Author: sipadvisor

Saturday August 31st 2019

Last festival of the summer and it’s a very early start as we’re heading to Knebworth Park, Herts for the Cool Britania Festival 2019.

Arrived in town to get on the bus – Keith was going ahead with our manager in the car, we had to be there handy as we were on at 2pm.

One of the DVD monitors wasn’t working so I had to watch Anchorman 2 using Roy’s iPad camera!Not very satisfactory as it was a mirror image but also for some reason it turned the picture into a negative image!

We stopped off at the services for a sandwich and something caught my eye…..

Yes a couple of cans of Goose Island IPA – this made me enjoy the film a lot more!

Eventually we arrived at the festival site!

Brilliant looking festival and a lovely sunny day! We got our passes and went to find our dressing room!

It was a great communal area for all the bands with food and refreshments.

There was a vintage twin record deck with records…..

…..we played a few hits from yesteryear including ‘How Does It Feel’ by Slade.

Decided to take a look outside front of stage.

There may be a real ale tent ??

Sadly not…..

Listened to some music….

….while Shona met her mate Gemma….

….and we had a couple of drinks!

Decided to head back stage as we were on soon.

Poor Keith had lost his voice!

Time for the rider!!!

Some cold bottles of Heineken followed by a couple of vodka and cokes!

The order of play!

The crowd was building up out front….

Some great photo’s were taken….

We played a lightning set of our best songs….

The crowd were absolutely fantastic!!

After the set we had some food then Peter, Carl & Roy did a few interviews.

Shona was staying at the festival where she met Goldie!

We were advised to find a pub nearby where Led Zeppelin used to go prior to their Knebworth concerts – The Lytton Arms!

I had a pint of Hop Kitty…

The beer was very nice and it wasn’t a bad pub but no one in there seemed interested in Led Zeppelin. This was the only poster we could find and it was hidden away in the toilet!

We set off home but decided we’d stop off one last time for a pint to watch the second half of Burnley v Liverpool.

We arrived at The Royal Oak In Crick!!!

We had a pint of Purity Gold….

Not bad, we had one last pint then we all stumbled on to the bus for the long drive home.

We had a great day and it was a fitting end to the festival season.

Friday August 23rd 2019

Early start as we’re driving to Inverness as special guests of Madness! Getting picked up outside McDonalds, Switch Island at 7:30am!

Roy went the night before on a plane…….

….and Team Mullin went ahead in their car.

Good selection of DVD’s to watch, unfortunately we couldn’t find the remote control!

A fine selection of new forks and spoons in the van though.

Scotland!!!

Stopped off at Gretna to buy a remote control but no joy!Back in the van and the remote is found underneath one of the seats!

We watched Will Ferrell ‘Talladega Nights’ very funny!

Into the highlands with some marvellous scenery!

We stopped off in Kingussie for a nice pint.

We were suitably refreshed!

At last we arrive at the venue

Time to sound check, Peter looking cool…..

….and Carl is wearing a snazzy new coat!

Soundcheck done and we headed off to the hotel for an hour.

Met a lovely fan Lorna who made us some Farm cupcakes!

They were delicious!!!

We also signed her record collection…..

….and posed for a team photo.

Back to the venue to try and find some real ale but no luck.

The rider it will have to be!

Went out front to watch Jeremiah Ferrari from Manchester, a good reggae/rock fusion.

Time to head backstage as we were on soon.

We got a great reaction!

Went down brilliantly – what a fabulous crowd!

Met a wobbly fan Becca….

…..before going back to the dressing room to have a drink with Suggs.

Time for Madness!Madness played a brilliant set!

We all then went into Inverness following the crowd, it was a great spectacle.

We arrived at the Black Isle Brewing CompanyIt’s a brilliant craft ale pub & brewery. I really enjoyed the Yellowhammer Pale AleSpent quite a while sampling the various beers until we were all starving.

Meanwhile Carl bumped into a couple of Madness fans……

…..and I ended the day as it started outside a McDonalds!What a fantastic time we had though!

Saturday August 24th 2019

Few hours sleep at the Alan Partridge hotel, breakfast finished at 10:00 but just about made it.

Everybody on the van for the three hour trip across Scotland to Montrose.

Team Mullin had gone ahead and discovered a town called Keith!

Back on the bus we watched the new ‘Man from Uncle’ DVD, it was quite good.

We were all a bit hungover and were glad when we eventually arrived at the venue.

It’s a coastal town so we decided to go for a stroll on the beach while the crew set up.

Had a coffee and an ice cream and looked on at the venue from a distance.

Then we casually wandered back for the soundcheck.

Had a few problems with the monitors but the overall sound was good. The dressing rooms were a short drive away at Montrose FC’s football ground.

Time was getting on and we were desperate to eat. We walked into the town looking for a restaurant but everywhere was chocker. We eventually ended up in a chippy.

Fish suppers all round and Team Mullin opted for a deep fried mars bar chaser!

Now for a pint!

Only had time for one drink and we chose Ice Breaker by Greene King.

We sat outside in a beer yard, the sun was shining, the beer was nice but we were all a bit bloated after the fish supper.

Walked it off as we headed back to the dressing rooms.

The rider was – you guessed it

We were on soon so we loaded up the bus with the rider and headed off.

Now backstage with Shona we were ready to go on….

….our sound-guy John King at the helm!

Crowd were brilliant again!!!

Crowd were absolutely fantastic!!!!!

It was a brilliant gig but we had to get straight off. We said our goodbyes to Madness……

…..and headed off on the long journey home. What a brilliant couple of days!!

Saturday May 4th 2019

Great start to the 2019 summer festivals with a brief journey up the M62 to the Warrington Music Festival supporting Black Grape.

The stage was set up in the covered Old Market Place behind the Golden Square shopping parade. We very quickly made our HQ in the ancient ‘Barley Mow’ pub just behind the stage.

Spent a couple of hours drinking Atlantic Pale Ale on draught, not too strong and a nice flavour.

Friends and family had joined us and it created a great atmosphere and build up to the gig.

Liverpool were playing Newcastle in a vital game and we were on stage at the same time!

Backstage after the show we watched the end of the game on TV, then headed home.

Saturday June 1st 2019

We’re off to Sheffield for the Mosborough Music Festival, we’re on earlier than billed to allow us to watch the Champions League final at 8pm.

Its an unusual set up as there’s two main stages! As one band performs on stage right, once they’ve finished the next band can be ready to start straight away on stage left.

We were playing with Space, here’s Keith with Tommy Scott.

It was a sunny day and the festival was well populated but we couldn’t find a real-ale tent.

Think we basically kept to our rider which was probably Peroni but I can’t be certain.

It worked well for me!

The gig went down great and we were whisked away to a pub in Sheffield to watch the match and then back home to Liverpool.

Sunday June 2nd 2019

Not much sleep and we’re back up the M62 this time on our way to Irlam for Irlam Live 2019.

We’re playing with Bruce Foxton’s Jam so Carl is very excited and is sporting his blazer (once owned by Bruce).

It didn’t take us long to find the real ale tent and the beer was supplied by the seven bro7hers brewery based in Manchester.

Had a couple of the session Pale ales which were very nice then went on to the IPA which had a great taste of hops. Roy and Peter had the Czech pale which they thoroughly enjoyed.

Enjoyed watching the Salford Jets (WHO YOU LOOKIN’ AT!)

We played well and the songs went down great, some good pics by photographer Keith Bevens.

Shona and I met up with the singer from Phats & Small

……and Peter & Keith met Robbie Williams!!

or Tony Lewis as it turned out!

What a great day and we set off home for a well deserved kip.

Saturday July 6th 2019

Long journey ahead to Sunderland for the Kubix festival. Carl sorted out some videos to watch on the way:

After watching ‘Superbad’ we stopped off at the services to get some food. Then ‘Big Fish’ was the choice to get us to Sunderland in a good mood!

Lovely sunny day and a great location for the festival.

There was a big beer tent but the queues were enormous! Fortunately not everyone likes real-ale so we managed to buy some tokens and then get in the real-ale queue which wasn’t that long.

Just to be on the safe side we ordered 5 pints between us then headed over to the VIP bar where we sat in the sun for an hour or two with friends – the beer tasted really good.

Meanwhile Keith bumped into Tom Hingley from the Carpets and Will Sergeant from the Bunnymen.

…..and who can forget the Sex Pissed Dolls!!!

We were playing the second stage with Bez from the Monday’s.

Didn’t take him long to jump on the stage with us!!

Gig was fantastic, we all had a great day!!!

Sunday July 7th 2019

Fabulous sunny day for the Bootle Music Festival. Located by the Lock & Quay pub and at the side of the Leeds Liverpool canal, it’s a great location!

First off on the canal stage are The Left Indicators.

A good mix of classic rock and politics, some great tunes of their own as well.

Great family atmosphere with plenty of things for kids to do.

Somewhere here is the beer tent which was very well organised selling locally brewed beer, lager & cider.

Really enjoyed the beer today….. but guess who’s back?

Yes the girls!!! Bev & Babs guesting today as Shona is in London.

Great pictures of the gig from Gary Gilmurray!

What a great day we all had !!!

Saturday July 13th 2019

Early start as we’re off to Dartford for the Dartford Festival 2019.

Stop off at the roadchef for food and drink – “The glamour of life on the road”

Great festival site, thought we’d try and find the festival bar.

Didn’t take too long, ordered a round of drinks, they had a Ruddles County.

Served on hand pump in the Artisan Beer Tent, buttery with a full, smooth mouthfeel with a nice ending bitter note.

Bumped into these two lads we first met in 1991! They followed us to gigs in the UK and Europe – great to see them again😄

Keith seen here with Leigh from the Fire Brigades Union, great guy!

Great crowd, brilliant festival!

https://youtu.be/vYvc_vLx_iA

We had a fantastic time and took the rider with us for the long journey home!

Friday July 19th 2019

The arranged ten o’clock leave for Pennfest 2019 turned out a disaster as our rehearsal rooms weren’t open!

It was also teaming down!

We were billed to play at 3:40 so we were leaving it a bit late to grab a pint on the way.

Good choice of film we watched on the bus!

Time was dragging though and we needed to get there ASAP!

It continued to rain!

At last we arrived but with more delays getting the correct coloured wristbands!

Sorted out the set list whilst dividing the vodka & orange as there’s no time to have more than a couple of bottles of Peroni! (see previous Mosfest blog)

We were playing in the big tent, the crowd were fantastic!

Always good to play a festival in a tent when it’s raining!

Fab crowd!!!

It ended up a great gig, met Miles Kane briefly and Deano from the Rifles. Shona’s mum and all her old school friends were there and were staying for the rest of the night.

The rest of us were suddenly back on the bus out of the rain and heading back up the motorway home.

Sunday August 4th 2019

All aboard the groovy bus to sunny Rhyl for K-Fest 2019!

Sunshine and showers were forecast but hopefully it will be a good turnout.

Grabbed our passes and headed out to have a look around. I was meeting some friends from Conway and Carl was meeting the head of the Prisoner TV series fan club.

Noticed a few bars dotted about – this one here selling Red Stripe, Fosters or Gin.

This one selling the same – in fact all the bars were selling the same drinks that we had back stage.

Crowds were building up, decided to get into the swing of things!

I met up with my friends…..

and Carl met up with his – seen here sporting his Prisoner cape and number 32 badge!

Apparently I’m about to be number 33!

We were ready to go on stage although the vodka wasn’t on the rider.

Didn’t seem to need it!

Brilliant crowd!

We played well and got a great reception!

With Carl and two Farm fans after the show.

Peter back stage with his cousin Lynette.

Roy was watching Space, seen here with Franny’s wife.

Sean and his partner…..

Craig Charles was DJing, playing his funk & soul disco!

What a guy!!

Lightning Seeds finished off a brilliant festival!

What a day it was but we were all starving and set off to find a kebab shop.

I got a really nice kebab, so tasty but couldn’t finish it – I decided to keep it and have it the next day.

As we were dropping off the gear, everyone was knackered and the night eventually arrived at its inevitable conclusion.

But what a great day we all had!