Deighton Fest ’09: Rock, Chickens and Rain

After two years of glorious sunshine we were probably due some bad weather this year and it didn’t dissapoint! Friday night was better than expected, but Saturday morning brought scenes of collapsed Gazebos and raincoats. Thankfully though, the wind died down, the rain stopped and the sun came out. Maybe it was the Deighton Fest spirit shining through?

The event is now in it’s third year and organisers Lou & Alex once again did a great job. Special mention also has to go out to Pete & Dianne for the use of their property and amazing food!

Straight on with the music then! Friday night was the more chilled of the two with mainly acoustic acts gracing the stage. Unfortunately I missed Seven Fables and Mike Gatto but you should definately try to check them out. I did, however manage to catch some of Ailish Breen’s set of folky acousticness. She has a lovely voice that makes you somehow complelled to listen. I’m still singing the woo hooo hooo in my head four days later! Also playing was our very own Stoney and his much better half, Amy doing a set of acoustic covers, including a parody of our bass player Gaz based on Michael Jacksons Man In The Mirror. Enough said about that one I reckon!

After the obligotary sing-song round the camp fire and some much needed sleep it was on to the main event. Saturday kicked off with a recue mission for the broken gazebos and shelters that had been trashed by the wind during the night. Everyone mucked in in true Deighton Fest spirit and we were soon back up and running. First up on stage were festival organisers Lou and Alex as The Wigglers, excellent as always and started the day off nicely. Next up were RottnKarma, good friends of 0urs who never seem to dissapoint with their brand of ‘swamp rock’. Their new songs sounded great, even if I was a little dissapointed they left my personal fave ‘Jack the hurricane’ out of the set! Boooooo.

We were up next and probably took far too long to set up, we really are the most disorganised band! Even though the heavens decided to open whilst we were on it didn’t seem to dampen spirits, and hey, we were nice and dry under the stage area even if everyone else was getting wet!

Next up was something a little different for Deighton fest, Natural Vibes are Phil and Garvin and they introduced us to some reggae flavoured hip hop to break the afternoon up nicely. Following on was Stomp, this is Alex and Ali basically playing drums on dustbins. You really have to see it to beleive just how entertaining it is!

The next band to take to the stage were Internus. We have gigged with the Lincoln-based four piece before and it was good to catch up. Their classic rock style is remniscent of Pearl Jam and went down well with the crowd.

After a break for some haybale racing, yes that’s haybale racing some more classic rock was the order of the day as Epic ripped through their set. I remember seeing them last year and being shocked at just how good they were, especially Donna Petrie’s raspy vocals. The band definately has an essence of Led Zep and certainly kicked things up a gear.

The biggest surprise of the weeked took the stage next as The Exhibition wowed the audience. I genuinely think this Bristol based band will go on to big things. They have a single ‘All the stars’ out on August 24th so be sure to check it out on iTunes.

Northallerton lads Eskimo Sandwich were up next and they are certainly polished for such a young band. Again, they could be destined for bigger things. Their sound is guitars fused with a whole manner of strange keyboard & synth sounds, and did I hear a bit of ‘Encore un fois’ at the end? I’m pretty sure sash never sounded this good!

Time for some Drum & Bass next from Project 142. Their set really was an assault on the senses and really got the crowd on their feet. Their fusion of drum & bass, electronica & shredding rock guitar really works well and it’s a credit to Alex on drums that he had only ever rehearsed to a CD.

Finally with the crowd nicely warmed up it was time for headliners The Joe Public. Thoroughly nice chaps and a cracking band to boot, these boys are from Glastonbury and were actually hand picked to play this years Glastonbury Festival by none other than Michael Eavis himself. They are currently touring the UK promoting their new EP ‘Skin’. Check their website for tour dates and try and get to see them, you definately wont be left dissapointed.

So after much music, food and beer it was time for a final sing-song round the camp fire (Hey Jude anyone?) to round off what was another awesome Deighton Fest. Once again a big thanks to Lou & Alex for organising it all and to everyone else who got involved. See ya next year!