OCS and China Crisis rock Cleethorpes

Cleethorpes has a history of playing host to some of the biggest bands this country has ever produced including Queen, AC-DC, Sex Pistols & Dexys Midnight Runners, in those halcyon days of the seventies & eighties. Since then the resort has seen a steady decline in the entertainment provided to both residents & holiday makers. In 2007 this situation looked to change with the building of the 10,000 capacity Meridian Park. Unfortunately the tie up between the local council & Live Nation has resulted in little or no activity between them, leaving it to local promoter Solid Entertainments to provide a local festival.

The ambitious Cleethorpes Rocks comprised of two dates, the first in September was reasonably successful despite teething problems & managed to attract over 3500 festival goers. The second date has not been as successful it has to be said. A line up comprising Ocean Colour Scene, Lightning Seeds, Terry hall DJ Set, Hadouken & a flurry of local bands should have been a success, however massive bad luck was to play its part, when Hull announced the huge Freedom Festival run by Hull Council & Yorkshire Forward with massive financial backing & sponsorship from local radio. The free festival with its headline acts of JLS, Peter Andre, Alesha Dixon, Pixie Lott & The King Blues proved more than a match for Cleethorpes Rocks. This resulted in poor ticket sales & major changes to the line up with Lightning Seeds being replaced by China Crisis, Terry Hall & Hadouken both being dropped to be replaced by local DJ, along with a change of venue the Beachcomber. On the strength of this I too decided to make the short journey to Hull to see The King Blues & The Paddingtons for free getting back to Cleethorpes in time to catch China Crisis.



China Crisis are one of the few eighties bands to have a unique synth sound from the New Romantics era. Like many eighties bands very few original members remain, these are Gary Daly & Eddie Lundon. Playing the hits Wishful Thinking & Christian they bring a hint of eighties nostalgia & are thoroughly entertaining to those of us who grew up in the eighties. After an hour DJ set which is disturbed by one of the longest sound checks in history we finally get to see tonight's headliners Ocean Colour Scene who get a fantastic response.



Opening up with those well know TFI Friday guitar riffs of The Riverboat Song the Beachcomber has all its dust & cobwebs blown away, the fans are crowd surfing & singing along to every word. With a fantastic amount of tunes to call from Ocean Colour Scene relied on the singles with a splattering of album tracks, new track Magic Carpet Days is a great tune & kept the crowd dancing, The Circle gets everyone hugging whilst Day We Caught The Train gets the 650 crowd raising the roof of. Simon Fowler returns after a small break alone with his acoustic guitar & plays a beautiful & quiet Robin Hood ending with the now obligatory few lines of Oasis's Live Forever which makes the crowd go bonkers as the rest of the band walk on & we are treat to mosh pitting, crowd surfing, stage diving 100 Mile High City.



Having not seen OCS in a small venue for a very long time, I was reminded of just how good they where, they have recently endured lower slots at some of the bigger festivals which I don't thinks suits their style, but give them an intimate small venue like the Beachcomber & they certainly nailed it.

Here's hoping that for next years Cleethorpes Rocks they can get a little more backing from the council, which in turn can attract a little sponsorship & finally get a festival the town of Cleethorpes can be proud off.

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