit worse for wear as you can probably see…

Time for bed then off home the next day!

A great gig and a fitting way to finish the 2023 season!