ALBION HOTEL, WIMBORNE, FEaSTFORALL 9th/10th JUNE 2007 Thanks to everyone who helped to make this a great success it was another 'big' learning curve for SOS and we enjoyed putting it together for The Albion Pub who were overall ed by the response especially for Saturday. We are getting a great feed back from everybody that attended! Please leave your comments in my guestbook 
 ALBION HOTEL, WIMBORNE, FESTIVAL JUNE 2007 Wimborne folk festival has been in it's current form for 28 years , based on an almost set in stone tradition of folk music , this year 2007 someone dared to be different!! If you ventured in to the Albion Hotel on Saturday or Sunday you would not have seen a banjo , accordion or a fiddle , what you would have seen was a break in tradition with some great bands playing Ska and Mod sounds. Lewis Hawkins from www.soundofthesuburbs.com brought together a mouth watering selection of bands who produced an amazing weekend of entertainment. SATURDAY EL PASO DE CEBRA(www.myspace.com/elpasodecebra) were the first band on , a four piece from Bournemouth who sound fuses both pop and ska as well as drawing inspiration from more heavier rock influences, with comparisons made ranging from The Beach Boys to the more recent bands , despite problems with the drum kit and the sound , they put together an impressive set , it is not easy being the 1st on playing to a small audience.The drummer did make me laugh losing his sticks during one number , with a big cheeky grin he just carried on as though nothing had happened , a professional in the making!! THE TORETZ (www.myspace.com/thetoretz) were on next to a slightly larger crowd , with their self claimed mix of Ska/punk with a mix of Jazz , interesting combination.One of their stand out tracks was all about being out of work and having to claim a "Dole Cheque" great front man who voice reminded me a little of the late great Ian Dury. 20 DEAD CAMELS(www.myspace.com/deadcamels) brought us with a great set of mainly ska based numbers despite sadly missing their brass section ,the audience were up on their feet dancing , they provided us was fast and furious vocals backed with a solid sound. HOPE AND GLORY (www.myspace.com/hopeandglorytribute) are a Madness tribute band who had travelled from Oxford for the gig, a full 7 piece band who hit the stage with the classic "One Step Beyond' , virtually the whole audience got up and started dancing to the rock steady beat of Madness , Darren the front man dressed in the Suggs trademark suit and bowler hat ,mixes and the best bits of Suggs with a little of U2's Bono thrown in, reaching he trying to break down that audience/band barrier. Johnny hot lips the trumpet player's nutty dance had to be seen to be believed. "Baggy Trousers" ,"Bed and Breakfast Man" and "Night Boat to Cairo" were performed with the same energy and enthusiasm as the real Madness, they left the stage with the crowd wanting more. BANG BANG LULU (www.myspace.com/bangbanglulu) another large 8 piece band with a great brass section who performed some great numbers including a very memorable version of the theme to 60/70 's kids programme Joe 90 , however their version of "Reward" by The Teardrop Explodes was something really special and ended their set perfectly. ORANGE STREET (www.myspace.com/orangestreet) are a band I have seen many times before and they have never failed to disappoint tonight was no different a brilliant set consisting of a mixture of covers and self penned material providing a great mix . "Smokin' Dreams" and "One Way Out" great songs covering some serious subject matter. Specials covers "Nite Klub" and "Concrete Jungle" when down an absolute storm building up the atmosphere nicely before the main attraction hit the stage. BAD MANNERS(www.myspace.com/badmannersska) needed no introduction and by the time they hit the stage the Albion Hotel was absolutely packed to the rafters.Instantly the band started up with "Echo 4-2" the whole of the crowd just started bouncing up and down ,the atmosphere was just amazing, people of all ages with big smiles on their faces having a brilliant time. Buster Bloodvessel arrived on stage looking much slimmer and healthier than has for a long time , he was given a huge welcome by the Wimborne crowd. I always feel when I see this band they always give 100% , the guitarist Simon plays each gig as it is his last which is so good to see, he even crowd surfed while still playing his corded guitar. Buster even got a few young children up on the stage during an instrumental number to dance and play bongos.They entertained the crowd while he was having a rest , for sure there were a few proud fathers out there who loved seeing their offspring up on stage , the children really did not want to leave when Buster returned as they were having such a great time showing off their skills,. "This is Ska" , "Lip up Fatty" , "Lorraine" and "My Girl Lollipop all were played to the delight of the crowd. The dancing was fast and furious , despite this everybody was looking after everybody else without a hint of trouble. A brilliant end to a great day of Ska BAD MANNERS ECHO 4-2 FEEL LIKE JUMPIN' HOPE AND GLORY ONE STEP BEYOND NIGHT BOAT TO CAIRO BED AND BREAKFAST MAN ORANGE STREET NITE KLUB
THE HI WATTS TEENAGE KICKS http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JygI6p6m6PE DOWN IN THE TUBE STATION AT MIDNIGHT http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_VzufbqNGvU THE JAMM WHEN YOU'RE YOUNG http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UUdz5GmFQv8 ETON RIFLES www.youtube.com/watch?v=zvauocsUArs SUNDAY 10th June With Saturday acts being mainly ska based Sunday's acts has a distinct Mod feel to them , Sunday had a more relaxed feel to the day with 3 acts lined-up to play which was not as hectic as the day before .As with Saturday it was a very hot summer's day with a lot of people choosing to sit in the pub garden enjoying their cold beers and ciders while topping up their tan , however soon as the sound of a guitar was heard most of them rushed to the stage to check out the bands. UNION - Were the first band on this lazy Sunday afternoon , it was very sad to hear their original singer had sadly passed away , and they managed to get a stand in just for this gig , they all performed very well with a mixture of Who, Weller and Clash covers , unfortunately their were not many people around to see them , a great performance. THE HI WATTS - are a great four piece band who bring a great mix of tracks from the 60, 70's and Britpop from he 90's , kicking off with Ocean colour scene's "You've Got it Bad" , continuing with tracks from The Undertones , Oasis , The Jam .It is obvious these guys are big fans of The Who as tracks by them made up a large part of their set "Behind Blue Eyes" , "The Real Me " and excellent version of "Pinball wizard" . These guys are really tight and are all great musicians who put on a great show performing songs they love so much , once again it was a great shame there was not more people there to see them. THE JAMM- were the last band of the weekend and a much larger audience had gathered to see what they had to offer , I have seen these guys quite a few times live and normally they would put on the suits to make the whole thing more authentic , however today they seemed to be just going through the motions they are capable of much much better , don't get me wrong the material today was musically great , but the band did not seem to want to put too much into it. For the casual fan their was all the hits and for the anorak their was some more obscure album tracks. A great show with the right atmosphere , but today seems more like a soundcheck that a take on the one of our greatest ever British acts. Dave Chinery(Chinners) A much appreciated Weekend write up by Dave Chinery (Chinners) dlchinery@ntlworld.com Also apologies to anyone that wanted to watch myself and Dave C, DJ and perform on Sunday night the Landlady decided to close early. I have to say that Saturday was one of the most atmospheric gigs I have been too let alone had the pleasure in producing (I'm bound to say that please back me up on the guestbook!) Dave has mentioned the smiles and I have to add camaraderie when people were being picked up off the floor by all hands after losing there footing! A friend of mine even told me today his wallet went flying and change spilled everywhere, he couldn't believe everybody around picked it up and handed it back! There was also a great mix in age groups from 3 year olds to 50's all with the same idea that night. "Love and Unity" for the common cause SKA! |
