young bands take centre stage at GuilFest on Saturday
GuilFest 2011 review
Wednesday 20th July 2011
The toilets were in excellent condition all weekend, although there was some quite large queues for the ladies at times, and even after a night of partying they were still in good order the next day. The weather had closed in and so it was cool under canvas and we snoozed until noon, not getting up in time for the usual trip to the nearby swimming pool.
We could hear the Rock Choir as they started up on the main stage, and later the crowd sounded amazing for rising star Wretch 32. It's this young crowd that were there to dance and sing along to acts like Wretch 32, YasmIn, and N-Dubz. Whilst their friends no doubt also enjoyed beats from Modestep (DJ Set), Bar 9, and Pendulum (DJ set). The festival definitely has a greater focus on the rising stars that appeal to teens.
I paid a visit to The Big Cheese to see Subsource deliver their usual high powered performance with the highlight of their show being not just the big beats but the crowd's mosh wall. Whilst for folkies Kate Rusby offered gently sung songs, and being so sleep deprived I had to go in search of something that would wake me up, as I was not able to enjoy her lullabies for fear of a snooze. Finland's answer to Iggy Pop, the angst fuelled Anzi Destruction breathing fire sure did the trick.
Liverpool's The Farm were in a jubilant mood, New International (they wrote a song about Murdoch called 'News International' 20 years ago, see Youtube) are being taken down a peg or two, and the band deliver a hit laiden set with big bangers 'Groovy Train', 'Don't Let Me Down', and the final song 'All Together Now' was a massive song along. The compere described it as one of the best singalongs he'd seen. The Farm over ran but Alice Gold didn't have much setting up to do, as she was without her band. Her bass player had had a car crash (not serious - she told us) and so she had agreed to perform with just her guitar. And perform she did, an impressive and assured delivery made her one of the day's highlights.
The other was Anti-Nowhere League delivering a great singalong set that made their neighbours Sonic Boom Six sound rather flat (and that's no mean feat!) Back on the main stage Alesha of N-Dubz was celebrating her birthday, and whipped the crowd into a squealing frenzy as her and the other two band members offer the crowd the chance to win 5 minutes back stage with N-Dubz!
Over on Stage Two Steve Harley and Cockney Rebel finished their set with 'Make Me Smile (Come Up and See Me)', as Razorlight were just setting off on their well received headlining set. Amazingly the crowd for them was bigger than for Daltrey the night before. There was also a huge crowd gathered for Peter Andre. The site must have been quite full, it didn't seem it, but both Skindred and Pendulum (DJ set) had also attraced large audiences.
Somehow I ended up missing Neville Staple, I was in the right place enjoying Anti-Nowhere League, wandered next door to see Sonic Boom Six, and ended up at Peter Andre! The noise of the assembled throng was deafening! The place appeared to be packed with young teenage girls and their mums all shouting deliriously! Much though I hate to admit it, Andre actually put on a decent show, with dance routines, and songs with a sprinkling of catchy lyrics for the audience to scream along to.
Back in the campsite I could hear Johnny Borrell's new Razorlight line-up playing 'Golden Touch', and a cover of Edwyn Collins' 'A Girl Like You' before encore closer 'America' got a huge singalong from the crowd. That night there was no noisy soundsystems and we stayed up chatting until the early hours, enjoying a more peaceful campsite, however the younger crowd nearer the far end of the campsite appeared to be still looking for that meerkat 'Alan' from the last decade!
review by Scott Williams photos by Karen Williams / Sarah Thomas
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