Mumford & Sons draw the crowds and The Stranglers make the day a Triumph

As a Triumph owner of long-standing, I'm more than happy to give my account of this show. The event was held at the Mallory Park race circuit in Leicestershire. Triumph Motorcycles based in Hinckley have reached a 20 year milestone in their reincarnated history, and as such hired the race track to celebrate their success with the fans and owners of their bikes. Camping for the hardcore was available and it was great to see plenty of Triumphs (and other bikes) parked up for the night next to their tents.

The show itself was set out so that you always had something of interest to see or do. Whether it was the racing on track or the organised bus tours to the Triumph factory. As we didn't take the tour I'll have to skip that bit -we did however take a walk around the largest marquee that had been set up by Triumph in the paddock area. This was an exhibition that gave you an insight into the history of the 20 years since the brand was resurrected with examples of various triumph models and footage on tv providing the narrative to developments for each year. All in all this was very interesting. Elsewhere the latest offerings from the factory were set up for people to sit on and admire and tempt prospective buyers, or just to dream...and there were even test rides available for a few who booked early enough.

The racing that we came to see, was as you'd expect, with practice, qualifying and then the actual race. The bikes were all based around the 675 Daytona - this model has sold in bucket loads all over the world. The riders and machines provided very enjoyable racing, but it was definitely the warm-up to the main event. That came from the "Street Triple R"...the stripped down version of the Daytona. I don't think I will ever see that Streetfighter style bike being ridden with such gusto and skill and sometimes in a manner that left you thinking some brains had been left behind in the paddock area. Absolute nutters, but what an awesome spectacle though - and great fun to watch.

In between the races they had two stunt riders (one of them the legendary Kevin Carmichael) going through their tricksy routines (riding Triumphs naturally). These included stoppies, wheelies, rolling burnouts, do-nuts and drag racing on one wheel! These are skilful riders - man and machine as one...

After the last stunt show finished on the Mallory start/finish straight bringing the track-based entertainments to an end the first band of the evening kicked off on the outdoor stage.

(At this point I must confess that I'm a 100% metalhead, and make no apologise for that!)

The first band then:- Burning Shapes... They were more rock & roll than most of the other acts. They went down well but there was not much of an audience at the time due to the rain that had started to fall. Bummer...

The band that followed:- Diego... I thought this act were pretty good. A more uplifting happy beat, sort of folk/rock style. I would go to see these again if it was a local gig....

Next band:- The Dunwell Brothers Band... A more thoughtful band, with harmony vocals and acoustic guitars. The songs were "telling a story"..They reminded me of Crowded House, in a mellow mood...

Next up:- Cats And Criminals (battle of the band competition winners). This band played a more funky set with the added horns and upbeat rhythms. They went down well with the crowd and it was just as well because the rain had started again.

By now the standing area around the stage was packed and all of them were waiting for this one act....

Mumford & Sons... I must admit to knowing nothing of this band, other than what my friends were telling me on the day - I'm a metalhead remember - but the crowd certainly knew the songs off their best-selling debut album because they were singing along to most of them. The rain obviously didn't bother them and M &S also played the first encore of the night. It was funny to watch the younger kids leave the front of the stage after M & S had finished their set, and the older guys (like me!) and gals took over...

The Stranglers need no introduction. They've been around for what seems like a hundred years and though I've not seen them that often I'm reliably informed that they rarely do a bad set. They played for an hour and a half, running through hits and the occasional more obscure track from their back catalogue. I only remember their hits but they were played spot on - an over heavy bass for my tastes perhaps, but that's The Stranglers. The encore was the classic 'No More Heroes' which finished off the night's entertainment to a T...

The whole days event was finished off, as it should be, with one more beer in the well stocked beer tent. Then it was goodnight Mallory Park and hello bed...I was knackered...Ciao...

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