Our fifth Let’s Rock festival of the season takes us to Southampton Common. The 365 acres features woodland, rough grassland, ponds, wetlands, lakes and parkland and is a much loved and well used green open space in the centre of the city, popular for informal leisure activities as well as large events.
Another early dart as we have to be in Southampton for 1pm, again it’s a van for the gear…
and a people carrier for us.
I’m also taking the Groovy Grain beer that I brewed about a month ago.
Off we go…
Weather is unpredictable today…
As there’s no DVD’s, Carl brought some reading material…
I was worrying how the beer would react to the 5 hour journey!
Making good progress though…
Time for some breakfast…
Good choice by Keith…
Off we go again…
Skies still dramatic…
A short pit stop in Chilton…
Not far now…
Backstage to get our wristbands!
I quickly found a quiet spot outside to sort out the beer…
Then set it up in the artists area…
Groovy Grain’s ‘Festival Ale’ is an American Pale Ale made with marris otter low colour malt and New Zealand hops Pacific Gem & Nelson Sauvin plus US Citra hops. Great fruity taste with a grapefruit finish.
A quick check on the running order…
Neville Staple sounded great out front…
Time for our weekly trip to the VIP bar!
Bumped into our mate Mick from Cookham
Just had the one pint of Atlantic Pale…
Crap. It tastes like lager. Not the worst lager but lager. If I wanted lager I would order it! Anon
Headed back stage to the artists area to open our ‘bar’…
First up we’re Martyn Ware & Glenn Gregory of Heaven 17…
Great guys and good to talk beer with Martyn!
Next up the guitarist from Slim Jim Phantom…
Then Carl came over with the bassist and drummer of the Neville Staple band…
Various musicians continued to stop by…
It was beginning to get busy…
Beer was going down well…
Too well! I’d forgotten the time and we were due on stage in 10 minutes!
Great photo’s by Mick Vogel
Great crowd again!
All Together Now
Biggest crowd yet!
After our set we went back stage to grab a bite to eat and finish off the beer…
Nathan Moore joined us for a pint but the beer was quickly running out…
Heaven 17 we’re getting ready to play so we all went to the side of the stage to watch them…
They were brilliant!
Sadly it was time for us to head off as we were driving home but again another great day out!
Our fourth Let’s Rock gig takes us to Powderham Castle in Devon. Located in a unique, picturesque setting within an ancient deer park beside the Exe estuary, just south of Exeter.
Very early start as we have to be there by 1pm but no bus???
One of the drivers was taken ill but found us a replacement at very short notice…
No video’s this week but as it was still very early we had some quiet time.
After an hour or so we stopped off at services…
Coffee and cake!
Back on the road…
Carl mentioned a film he’d watched recently…
Mutated wasps😳
I mentioned I’d been on a bike ride along the Wirral Way calling in at the Red Lion in Parkgate…
finishing in The Magazine pub in New Brighton where there was a great view of Everton’s new stadium.
We sped on and were making good time…
Saw a hill in East Brent😳
Then came off the motorway down country lanes…
We suddenly saw our other van travelling in a different direction
Stopped to ask an official where we were – apparently some road workers had removed some of the signs…
It’s medieval month at the castle🗡️
More confusion…
Eventually we found the correct entrance and arrived at the artists area back stage.
Dumped our bags and had a quick look at the stage times..
Undertones were on at 16:30
As usual we went out front for a look around
You guessed it… the VIP bar
More auctions…
and of course the Atlantic Pale
Take your first sip, and prepare to be swept away by Atlantic Pale Ale’s lively symphony of flavours. The initial burst of fruity hops gives way to a subtle malt sweetness, culminating in a crisp, clean finish that leaves you thirsting for more. With an ABV of 4.5%, it’s the perfect companion for a leisurely afternoon spent basking in the sun, or a raucous evening of sea shanties and merriment.
No sign of Nathan though and no stage, maybe he’s on later
Walking around we caught some of the Beat’s set
Then headed backstage as we were on early this week
Again a big crowd
Great reaction!
Groovy TrainAll Together Now
What a gig!
Next on were the Undertones!
They were brilliant and we met them just after…
Next on Midge Ure…
OMD…
Soft Cell…
What a great festival it was!
It was too far to drive home so we were staying in Taunton…
After a good nights sleep we set off home via Bristol and went over the Clifton Suspension. Bridge…
Here we had a chippy breakfast…
and a quick half as it was Roy’s birthday!
A Classic Pub in the heart of Clifton Village offering fantastic food, friendly service and a carefully chosen range of drinks to suit everyone. We have an extensive Gin collection, several well-kept Beers, a wonderful Wine list and much more! We look forward to welcoming you soon.
Roy had Guinness…
Guinness’s flavour derives from malted barley and roasted unmalted barley, a relatively modern development, not becoming part of the grist until the mid-20th century. For many years, a portion of aged brew was blended with freshly brewed beer to give a sharp lactic acid flavour. Although Guinness’s palate still features a characteristic “tang”, the company has refused to confirm whether this type of blending still occurs. The draught beer’s thick, creamy head comes from mixing the beer with nitrogen and carbon dioxide.
I had Gem from Bath Ales…
Our well-balanced amber ale that sees the malty character from the Maris Otter barley really shine through. All British hops, including Goldings from Kent, add a subtle, aromatic spice.
The third of our Let’s Rock gigs takes us to Dalkeith Country Park, a stunning destination just a few miles from Edinburgh’s city centre.
It’s a 9.30 meet at Sort as it’s a good 4 hour journey to Edinburgh.
We have DVD’s so fingers crossed we’ll be able to watch them.
Off we go…
our first film was ‘In Bruges’…
we all thoroughly enjoyed the film.
By now we had entered Scotland…
it was a very hot and humid day so we opened the window as some of us were wilting🥵
Some nice scenic views to take in.
We decided to stop off at Biggar for our lunch…
Biggar is a historic market town on the northern edge of the Southern Uplands. A burgh of barony since the 15th century, Biggar still retains its medieval layout. The main street is lined with centuries-old houses and Biggar Kirk dates from the 16th century. Biggar has associations with various historical figures, including William Wallace and Bonnie Prince Charlie.
The Crown Inn.
We ordered 4 pints of Jarl by the Fyne Brewery.
Nice pint!
Packed full of balanced, vibrant grapefruit and delicate lemon flavours with a subtly grassy, refreshing finish. Jarl is the epitome of a modern classic – an easy-drinking, beautifully balanced session ale bursting with flavour. Fyne Ales was one of the first UK breweries to use Citra hops when we created Jarl in 2010 and our flagship ale has been winning awards and the hearts of drinkers ever since.
The food was good as well…
Keith of course went for the Pornstar Martinis😀
All in all a good place to eat and drink!
Hooton the KingShop window fun
Time to be on our way.
Some more lovely scenery…
a council estate…
then at last Dalkeith Country Park!
Time to pick up our wristbands…
and to prepare for our performance!
A quick look at the running order meant we had plenty of time.
We went out front for a look around…
and met up with Carl’s brother Barrie.
We thought we’d show him the VIP bar.
Nathan Moore still at it
A rather more realistic review of the Atlantic Pale that we also had last week…
Another Sharp’s beer not brewed in Cornwall by Molson Coors. Light, bland, very dry, nasty aftertaste. Shockingly bad. Deliberate deception that ‘Rock, Cornwall’ is on the front label when this actually brewed 250 miles from Rock.
Fortunately, Slim Jim from the Stray Cats was about to perform…
The band were great!
Meanwhile Barrie bumped into a couple of his work friends who we chatted with…
Adele & Fiona
Next the Beat we’re on!
Alex came looking for us to watch them…
She didn’t have to look far
We got a better view from the side of the stage.
They were really great but time was passing us by and we had to get back stage!
No one here😐
Some were checking the gear…
while others were chilling out!
Eventually we all met up ready to go on – this week there’s footage of us walking on to the stage😀
Love See No Colour Intro
The crowd were going mad!
Groovy Train (video courtesy of Michelle) All Together Now (video courtesy of Michelle)
What a fantastic audience!
Midsummer Madness
The gig was brilliant, we just had time to have a bite to eat and watch the brilliant Midge Ure before we set off home…
The second of our Let’s Rock gigs this year takes us to Temple Newsam, a country estate in the heart of Leeds.
Our usual bus was hired out to another act so the gear went in one van….
and us in another.
No time for a stop off as the journey is only a couple of hours.
Also no DVD player so conversation was the order of the day
Peter and Roy were listening to podcasts but Carl spoke about a film he’d watched recently called ‘The Mole People’
No expense spared for costumes or special effects…
Keith told us about a recent trip down to Worcester to pick up his new dog Chapo…
Likes toast
As usual I spoke at length about brewing…
zzzzz
As we crossed the border it started to rain…
but eventually there was some scenery to enjoy.
Near HalifaxNear Sowerby Bridge
Apparently we were sent the wrong postcode…
so after a quick detour along the M1 we finally made it to the venue….sober!
‘Have you brought the beer?’
Coffee and cakes all round…
We had a quick look to see what time we were on…
then wandered outside to have a look around.
We came across an auction of memorabilia.
Fletch
Then we had an idea to visit the museum…
Newsam House Museum & Gallery in the background.
but decided against it and walked over to the VIP bar.
Here we watched Roland Gift.
The bar was busy…
Nathan Moore from Brother Beyond
We had a pint and a photo with a few of our Leeds mates…
Lovely people
we had the Atlantic Pale Ale
The Beer in brief: Atlantic is a modern pale ale that captures the essence of Sharp’s home on the rugged north coast of Cornwall. It is brewed with Sharp’s trademark precision to give complexity, subtlety and a cleanness of palate while showcasing the fresh citrus flavours of New World hops. All in, a beautifully refreshing pale ale. Deep golden in Colour, Atlantic has a vibrant fruity aroma redolent of lime zest to mango. The flavour is harmonious balance of barley sugar and grapefruit with a refreshingly crisp citrus linger. Malt: Pale Ale and Low Colour Caramalt Hops: Cascade, Aurora, Citra, Simcoe Aroma: Citrus and tropical fruits, fresh hops and candyfloss Flavour: Delicate sweetness with a fruity succulence and citrus spice to the fore Finish: Clean with a hoppy linger
As it was served far too cold you couldn’t taste any of the above😀
Oh well, time to head back as we were on shortly.
Safely back in the artists area…
and into our dressing room!
Few more beers before we go on…
Keg & bottle; Pasteurised. First brewed in 1952. Ingredients: Water, barley malt, maize, wheat malt, colour:caramel, hop extract Kronenbourg 1664 is France’s No.1 selling beer and the UK’s second-biggest selling premium lager. Kronenbourg 1664 is made with a unique blend of hops including aromatic hops from Alsace.
At last, time to go on!
Pics by Dee Keith
Great crowd!
What a great gig!!
All Together Now
Great praise from Stu Kershaw, OMD’s drummer – the band had arrived early in order to catch our performance!
Today is the first festival of the year and we’re off to Cookham Moor in Berkshire.
It’s as if we’ve never been away…
Inside No 9
Picking up Roy at the garage nearest the M62 is also a familiar view…
So it’s off we go…
We had a good selection of DVD’s to watch…
but thought we’d leave them till after breakfast stopping at Keele services.
A microwaved bacon bap
We didn’t stay long then got back on the bus to find the DVD player wasn’t actually working…
Oh well, back to the conversation…
Only thing to look forward to now is to find a nice country pub along the way…
Continuing our theme of visiting English Civil War battlegrounds, we decided to look for a pub in the village of Cropredy, Oxfordshire where in 1644 the battle of Cropredy Bridge took place.
The Battle of Cropredy Bridge was fought on 29 June 1644 near Banbury, Oxfordshire during the First English Civil War. In the engagement, Sir William Waller and the Parliamentarian army failed to capture King Charles.
Just a minute’s drive up the road we arrive at our destination…
The Brasenose Arms…
The Brasenose Arms is one of two pubs in the village. Fairport Convention holds its annual music festival at Cropredy and posed for the cover of its album Fairport Nine in front of the Brasenose Arms, so it is a site of pilgrimage for folk- and folk-rock music fans much as Abbey Road is for Beatles fans.Royalist dogs
Inside we ordered some food and our beer of choice…
Not just the iconic ale of the capital, London Pride is an all-British affair that unites a nation of beer drinkers. It’s brewed with entirely home-grown hop varieties – Target for bittering and Northdown, Challenger and Goldings for aroma – but the soul of the beer is unquestionably in the malt.
Crystal malts combine with spring-harvested Pale Ale varieties Concerto and Propino, to give Pride its inimitable depth and balance.
We sat outside and I tried a selfie…
Cheers!
Food was good…
Only time for one drink so we headed back to the van…
We were still about an hour or so away from the venue and by now the temperature had soared…
We continued to press the PS button…
but to no avail… and as we didn’t want to be cooked on the way to Cookham, we opened the window to try and cool down!
Soon enough we arrived at Cookham Moor…
Backstage looking good…
We had a quick look at the running order…
and went out front to have a look around and to watch Space…
Tommy Scott
The photo’s of Space were taken by a fellow scouser and photographer living in Cookham, Mick Vogel.
We enjoyed bumping into him and having our picture taken with him.
We were on after Space so time for Carl to have a quick ice cream…
and get backstage again
The crowd were building up outside as it was nearly time for us to go on…
Great reception!
Got very hot on stage
The crowd were fantastic !
After the show we hooked up with Mick again…
who kindly let us use his photos for the blog!
Dave Benson-PhilipsNick KershawSoul II SoulKim Wilde Boomtown RatsOMD
This weekend marks our last two festivals of the summer. Tomorrow we play in Skegness as part of the Replay Music Weekend and today we’re off to Yorkshire to play in the grounds of Wentworth Woodhouse, a Grade I listed country house in the village of Wentworth, in the Metropolitan Borough of Rotherham.
We were due at the venue at 5.30 so we planned to leave around 1.30.
Our film for the day was…
We travelled through some lovely countryside on the way…
Crowden and Chew Reservoir
In the film, the Beatles were having a pint.
This reminded us that we needed to find a nice local pub for lunch.
The King & Miller, Deepcar, Sheffield.
The King & Miller is a family & dog friendly pub with cosy indoor seating areas and a spacious outdoor beer garden, so we can accommodate you whatever the weather! Farmers Ales served from just £2.80 a pint and a warm welcome, what’s not to like!
Our driver dropped us off outside and we hurried in for a pint!
Keith and I had the Farmers Pale Ale
A distinctive fruity pale ale, well balanced with a powerful floral bouquet, full-bodied and a predominantly dry aftertaste.
The others went for the Farmers Blonde!
This award winning, very pale brilliant blonde beer has citrus and summer fruit aromas making it an extremely refreshing and ‘easy drinking’ ale.
The food was very tasty.
Saucy
Two pints later, we set off to find the bus…
The crew were travelling separately
After that, it didn’t seem to take too long to get to our destination.
It has the longest façade of any country home in Europe at over 600 feet in length. It is more than twice the length of Buckingham Palace; the physical footprint of the house is enormous!
We were ushered in to our boutique dressing room…
then went straight out to have a look around the festival site.
🤩The queue for the Queen (tribute band)
We watched a few songs from Bulsara & His Queenies…
An unknown fan
Then headed over to the New Music Stage to watch The Rosadocs!
They were great and we were also spotted in the audience!
We decided against an axe throwing contest
We headed backstage for a quick tour of the house.
The house nowadays is used frequently by film producers, it has been used in the big screen feature, Downton Abbey, and the drama, Gentleman Jack for the BBC.
The Christians were up next…
They went down brilliantly and later on we met up with Gary.
Not long now till we were on stage so we cracked on with todays rider beer which was Peroni Red…
Peroni Red is a darker, more hoppy take on their popular lager. Produced with 100% Italian Malt, it retains the same great refreshment with moderate bitterness and balanced hops and malt.
We were all starving so we headed out to get some food.
The duck wrap was a favourite
Then we watched Heather Small from front and side of stage.
After a while it was time to get to our hotel in Rotherham so we left the festival site.
Just time for a nightcap before our journey to Skegness in the morning.
What a great day out it was!
Sunday 18th September 2022
Today we’re off to the Replay Music Weekender at Butlin’s, Skegness.
But first… breakfast!
Great breakfast at the hotel and everyone was ready to leave at 11 for the journey to Skegness.
The journey would take about 2 hours but once we’d got off the motorways it was a pleasant drive. Alex was telling us that her grandparents live not too far away from Skegness.
Eventually we arrived at our destination
Inside the big top it was enormous!
We thought we’d have a look around…
The Wash😟
It was a bit cold so we headed back
Everton were playing West Ham so we thought we’d meet up with Keith and Peter who were watching the game in Hotshots…
We had photos taken with quite a few fans watching the football😀
After the game we fancied something to eat and drink so we went back to the dressing room.
Vesuvius Pizza from Ludo’s ItalianThe taste of Peroni Nastro Azzurro is distinctive, crisp and refreshing. You’ll find it has a notable citrus aroma and a pale, golden colour reminiscent of Prosecco. It is gently brewed to give you an intensely crisp, refreshing taste with that unmistakable touch of Italian style.
We needed to find our apartment to drop our bags off and get changed.
Cell block H
It wasn’t too bad actually but time was getting on and we needed to get back.
Which way do we go?
Eventually we found the dressing room.
You’ve got 5 minutes!
Time to head for the stage!
Smirnoff is the most awarded name in vodka, with countless years of heritage and unmatched quality sold in over 130 countries . It is triple distilled from a blend of different grains and filtered ten times through seven columns of environmentally sustainable charcoal for an exceptionally pure-tasting, smooth spirit.
Crowd were fantastic!
What a gig!
Fantastic reaction from the crowd!!!
We all really enjoyed the gig and went out into the complex to have a drink.
These girls had come to see us wearing farmyard themed fancy dress!Wurzel Hunter
Alex was dancing with a cow!
We heard Aswad were playing so we headed over to Reds bar…
They were great and after that we watched Trevor Nelson…
It ended up a great night and we spoke to loads of fans but as time wore on we were getting more knackered so we decided it best to navigate our way back to the apartment before it was too late.
Another great day out though!
Monday 19th September 2022
After a good nights sleep in our camp, we got ourselves ready and headed out to find breakfast.
Fortunately for us we stumbled upon a lovely couple who had really enjoyed the weekend. They told us the breakfast was only available until 10.30 because of the bank holiday.
Where’s your shades when you need them?
We found the canteen just in time as the staff were about to clear everything away!
Nice sausages
We needed to clear our heads and walk the breakfast off so we headed out towards the beach.
Dramatic
Eventually we arrived back at the apartments where our bus was waiting for us.
We got on the bus and decided to go straight back to Liverpool as we thought a lot of pubs would be shut because of the bank holiday.
Instead we watched the complete series of Blackadder II which is still incredibly funny.
After that we made ourselves comfortable, closed our eyes and reflected on what had been a great couple of days. A fitting end to our season of festivals.
Over a month since our last festival so we were very excited to be travelling to Jersey for the Weekender Festival at the Royal Jersey Show-ground.
We were flying from Liverpool John Lennon Airport so we arranged to get there for about 8.30 as our flight was at 10.50.
Keith and I arrived early at 8.07 so we decided to check in and get some breakfast.
Thought it best to get a good meal inside us in case we decide to have a pint before departure.
Eventually we caught up with the others in the departure lounge and had a look at what was on offer.
Called a “session IPA”, ABV 4.3%. Clear pale golden colour, white head. Distinct aroma of fruity hops, tropical fruits galore, esp. mango. Light bodied as expected, but refreshing. The flavour has distinct hops throughout, tropical fruits first, then a solid bitterness.
Carl and I had a couple of pints to settle the nerves before the flight.
Took no time at all to get to our destination as we were travelling on a brand new Airbus!
We were met by drivers hired by the festival to take us to our hotel – The Merton.
After the Second World War the hotel was nicknamed The Honeymoon Hotel after couples at last were able to tie the knot after the Nazi occupation.
The Derby was on TV so while the others watched it in the hotel, Carl and I made our way to a pub – The White Horse.
Unfortunately they weren’t showing the football but they had a beer garden next to a beach so we ordered a couple of pints of Liberation Ale from the bar.
Our gold medal multi-award winning ale is proudly made with a unique blend of English Maris Otter and Continental Crystal malts. A symbol of our brewing excellence since 1871, its citric, easy drinking style pairs with seafood, pasta, salads, mature cheddar and crumbly cheeses. Produced by a loyal few, celebrated by many. This is true island character.
They also had a brilliant food menu so we ordered salt & pepper calamari which was fantastic!
We had one more pint of Liberation each then walked back to the hotel as we needed to head up to the venue.
The festival was busy and we were quickly shown to our dressing room.
All present and correct!
Keith came round with the food order, I went for the foot long hot dog!
Our good mate Mick Potter had come away with us…
and Carl’s lad Chay was our guitar tech for the day!
Time to limber up as we could hear The Pirates finish their set!
Just a medium vodka for me for nerves…
The crowd were building up nicely as we arrived on stage.
The following great pictures courtesy of photographer Matt Noel.
Groovy TrainThink I misjudged the vodka😫
The crowd were brilliant and we got a great reception.
After the show we all met up with my lovely guests from Jersey.
Then disaster! The beer ran out😕
Cold hot dog it is then?
Ugh
At least we had nice neighbours…
Great to see these guys again!
Then!
Restocked
We decided to go out front and watch The Proclaimers, they were great!
We then enjoyed a drink in the crowd listening to Hot Dub Time Machine.
Then to finish the night we all had a good laugh at Barrioke!
It was now getting late though and about 9.30 we got the message that the bus was leaving so we all headed back stage one last time.
We got the driver to drop us off at the White Horse…
and we spent a couple of hours watching the waves and the moonlight.
We then spent the best part of an hour trying to find an Indian restaurant…
It was great
and a further hour trying to find the hotel😫
Considering we’d been drinking for the best part of 15 hours, we all still rejoiced at the sight of the hotel bar still open😀
One more drink for the road and then we staggered off to our rooms. Not an easy task in a hotel where the ground floor reception is marked as the 4th floor.
Anyway, what a great day out we all had!
Sunday September 4th 2022
Check out was 11.00, I think most of us made it to the breakfast buffet. Alex had a very healthy one…
The flight was scheduled for 2.50 pm so we all set off to the White Horse to be picked up at 12.15 for the airport.
The pub wasn’t serving food till 12.30 so the others missed the chance to sample the salt & pepper calamari.
We had another pint of Liberation Ale and enjoyed the views…
With heavy hearts we set off on the 20 minute journey to the airport.
We found out that there was a delay!
So some of us jumped a cab to a surfers beach bar…
while the others checked in and played cards…
The waves and views were fantastic…
Yet another pintA marvelous artisan pale ale brewed locally by Matt and Digby in Jersey, Channel Islands. It is light at 4.2% abv, refreshing and great served with local produce and shellfish, or easily drunk on its own.
All refreshed, we jumped another cab back to the airport.
We still had to wait an hour or so for our flight so we ordered something to eat and drink…
Eventually our flight was called and we all wearily trudged to our gate reflecting on the great couple of days we had just had.
Today we’re playing our second Let’s Rock festival, this one in our home town of Liverpool.
We’re at Wavertree Playing Fields, a 104 acre park which was given to Liverpool Corporation in 1895 by an anonymous city well-wisher — the reason why it is affectionately known as ‘The Mystery’.
We set off around 12:30 to load in although we weren’t on stage till 4:45.
As it was a local gig, we had no time to stop off at a pub for some good food and drink so a few weeks ago we decided to brew our own cask beer!
First you have to vent the caskThen knock in the tapTa Da!
The production team very kindly let us place the beer with it’s hand pump at the entrance to the artists area.
The hand pump or ‘beer engine’ is attached to the cask via a line and left to settle for an hour or so.
We had a bite to eat in the artists area and a bottle of Peroni each to chill out.
Carl & Roy then went out front to watch Scritti Politti…
and Tenpole Tudor!
We decided that 3pm was a good enough time to pour the first pint so Chris (my beer making partner) had the honour.
At this point the artists area was pretty full as the acts were coming and going. Then our good mate Dave Benson Phillips grabbed everyone’s attention and announced that the beer was now being served.
Festival Ale is an American Pale Ale made with marris otter low colour malt and New Zealand hops Pacific Gem & Nelson Sauvin plus US Citra hops. Great fruity taste with a grapefruit finish.
First up was our old mate Chesney Hawkes, fresh from his stage performance ten minutes earlier…
He’s a pro
Then Green Gartside and his band Scritti Politti were next in the queue…
Green reckoned it was a better pint than in his local😀
Next up was Edward Tudor-Pole…
and various band members
The beer was going down…a treat!
Outside the bands were getting through their sets quickly…
Later on Roy caught up with Ottowan…
who later joined us inside with the lovely Julie McKnight, a fantastic singer and beer connoisseur!
Then the legendary Ce Ce Rogers joined the queue…
At this point it was nearly time for us to go on stage so I left the bar in the very capable hands of Rachel from the production team.
Meanwhile out front – what a crowd!
Some fantastic photo’s from Warren Millar, Billy Vitch and Martin Shaw!
What a fantastic reaction we got!
The crowd singing along to All Together Now
Next on was Nick Hayward so we went out front to watch him…
then invited him to our bar for a pint!
Our families and friends were in the audience watching us so we decided to spend a bit of time with them out front…
Keith with Ann from EITCAlex with her flatmate who both loved our brew!
After a while we went back stage to look after the bar but disaster!
The beer had run out!
Oh well, nothing lasts forever so we packed away our beer equipment and went out front to watch the remaining bands.
Today we’re off to Shrewsbury for the Let’s Rock festival. It’s based at The Quarry, a beautiful 29-acre parkland near the river Severn.
It’s a very early start as we have to be there for 10.00 am.
Different route today and we’re going via the Wallasey tunnel
Alas, no videos and no time allocated to stop off at a Camra awarded pub😕
At least we could stop for a bit of breakfast after seeing this omen…
We didn’t hang around for long…
We motored on and arrived fairly quickly at the venue.
The artists area was great!
Menu looks good!Ice cool Alex!
Just enough time to have a look around the festival!
We had a quick line check as the crowd were starting to file in…
We were on stage soon…
so we headed back stage to check the rider.
The taste of Peroni Nastro Azzurro is distinctive, crisp and refreshing. You’ll find it has a notable citrus aroma and a pale, golden colour reminiscent of Prosecco. It is gently brewed to give you an intensely crisp, refreshing taste with that unmistakable touch of Italian style.
The crowd had come right up to the front now…
We were ready to go on after meeting the legendary David Benson Phillips who was compere for the days event.
David gave us a great introduction and then we were on!
Crowd were brilliant!
We got a great reception and headed off backstage.
Edward Tudor-Pole was also performing!
Lovely guy!
We then went back out front into the sunshine to watch Scritti Politti
Met a few fans on the way
They were excellent and we met Green Gartside backstage!
He was ace!
We wanted to stay longer and see Bad Manners but we had to get back to Liverpool.
So we had to say farewell to Shrewsbury!
On the way in we’d earmarked the Olde Bucks Head as a possible getaway from the festival but it was never going to happen.
So instead we decided to travel up to Liverpool and head to The Old Tap in Waterloo where a couple of beer aficionado’s were keenly awaiting our arrival.
We had something to eat on the bus and a possible snooze then….
The Mersey Tunnel!
5 minutes in the tunnel then another 15 to Waterloo and we arrived at The Old Tap.
It’s a new pub getting rave reviews
First off we sampled the Polly’s ‘Neither Odd or Even.
Anybody who has followed the brewery long enough will know we love to smash together previous hop combos from our dearly departed Originals range and create modern day frankenstein’d-together bangers. Citra Columbus always has a special place in our heart, after a particularly memorable after-work “sampling session” held by Sean and Arron, and we were huge fans of the original version of Enigma Simcoe IPA, so much so that we carried it over to the Augment range that now holds the brewery up. Smashing the two together and reeling back the ABV to a more sessionable 5.6%, we’ve created a pale ale that brings a swag bag of stone fruit, mango, peach and tangerine notes to the party, with just a little grassy bitterness to boot. 5.6% ABV
Went down very well…
Next I’m sure we had the ‘From Above’ by the Track brewing company.
From Above is our easy-going, quaffable gluten-free beer. Brewed using malted barley, Cara Gold and oats to bring fullness and a lovely bready malt character and dry hopped with Mosaic and Nelson. Up front, youll find exquisite pineapple and tropical fruit punch, a soft bitterness and mouth-watering lemon peel followed by a long finish. Beautifully balanced, drinkable and satisfying.
Maybe we had one more for the road but I can’t remember what it was, or much else for that matter.
This week we’re off to Dunstable, Bedfordshire for the council funded ‘Party in the Park’ festival.
It’s a later start than usual as we’re not on stage till about 7pm so we all met up at 11:30.
It came as a great relief to us that the video player was working and we decided to watch the film we couldn’t watch last week, ‘Waiting For Guffman’.
We enjoyed the film very much and as we were still half an hour away from our lunch destination we thought we’d watch a couple of classic episodes of the Likely Lads…
It was a lovely sunny day and we were heading to Sutton Stop, Coventry…
Sutton Stop is the name for the ‘Stop Lock’ at Hawkesbury Junction. This is the Junction of the Coventry Canal and the Oxford Canal.
Alongside the canal was our chosen lunch spot, The Greyhound Inn!
Let there be frolics and bunting!
Time to order a beer, first off is Kerala by Distant Hills of Glossop.
Dreaming of sandy beaches and tropical fruits, this Session IPA is dry hopped mixing Mosaic and Calypso hops with Malabar pepper for an easy drinking, hoppy session beer.
It was gorgeous and went down so well we’d ordered another round before the food came
We had a great spec to eat our food watching the canal
Finally our food arrived…
It all tasted great and to congratulate ourselves on having such a good time we ordered another round of drinks!
This time it was Purity Session IPA
A moreish, unfiltered session IPA, infused with real grapefruit peel and brimming with tropical fruit notes and hop aromas.
At this point life couldn’t get any better but we had to get to Dunstable. Sadly it was time to say goodbye to Hawkesbury Junction…
and hello again to the van!
At least we had the Likely Lads to keep us amused!
We watched the episode where they’re avoiding the England football score and in no time we arrived in Dunstable!
Great atmosphere inside the park…
We caught the last five minutes of Bhangra Smash Up!
Great bunch of lads
Our dressing room was inside the council offices.
The mayor and her deputy came to greet us…
They were still buzzin’ after just being on stage with Bhangra Smash Up!
We went outside to check the bar…
and met up with some Farm fans who’d brought their records with them for us to sign.
Next act on was a Bob Marley Tribute…
He was great and had the crowd singing along…
Meanwhile, partly due to that extra pint in Coventry…
Not long after, the stage was being set up for us to go on…
The vodka had arrived early this week so time to get ready as the crowd were becoming restless!
Finally it was time to go on!
The lads from Bhangra Smash Up invaded the stage…
Watch the brilliant video here filmed by TheFarmLive gary.
sipadvisor 