Chesney Hawkes proves a surprise and The Enemy wow in Skegness

Having finally got to sleep at about 7.00am due to the noise of neighbours running along the chalet landings & chalets around us having parties until then, we finally awake at 2.00pm looking out of the chalet window it would appear we are one of the first to awake as there is an eerie Sunday morning silence in the air. Chalets around us are silent and most have their curtains drawn.

We rustle up some breakfast & think how much easier this is than when camping at a regular festival, however this does limit your interaction with your neighbours. We take a walk to the Skyline to see if anything is happening where we find by festival goers returning to their chalets in some state of out all night shenanigans. There is little going on in the skyline so we take wonder into Skegness to get some essentials & a little Xmas shopping too. This is all feeling so unfestival like. We return to the camp where we see a very long line of people queuing outside Jaks for the silent disco which is obviously too small a venue. The other entertainment we notice in the little schedule book in Reds is the Female Review followed by the Male Review which we are informed are actually strippers!!! We decide to give this a miss and get some shut eye ready for the very late night ahead.

We make our way down to the Skyline at 10.00 to see Pat Sharp spinning some 80s tunes on the decks & gets a great reaction when he plays the theme tune to kids TV favourite Fun House. He shares the stage with dancers wearing some very small & provocative camouflage outfits, which are replaced half way through the sets with gorillas dressed in snow army outfits, at the front barrier there is a David Brent & Frank Gallagher lookalikes.

I make my way to Central Stage to catch The Holloways, unfortunately Pat Sharp was running late so only caught a couple of songs from them, they sounded good but the crowd was sparse, I made my way back to the Skyline to catch, now I can’t believe I am actually writing this in an efestivals review and feel my street cred (if I had any left) has now deserted me completely, but I had to catch Chesney Hawkes, yes he from 80's teen one hit wonder 'The One And Only' stardom. Now I was expecting to write about a poor performance and when he opened up with a song I didn't know, I thought here we go, however he tells us he has been playing musicals in the west end for a whilst and wants to play some Barry Manilow.

He steps behind the keys and belts out a blinding version of 'Mandy'! His next track left me stunned, picking up the acoustic guitar he plays 'Don't Look Back in Anger', a shoe is thrown from the crowd narrowly missing Hawkes, obviously from a disgusted Oasis fan, he ignores it completely, the crowd sing-along & nearly raise the canvass roof of the Skyline, I really cannot express how good this was, as much as I cannot believe I am writing this. He finally asks the crowd if they are ready for 'The One And Only' which he duly performs, he states he has one more song left & having thought nothing will beat the image of Hawkes singing Oasis songs, but even that image is shattered completely when for a finale he covers 'I Predict A Riot', again the crowd goes absolutely bonkers for him, I was left in state of daze and confusion at what I had just witnessed, Hawkes really is a fabulous performer and had the crowd feeding easily from his hand.

I run back to the Centre Stage to catch the end of The Holloways where I hear them tell us they are having to cut their set short due to overrunning, so I decide to get some late supper to keep me going, I decide to go into the Butlins' supermarket which is still open, selling everything from man-size tissues to fairly liquid. I buy some snacks and a can of Strongbow, at the till I am given a plastic pint cup to pour it into and place the bottle in the large recycling bin by the door, for a festival aimed at the younger generation it is good to see green issues being taken seriously.

I make my way to the Centre Stage again where Peter Hook from New Order is DJaying. Hooky doesn't say anything to the crowd but plays a mixture of modern & old tunes from Ting Tings to Sex Pistols, his set is very good, if a little short, but it keeps us going whilst we wait for The Enemy.

Now I must admit I am not really a fan of Coventry's The Enemy, I feel they are too similar to the Jam and the lead singer Tom Clarke tries too hard to emulate Paul Weller.

Opening up with a powerful version of 'Away From Here' the band are really tight & giving it all. As the band go through various songs I am impressed with how different the various songs sound and I am really starting to get into them, Clarke puts on an acoustic guitar and sings as though his life depends upon it 'We Live And Die In These Times', a very fast 45 minutes later and their headline set is over, I grab a swift cider and make my way to Reds to catch the Keep it Tidy line up.


The Reds venue is already heaving with a well lit stage & green lasers pulsate below the ceiling. I make my way to the front where the Tidy Boys are on the decks getting the crowd going, on stage there are dancers dressed in horseman type suits, keeping the front row entertained are the lookalikes again David Brent & Frank Gallagher, who pose for fans with their camera phones. The stage dancers constantly change between ballet dancers, horses & fire eating dancers whose heat can be felt on the front row, scary stuff! As the night progresses the dancers' outfits get less & less until two female dancers are led out in pants, bra & stockings followed by some crazy circus ring master. The Tidy boys walk amongst the front row signing various body parts on the front row!!!

Lisa Pin Up takes over DJ duties and I am really beginning to feel the late night catching me up and at 5.30 I make my way back to the chalet thoroughly exhausted. We awake at an earth shatteringly early 9.30 to vacate the chalet by 10.30am ouch!!! Seems you can book a later checkout and wish we had taken advantage of this as we are both really tired.

The Big Reunion Weekend is one of the best kept secrets on the festival scene. Many of the festival goers travel from London, Wales, Scotland & other faraway places such is its popularity. Going to a festival the last weekend of November in the UK is a strange but rewarding experience & can well be recommended. I will be going again next year & that I guess, is how all festivals should be judged.

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