GoGo Festival 2011
Friday 17th to Monday 20th June 2011Headcorn Aerodrome, near Maidstone, Kent, England MAP
£95 for weekend camping tickets
We got up with the lark on Sunday morning, 6am to be precise, even though the gates didn't open till 10.30! We had actually talked about going home after the fiasco of the day before, but the sun was shining, we had both been fed and watered with a lovely full English and a mug of tea and the line up was better today. It had to be as Jill Jackson, Heather Peace and Betty were playing!!
We got to the site at gate opening time. Thank God there was no shenanigans like the day before - straight through to the press area, no one else there, so we sat down and chilled. There was no one around to take crowd shots or atmospheric shots so there was literally nothing to do!
Juey was a country singer, just her, her guitar and cowboy boots on stage. Again a lovely voice, but the set did seem to go on for a while and the highlight was when the wind kept blowing her dress up in the air! Weyhey!
I must admit I wasn't paying much attention to the next act and lost the will to live. Alexia Chellum and her strange group of odd-looking band chums just didn't do it for me. Neither did their farmer-like outfits. After song three I took refuge elsewhere.
On the other hand the youngster Miri was a breath of fresh air. How can one so petite and so young have a powerful voice like that? It was quite velvety and a pleasure to listen to. Watch out for this girl.
From Karima Francis to the next act, the arena started to fill up a bit. A buzz could be heard around the arena as Glaswegian songbird Jill Jackson was about to grace the stage. Team Jackson were in force on the first few rows and yet again were like cobras awaiting their charmer to come on stage.
The set was over far too quickly for my liking and in all honesty Jackson should've been higher up the bill. She was way too low in the pecking order - this woman can really sing so give her a break!
Scottish singer Horse, in her self proclaimed Matrix outfit, was accompanied only by a guitarist and backing track. I think Horse is an acquired taste. Don't get me wrong, the vocals were amazing and the set was cool, but I'm not really a fan.
These ladies have a real pedigree and have worked with so many Gods of music including Elton John. They were astounding on stage. What got me was how much energy these ladies had; I want whatever they had which seemed to be copious amounts of wine after the gig!
Lip service's Heather Peace (HP) did an hour's set with an encore accompanied by her newly formed band. Peace has built up quite a fan base over the last year thanks to the huge popularity of Lip Service - not forgetting the fact that they love her voice and songs too. She's even got a group of hard-core followers called 'The HP Core' or 'Team Peace'.
They are a totally loyal bunch of fans that have to be at as many HP shows/appearances as possible. Quite a group of them turned out to see her here too. There were rows and rows of Peacer's all geed up ready for her to come on stage.
All of a sudden, the pit (where photographers stand to take pictures) became filled to the brim with HP's friends, family and people from other bands wanting to catch a glimpse of her on stage. Shame that they were all quickly asked to vacate the pit for health and safety reasons - much to their disgust. The security had been very, very lax up until that point so why they suddenly tightened up is a bit of a mystery - either have rules all the time or why bother!
HP came on stage with the tightest black jeans on I've ever seen. Just like when I saw her at the Glee in Birmingham, she must have used talcum powder or grease to get a pair of trousers on that tight. How on earth doesn't she keep picking her pants out from her bum? Either she wears no knickers or a g-string - let the imagination run riot!
Where were we? Trademark tight jeans and brogues, together with Raybans all equal a trendy Lesbians favourite gear. All topped off with a push-up bra, (yes we could see it and no I'm not a perve or Team Peacer) and waistcoat to match. No one really cared what she had on though - they crowd just wanted a piece of Peace action.
She started off on her keyboard, first few keys then, "Oh Fuck, what's wrong with this keyboard?" The sound engineers hadn't set the keyboard up right, so Ms Peace was left cursing embarrassingly for a couple of minutes whilst they tried to sort it. It was left to her backing singer to put right the errors and get the set going. Tut Tut!
Heather then showcased new song 'Beechwood Avenue', with Horse joining her on stage in the middle of the set.
The set finished off with an encore dedicated to Rhianna, 'Te Amo' and 'Girl in the World', HP fans were ecstatic and there was no doubt that they were going to go home happy that night.
We were standing by the press tent watching HP come off stage when backstage area left was suddenly filled by several HP fans bringing her a birthday cake.
It was hilarious and didn't stop until they, and some of the guests that had come along with the larger acts, were asked them if they could go in to the VIP area, as we felt the back stage was becoming too busy.
Musically, the show was fab with some amazing artists and bands.
review by: Michelle and Trish Owen-Williams
photos by: Michelle and Trish Owen-Williams
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