mix of smaller bands and popular headliners at Stockton Weekender

Stockton Weekender is 21 years in the making. It started in 1991 as the Stockton Riverside fringe festival. It has always been a free event and in 2010 attracted huge crowds who were rewarded with artists such as British Sea Power, The Lightning Seeds and Calvin Harris. This year that all changed and the festival had a revamp which included a name change and a new controversial entry fee for the Friday and Saturday. Sunday stayed as a free family day with mainly local bands.

I went to the inaugural Stockton Weekender wondering what effect the new entrance fee would have on attendances and atmosphere. As I expected the numbers were well down on last year but this wasn't a bad thing. Everyone who was there were there for the music and it was a true festival crowd who, especially during the headliners created an atmosphere way beyond their numbers.

The festival couldn't have expected what the weather gods were going to throw at them. It was like living through three seasons in three days! Over the weekend there was glorious sunshine, heavy persistent rain and finally cool and overcast conditions. Fortunately the crowds took it all in their stride.

When I arrived at the festival the first thing I noticed was how compact it is. When I entered the main arena there was a few food vans (burgers, hot-dogs, chips etc), a bar, a small kids area and a couple of stalls. The prices were reasonable for a festival with burgers priced at £3.50, a pint of lager/cider the same, and soft drinks £1.50 each. Due to its location it was also easy for people to walk into Stockton town centre for food or drinks or even a break from the music and return later.

The festival also had a two venues outside the main arena - Georgian theatre for local talent and a comedy tent. There was a small funfair which had the usual small children's rides (tea cups, roundabout) plus the teenager-fast-furious-head-mash-torture-me-for-fun rides (Extreme, Equinox etc.).

I never got chance to find the Georgian theatre, but the comedy tent always seemed really quiet when I was in there, which is why I think the organisers dropped the entrance charge for this from the Saturday and as a gesture generously offered refunds to anyone who had already paid.

The Friday saw the best of the weather with high temperatures and plenty of sun. This enabled people to sit around on the grass and watch the entertainment. The line-up on the Friday started with mainly local talent, Be Quiet. Shout Loud!, Elaine Palmer, Chased by Wolves, and Soviet Disco, the latter being the highlight of these with their high energy Indie rock. The evening included the popular Teesside band Young Rebel Set, Kitty Daisy & Lewis (quirky multi instrumentalists who seem influenced from diverse genres including blues, R&B as well as country) and Newton Faulkner who has a great voice and wowed the crowd with an excellent version of Queen's Bohemian Rhapsody. The headliner on the Friday was American blues artist Seasick Steve. He went down a storm playing instruments that looked like they'd been cobbled together ten minutes prior to going on stage.

Saturday wasn't for the faint hearted. The rain was torrential at times and there was even flooding in the local area. This didn't stop people enjoying this outdoor festival. Small crowds turned up to watch the early bands which included The Purnells, Sister Rose, Jimmy & The Sounds , and Saint Saviour. As the evening wore on more and more came, and by the time The Chapman Family took to the stage there was a decent amount there (which looked even bigger due to the umbrellas on show). Cast then followed and had the front of the soaked crowd bouncing about churning up the mud with their uplifting Britpop anthems Alright and Guiding Star.

The highlight of the day was the headliner Maximo Park. Paul Smith hails from the local area and used this to full effect to get the crowd behind them to the point that they even showcased new songs as well as B sides. The weather even seemed to respond with the rain stopping within a few minutes of them coming on. They finished as expected with Apply Some Pressure and walked off the stage with the crowd left wanting more.

The Free Entry Sunday went reasonably well with the likes of Suspiciously Elvis and Henry Priestman entertaining the crowd, which had a surprisingly low turn out until the headliners came on. The Wildcats of Kilkenny had this honour and did a good job of whipping everybody up and finishing by leaving everybody on a high and looking forward to next year's event.

Overall the Stockton Weekender was an enjoyable festival and I hope that the organisers gamble of charging for entry doesn't backfire as I do think it helped keep it a family friendly environment. Maybe a smaller charge would have encouraged more to come along but hopefully word of mouth will get more there next year. The organisation was excellent and the mix of entertainment from the smaller bands trying to make an impact to the popular headliners was spot on. I am looking forward to the 2012 Stockton Weekender having weather more like an August festival. I will definitely be back to see if it does and I would encourage anyone who missed out this year to give it a go.

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