After spending 25 minutes yesterday in a queue for a jacket potato I arrived at Wollaton Park today armed with a pack up and plenty of water as I was hoping for another sunny day today.
First up on the main stage today are House of Brothers, a few of the audience who have weekend tickets will feel like they've already seen this band, the reason behind this is because Andrew Jackson is the main man but has a live band which is made up of some members from The Recovery who played yesterday.
Liam Gerner appeared on stage with just his guitar looking a bit lost, but his mellow voice soon filled the stage. Peter Gabriel is to thank for bringing the young Australian to our shores. Gerner is good at getting a rapport with the somewhat small crowd by telling little stories about how and where he wrote all his songs, these accompany the acoustic folk perfectly as the wind blows across the park he is a breathe of fresh air himself.
Just as we thought Nottingham couldn't throw any more talent at us we soon discover why a huge proportion of the audience are teenage girls as on walks Nottingham's newest heart throb 19 year old Sam Beeton. His marketing has clearly worked as I spot 3 girls head to toe is Sam Beeton stickers given out prior to his performance. Beeton is more than happy to give us all a preview of his new single due out in September 'What You Look For'. I think his writing talent and mellow vocals will make him a name to look out for.
As the wind picked up so did the tempo as Peter Wilson aka Duke Special arrive on stage to a lively audience. Young and old were having a dance in the park and kids were been jumped around on dad's shoulders as they responded to Dukes request for us all to join in. Half way through 'Last Night I Nearly Died (But I Woke Up Just In Time)' it seemed appropriate that the wind blew away the baby grand piano that Duke had sat on his upright version, the strength behind it was obvious in the fact that his trademark dreadlocks were obscuring his view. He came to please and he did just that with saxophone and clarinet thrown in for good measure even the under 5s were singing along.
I was looking forward to The Lemonheads, and they ripped through the old classics like 'Bit Part', 'Alison's Starting To Happen' and 'It's A Shame About Ray' I felt let down by Evan Dando who hardly moved throughout the set and looked like he was only on stage to make up the numbers, which is a shame as the rest of the guys put in a great performance.
Rufus Wainwright and his sleek voice could not have found a more perfect setting on a Sunday evening as dusk was falling over the park and hall. The first words he spoke "What a nice f*****g setting" were soon followed by an apology and 'I mean, what a nice setting'. Most people seem to stay sat down on the grass banks but sway along to his solo performance. Without his band Wainwright switches between his rather grand piano and a guitar. The best reception of the night goes to 'Hallelujah'. The park fell eerily quiet as everyone just enjoyed the moment.
Although the attendance was slightly down on yesterday the extra space at the front meant just one thing, one hell of a knees up for the closing act of the weekend Paolo Nutini, some fans had travelled over from Ireland just to see him alone and were determined to go home happy. 'Alloway Grove' and 'New Shoes' got everyone up off their picnic blankets and dancing like their life depended on it. Nutini put his all into the performance and asked approval from the crowd before testing out his new tracks. The highlight of the show for me was an excellent version of 'Bang Bang' by Sonny and Cher but I still had something in my reserve tank to keep me singing through 'Jenny Don't be Hasty' and the end of Splendour Festival 2008.
So to sum up Splendour Festival, should Nottingham be proud? Yes it should, I for one had a great weekend and I'm sure the 10,000 who attended over the weekend will agree with me. I'm off now to have a quick word with the deer to see who they have rumoured to headline next year, after all it's their park so why shouldn't they be the first to know.
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