Eight Years Down, Two to Go
Watchet Music Festival is situated on a hill in Watchet that makes you view glorious sunsets and even Wales if it’s a clear day. Over the course of the three days, the weather proved to be kind to all festival-goers and the music was on top form as it has been since I’ve been going for the past four years, and as usual I was expecting a quality weekend of music and fun. It's safe to say that I wasn't let down...
Friday
Upon collecting my pass, I happened to cross the rather bizarre Deferred Sucess (apparently an intentional spelling error) with frontman Doozer on the mainstage armed with a ukulele and resorting to singing songs based along the lines of “Snow Patrol are shit! Coldplay are shit!”. Opening up the mainstage on Friday night and singing those tunes has made him one a top Essex way performer in my books – 5/5
I managed to catch up with Doozer for an interview which you can listen to here: http://soundcloud.com/keithling/doozer-interview-deferred
The next band I was able to catch up with on the bill in the Croissant Neuf stage were (arguably my favourite local band) Zoltar Speaks. This seemed to be quite odd for a festival riddled with folk, ska and indie acts to suddenly have one that played metal and thrash unto an unexpected audience with their new bassist, who practically stole the show with his first gig with the band whose performance was an absolute standout – 5/5
360 were a change of atmosphere from the last act I watched, with a crowd that still seemed rather empty, which was compensated by more room for everyone to skank in. And even in those circumstances, they even had a guitarist who only had a day to learn the setlist that was a solid mix of ska and reggae – 4/5
Saturday
After missing The Real Thing, I hoped that the Saturday would fare much better with the Weston Super Mare based Manana on the mainstage, who happened to be under equipped because of a guitarist who happened to turn up halfway through the set of repetitive festival reggae tunes – 3/5
After the last act, I ventured into the Croissant Neuf tent to see Mireille Mathlener. Unfortunately her set was riddled with predictable folk tunes and the standard backing musicians that looked like they were hoping for the best in a not exactly spectacular set – 2/5
True Blue were reportedly new to the festival scene and a band that had to be watched, with their acoustic driven festival anthems that were literally built for festivals and lively crowds, with the exception of the morning crowd – 4/5
The Cheeky Girls were a big treat to a growing crowd, from childhood memories dating back to them in the charts singing “We are the cheeky girls, you are the cheeky boys”, and there’s only word that comes to mind after their performance – awful. With cliché pop anthems, ridiculous cheer leader pom poms and skirts that were too small them along with their abnormal abs, I honestly couldn’t stand it – 1/5
However, I would not let my childhood dreams die, so I managed to get an interview with them that you can listen to here: http://soundcloud.com/keithling/cheeky-girls-interview
After escaping the cheesy pop carnage, I crossed paths with solo artist Richard Lee in the Croissant Neuf tent, and his music felt like a breath of fresh air. Combining wonderful melodies before stopping to say some rather chucklesome anecdotes, I was glad to watch a live musician – 4/5
Ferocious Dog were an unexpected surprise, sounding like an angrier version of The Levellers while at the same time literally ripping apart the mainstage with fast punk/folk rock anthems that pulsated with fun loving energy that was generated by frontman Ken Bonsall, who sported a pretty awesome Mohican – 5/5
I managed to catch up with Ferocious Dog in a rather banterous interview that you can listen to here: http://soundcloud.com/keithling/ferocious-dog-interview
The Boot Hill All Stars crammed the Croissant Neuf stage to quite a packed out audience, who were being forced to dance to banjo driven tunes and a Boney M cover that was absolutely brilliant – 4/5
The second pack of dogs emerged on Saturday evening under the name of Mad Dog Mcrae, and after seeing them at Chagstock I wasn’t expecting anything less than the phenomenal performance they gave, especially by entertaining the crowd to ‘Bare Necessities’ that crowned them as one of the most entertaining band of the evening – 5/5
I was able to catch up with Mad Dog Mcrea's frontman for an interview, that you can listen to here: http://soundcloud.com/keithling/mad-dog-mcrea-michael
The Blockheads were a festival favourite, jamming out highly funky tunes and legendary songs such as ‘Sex and Drugs and Rock ‘n’ Roll’ to an extremely high standard, along with vocalist Derek Hussey providing an entertaining yet energetic performance – 5/5
I was able to catch up with John Turnbull for an interview that you can listen to here: http://soundcloud.com/keithling/blockheads-john-turnbull
After a week in Ibiza and being rather tanned, Sound of the Sirens emerged from the Croissant Nuef tent in a beautifully elegant manner, whilst delivering sweet yet simplistic melodies and gorgeous vocals - 5/5
Babyhead themselves were a superb act to finish off Watchet Music Festival on the Saturday night, with a vibrant frontman and tunes to make a whole crowd skank the night away to their hearts content, over upbeat guitar chords and amazing brass sections – 5/5
Sunday
After over sleeping – and some wonderful bacon butties – I decided to venture into the Something Else Tea Tent, whilst being submerged in the world of fancy dress that consisted of Gnomes, Elves, Fairies, Zombified Smurfs and people who didn't have a clue what was actually going on.
First thing was to venture into the Something Else Tea Tert to watch Insomniac Jack. Insomniac Jack had a wonderfully weird but wacky set, with harmonious vocals and an astonishing cover of ‘Golden Brown’ really did provide a good wake up call – 4/5
When Dumbfound appeared on the main stage, it was questionable whether they were trying to be serious or not. Ok, I admit the guitar and keyboard combination was effective (and rather unexpected) but the painful wailing was rather deterring – 2/5
The RedHillBillies were a guaranteed laugh and provided a very tight set, even proving that ‘Whisky in the Jar’ can be played on a banjo just for some added awesomeness – 5/5
Heading back towards the main stage, The Nameless Girl appeared from out of nowhere – sounding like The Sucker Punch Soundtrack fighting Muse before calling it a day and buying each other drinks. It was rather surreal, with the use of synths and with front woman Jemma giving an exceptional vocal performance – 4/5
Los Albertos repeated Ferocious Dog’s tactic in gaining new fans – ripping apart the main stage with frantic ska ridden songs and forcing a crowd eagerly awaiting The Wurzels the skank to pass the time to maximum effect – 5/5
After the long wait, the cider loving West Country legends – otherwise known as The Wurzels – appeared and were greeted warmly by the Watchet audience, who got treated to songs such as ‘Blackbird’, a fantastic cover of ‘Ruby’ and their own dance version of ‘Combine Harvester’ – 5/5
I managed to Catch two of The Wurzels for an interview, that you can listen to here - http://soundcloud.com/keithling/the-wurzels-interview
The Ten Pound Suit Band were an odd bunch, yet their unique blend of jazz, rock and a bucketful of charisma made them a treat in the croissant nuef – 4/5
Tom Hingley and The Lovers were on the main stage to an audience who had shrunk in size, playing songs off of Inspiral Carpets second album ‘Beast’, that was full of songs littered with a punk attitude with a swirling keyboard, even if Tom had suffered from a head-cold for the past week it certainly didn’t show – 4/5
I managed to Catch Tom Hingley and The Lovers for an interview that you can find here: http://soundcloud.com/keithling/tom-hingley-and-the-lovers
Last but not least on the agenda were Shane Mcgowens old band The Popes. Combining traditional Irish melodies with rock music and mixing in some ballads, they were certainly a good way to end yet another year at Watchet Music Festival – 5/5
Watchet Music Festival may still have yet to announce that become a sell-out festival, but it has the potential to become one. Backstage crews have some of the best organisation I have seen at a festival, and no hassle when it came to the bands changing over. Not only that but it has done something that most festivals would dismiss – provide food and drink to the masses without being vastly extortionate. This is one festival that has the courage to keep going strong for eight years running, and will certainly not show any signs of stopping.
Overall rating – 4/5
N.B – Keith’s Reviews would like to thank the following:
‘Mutate To Survive’ clothes store for letting me have a pencil after my pen refused to work - www.mutatetosurvive.com
‘Herby4’ for some delicious smoothies and a bit of banter inbetween sets - www.herby4.co.uk
Luke Denham Photography for accompanying me on the weekend and taking some amazing shots - http://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/Luke-Denham-Photography/140472899382877
Friday
Upon collecting my pass, I happened to cross the rather bizarre Deferred Sucess (apparently an intentional spelling error) with frontman Doozer on the mainstage armed with a ukulele and resorting to singing songs based along the lines of “Snow Patrol are shit! Coldplay are shit!”. Opening up the mainstage on Friday night and singing those tunes has made him one a top Essex way performer in my books – 5/5
I managed to catch up with Doozer for an interview which you can listen to here: http://soundcloud.com/keithling/doozer-interview-deferred
The next band I was able to catch up with on the bill in the Croissant Neuf stage were (arguably my favourite local band) Zoltar Speaks. This seemed to be quite odd for a festival riddled with folk, ska and indie acts to suddenly have one that played metal and thrash unto an unexpected audience with their new bassist, who practically stole the show with his first gig with the band whose performance was an absolute standout – 5/5
360 were a change of atmosphere from the last act I watched, with a crowd that still seemed rather empty, which was compensated by more room for everyone to skank in. And even in those circumstances, they even had a guitarist who only had a day to learn the setlist that was a solid mix of ska and reggae – 4/5
Saturday
After missing The Real Thing, I hoped that the Saturday would fare much better with the Weston Super Mare based Manana on the mainstage, who happened to be under equipped because of a guitarist who happened to turn up halfway through the set of repetitive festival reggae tunes – 3/5
After the last act, I ventured into the Croissant Neuf tent to see Mireille Mathlener. Unfortunately her set was riddled with predictable folk tunes and the standard backing musicians that looked like they were hoping for the best in a not exactly spectacular set – 2/5
True Blue were reportedly new to the festival scene and a band that had to be watched, with their acoustic driven festival anthems that were literally built for festivals and lively crowds, with the exception of the morning crowd – 4/5
The Cheeky Girls were a big treat to a growing crowd, from childhood memories dating back to them in the charts singing “We are the cheeky girls, you are the cheeky boys”, and there’s only word that comes to mind after their performance – awful. With cliché pop anthems, ridiculous cheer leader pom poms and skirts that were too small them along with their abnormal abs, I honestly couldn’t stand it – 1/5
However, I would not let my childhood dreams die, so I managed to get an interview with them that you can listen to here: http://soundcloud.com/keithling/cheeky-girls-interview
After escaping the cheesy pop carnage, I crossed paths with solo artist Richard Lee in the Croissant Neuf tent, and his music felt like a breath of fresh air. Combining wonderful melodies before stopping to say some rather chucklesome anecdotes, I was glad to watch a live musician – 4/5
Ferocious Dog were an unexpected surprise, sounding like an angrier version of The Levellers while at the same time literally ripping apart the mainstage with fast punk/folk rock anthems that pulsated with fun loving energy that was generated by frontman Ken Bonsall, who sported a pretty awesome Mohican – 5/5
I managed to catch up with Ferocious Dog in a rather banterous interview that you can listen to here: http://soundcloud.com/keithling/ferocious-dog-interview
The Boot Hill All Stars crammed the Croissant Neuf stage to quite a packed out audience, who were being forced to dance to banjo driven tunes and a Boney M cover that was absolutely brilliant – 4/5
The second pack of dogs emerged on Saturday evening under the name of Mad Dog Mcrae, and after seeing them at Chagstock I wasn’t expecting anything less than the phenomenal performance they gave, especially by entertaining the crowd to ‘Bare Necessities’ that crowned them as one of the most entertaining band of the evening – 5/5
I was able to catch up with Mad Dog Mcrea's frontman for an interview, that you can listen to here: http://soundcloud.com/keithling/mad-dog-mcrea-michael
The Blockheads were a festival favourite, jamming out highly funky tunes and legendary songs such as ‘Sex and Drugs and Rock ‘n’ Roll’ to an extremely high standard, along with vocalist Derek Hussey providing an entertaining yet energetic performance – 5/5
I was able to catch up with John Turnbull for an interview that you can listen to here: http://soundcloud.com/keithling/blockheads-john-turnbull
After a week in Ibiza and being rather tanned, Sound of the Sirens emerged from the Croissant Nuef tent in a beautifully elegant manner, whilst delivering sweet yet simplistic melodies and gorgeous vocals - 5/5
Babyhead themselves were a superb act to finish off Watchet Music Festival on the Saturday night, with a vibrant frontman and tunes to make a whole crowd skank the night away to their hearts content, over upbeat guitar chords and amazing brass sections – 5/5
Sunday
After over sleeping – and some wonderful bacon butties – I decided to venture into the Something Else Tea Tent, whilst being submerged in the world of fancy dress that consisted of Gnomes, Elves, Fairies, Zombified Smurfs and people who didn't have a clue what was actually going on.
First thing was to venture into the Something Else Tea Tert to watch Insomniac Jack. Insomniac Jack had a wonderfully weird but wacky set, with harmonious vocals and an astonishing cover of ‘Golden Brown’ really did provide a good wake up call – 4/5
When Dumbfound appeared on the main stage, it was questionable whether they were trying to be serious or not. Ok, I admit the guitar and keyboard combination was effective (and rather unexpected) but the painful wailing was rather deterring – 2/5
The RedHillBillies were a guaranteed laugh and provided a very tight set, even proving that ‘Whisky in the Jar’ can be played on a banjo just for some added awesomeness – 5/5
Heading back towards the main stage, The Nameless Girl appeared from out of nowhere – sounding like The Sucker Punch Soundtrack fighting Muse before calling it a day and buying each other drinks. It was rather surreal, with the use of synths and with front woman Jemma giving an exceptional vocal performance – 4/5
Los Albertos repeated Ferocious Dog’s tactic in gaining new fans – ripping apart the main stage with frantic ska ridden songs and forcing a crowd eagerly awaiting The Wurzels the skank to pass the time to maximum effect – 5/5
After the long wait, the cider loving West Country legends – otherwise known as The Wurzels – appeared and were greeted warmly by the Watchet audience, who got treated to songs such as ‘Blackbird’, a fantastic cover of ‘Ruby’ and their own dance version of ‘Combine Harvester’ – 5/5
I managed to Catch two of The Wurzels for an interview, that you can listen to here - http://soundcloud.com/keithling/the-wurzels-interview
The Ten Pound Suit Band were an odd bunch, yet their unique blend of jazz, rock and a bucketful of charisma made them a treat in the croissant nuef – 4/5
Tom Hingley and The Lovers were on the main stage to an audience who had shrunk in size, playing songs off of Inspiral Carpets second album ‘Beast’, that was full of songs littered with a punk attitude with a swirling keyboard, even if Tom had suffered from a head-cold for the past week it certainly didn’t show – 4/5
I managed to Catch Tom Hingley and The Lovers for an interview that you can find here: http://soundcloud.com/keithling/tom-hingley-and-the-lovers
Last but not least on the agenda were Shane Mcgowens old band The Popes. Combining traditional Irish melodies with rock music and mixing in some ballads, they were certainly a good way to end yet another year at Watchet Music Festival – 5/5
Watchet Music Festival may still have yet to announce that become a sell-out festival, but it has the potential to become one. Backstage crews have some of the best organisation I have seen at a festival, and no hassle when it came to the bands changing over. Not only that but it has done something that most festivals would dismiss – provide food and drink to the masses without being vastly extortionate. This is one festival that has the courage to keep going strong for eight years running, and will certainly not show any signs of stopping.
Overall rating – 4/5
N.B – Keith’s Reviews would like to thank the following:
‘Mutate To Survive’ clothes store for letting me have a pencil after my pen refused to work - www.mutatetosurvive.com
‘Herby4’ for some delicious smoothies and a bit of banter inbetween sets - www.herby4.co.uk
Luke Denham Photography for accompanying me on the weekend and taking some amazing shots - http://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/Luke-Denham-Photography/140472899382877