Skye Hi's review

Skye Hi at Guildford
28/29/30th July 2000

Friday

Guildford Live kicked off at 6pm on a wet rainy Friday evening but by the end of the weekend we were going home with sun tans. Getting to the festival by car was made difficult by flash flooding on all the roads and the A3 was almost at a standstill so we arrived a little late but made a quick tour of the site.

The festival site was made up of three stages, one indoor dance arena and a small market which had the feel of a bazaar and was just about perfect size if you want to have a look around but still have time to see the bands. My best find in the market was the Tooth Fairy where I had a twinkle added to my smile in the form of a small gem which will remain stuck to my tooth for between 3 months and a year. You could then add a henna tattoo, have braids put in your hair, buy some colourful clothing and a set of twinkly fairy wings and become the ultimate festival babe - it was all here together with the usual crafts and stuff.

I saw Rolf Harris - full review here.

Terrorvision

Now that we were warmed up we moved over to the main stage where Terrorvision was just finishing their energy packed set. You couldn't mistake who was on next as every third person seemed to be wearing a Motorhead tee-shirt.

Motorhead, heavy metal at its loudest, have been around a long time and have a huge following in the UK, but have only recently found fame in the USA where Lemmy now lives. They are releasing a new album soon. They still play heavy metal in the same guitar thrashing, ear bashing, head banging way although only Lemmy remains of the original line-up - and lets face it no one could match up to that deep rasping voice of his. There had been trouble in the beginning when somebody had thrown a beer can directly at Lemmy and he had verbally laid into them. This made a bad atmosphere for a while but later in the set Lemmy seemed genuinely pleased at the size of the crowd and the good feeling he was getting from them. He told us it had been 10 years since he'd played in Guildford. They finished off with Ace of Spades and Overkill, of course, and the huge crowd went home happy, many of them having been reminded of their motorcycling, leatherjacketed youth.

Motorhead

Saturday

Saturday was a beautiful hot sunny day and loads of families were setting out their picnics and blankets for the day. This festival had a very family friendly feel to it, possibly due to the music line-up but also because of its location, size, and excellent children's area. I also noticed quite a few people in wheelchairs who were able to move around with comparative ease as the site was on gently sloping mowed lawn, and a wheelchair viewing deck was right next to the mixing desk at the main stage. I would say there were far more over 35's and under 10's than in between and this showed in the Dance tent. Some people hate it but I think this mobile nightclub is a masterpiece and at Glastonbury it was heaving. But here there were very few people during the day and although it was busier later on this was not a clubbers festival and the DJ line-up was not sufficient to attract them.

The Dance Tent

The first band I saw today was Bad Manners - full review here.

Moving over to the Aladdin's Cave stage we came across Ben and Jason - full review here.

Marc Almond

We spent to rest of the evening wandering around the market, caught a bit of Marc Almond and Aswad, but as the weather had taken a bit of a turn and rain threatened we decided to spend most of the time in the Dance tent for the 808 State DJ set and the Guilfin Ambient Lounge.

The Dance tent was full but not packed so there was plenty of room to dance. It was very hot in there and we were surprised at the amount of security personnel who seemed to be spaced every 10 foot round the dance floor. Those at the entrance were checking that no one brought in drinks other than Smirnoff which was sold at the bar inside. Surely people had bought their festival tickets and should be able to drink what they wanted!

the Guilfin Lounge

The Guilfin ambient lounge was full but we managed to find a chair to share. There were plenty of sofas to sit on and colourful hangings to stare at under the UV light. There was also a small dance floor for those who felt moved by the music which was not always what I'd call ambient. Also a tea and coffee table at the entrance and an Guilfin information table full of leaflets and flyers. We made our way home around midnight but were told that the ambient lounge stayed open all night and most of the market stalls closed around 2pm due to there being too many drunks around.

Inside the Guilfin Lounge

Sunday

We arrived in time to meet up with friends just before Joan Armatrading. They had camped on the festival site and, I'm sad to say, had the usual festival camping horror stories. One couple woke up to find a man rooting about around them and when they screamed at him to get out he made as though he thought it was his tent but got away with her handbag. Other friends came back and found a man already in their tent and he also pretended he was lost and confused. Why was there not more security around to keep watch? These friends said they camped every year but these events had really spoilt things for them, particularly as they also had children with them.

Stage 2, the Kids Zone and camping area

First performer I acught today was Joan Armatrading - full review here.

Today seemed much busier than yesterday and I was told it was a sell out. There seemed to be more families camped out with their picnics than before but now they also had Sunday papers as provided on site. These newspapers were everywhere and by the end of the day you could hardly see the grass. The weather probably helped draw in some people on the day but it seemed to me that Van Morrison was the big attraction.

Sometimes you find really good food at a festival and I must mention that in the central area of the festival we had enjoyed a smoked salmon and cream cheese toasted bagel with a cappuccino coffee from the Slurp and Burp stall while watching a small carnival procession lead by a blue monster which must have come from the children's area. There had also been a group of men in Tommy Cooper style Arabic dress who seemed to be a festival alternative to Morris dancers doing their thing. The beer tent and the Unsung Heroes tent was also positioned in this central area and although I didn't manage to see any performances here there was often a large crowd gathered around.

My next stop was a rest by the Aladdin's Cave stage where Cheryl Beer was
singing accompanied only by her own guitar. She sat down for her set and the crowd too were relaxed and on their bums. This however was no reflection of her performance, her voice had great range and she had a friendly chatty rapport with the audience. At the end she received great applause and when she stood up I realised it was her that had been doing the announcements and introductions on the main stage. I must say I had been having a bit of a laugh as her voice put me in mind of a village fair and I half expected her to announce "cakes are now half price on the cake stall" at any moment. I had also noticed that she always said "wasn't that fantastic" after every performance. I just found it amusing - little things he!

Another moment of amusement for me was as I had wound my way down to the front to see David Gray. The place was packed right up to the back and most families had accepted defeat and had packed up their picnic blankets and were standing up. However as I got right up front there was a family to the left of the stage who had maintained their position through it all and were calmly cutting up a chocolate train birthday cake. Now there's something you don't often see at the front of a main stage.

David Gray

I had come to find out what this David Gray was all about. Recently finding fame with Babylon his name was being whispered all over the site and I wanted to know why. He looked good I'll give him that but I found the sound a bit depressing. A moment of excitement came when the drummer went mad whirling a tambourine round his head. He had attracted a huge crowd though who seemed to enjoy the songs. Towards the end he moved from guitar to electric keyboards and was having trouble with the technology which got a few laughs. He also stopped playing in order to shoo an insect of the keyboard rather than kill it which got an approving cheer. He finished heavy and loud, featuring an electric guitar and lines from Led Zep - hey hey mama etc - at last something good but that was at the end.

Last for me was Jools Holland - full review here.