Another fun-packed weekend at the Old Colours Camp…
We were lucky enough to be one of the few bands selected by BBC Introducing to play at Onefest and the experience was awesome!
The biggest school boy error of the weekend was the fact not one of us thought to wear wellies. Stupid move. Every festival attendee should really know Festival + Rain = muddy shoes and we’d realised this a little too late as we drove into the artist parking area. Dan had a little moan about his lack of warm clothing – a denim jacket and a brand pair of new loafer shoes was probably not the wisest of choices for attire. Ethan didn’t even have souls on his shoes which wasn’t really ideal.
However, the festival was brilliantly organised and as soon as we pulled up, we were greeted by a friendly artist liaison officer named Matt, who helped us carry our kit through the mud and showed us to our warm, and dry dressing room.
Yes you did read correctly. WE had a dressing room. It was all a little bit too exciting. Fully stocked with beer, crisps and double lollies, I don’t think I’ve ever been happier.
Our line up was again slightly different from the last gig, with Sam joining us once again on keys and Robert on Cello.
It’s always quite exciting to see how each gig will pan out – with the ability of playing as a 2-piece (at minimum) or at maximum, a 7-piece – every gig is a little different. Obviously, the more people in the band, the louder I get to sing – and I enjoy singing loud (I think my folks would second that).
The gig itself went very well. There were a few heckley crowd members shouting ‘I love you Zoe Mead’ – which never really gets old. Nothing boosts self esteem more than drunken, sarcastic friends. We really need to work on our stage banter. Ethan had to repeatedly remind the crowd that ‘We were actually a real band’ as mine and Dan’s chatting was getting a bit too stupid. I’ve accepted now though that I quite possibly have the stage presence of a sweetcorn – so I just try to get by on the music.
In all though, a very successful gig, with a large, enthusiastic crowd – so thanks to everyone who watched.
We were very impressed by the band who graced the stage before us; ‘A Genuine Freakshow’. Their sound was epic. The large collection of musicians had obviously been playing together for some time as the music was just so full and tight. After the set, we watched our fellow Swindon-based friends ‘Young blood’ – who rocked the stage to oblivion – such an awesome band! Next, another favorite – lyrical, story-telling genius from Bristol; ‘Gaz Brookfield’ who sold about a million CD’s to a mob of crazed fans. Michele Stodart completed the lineup with a chilled, melancholy set, with her lovely acoustic offerings enhanced by a collection of great musicians at her side.
It was such a fun day, rounded up by some other musical gems; ‘Dry the River’ and ‘Damon Albarn’, whom we had met earlier sitting on a log at the festival entrance. Turns out Damon’s a pretty normal guy, we didn’t feel star-struck at all – it was almost like he had never been the front man of one of our favorite bands of all time!
After a few too many beers, we reluctantly left the festival and returned home to find my folks watching ‘The Cube’ on catch up TV – back to normality.
Sunday morning was pretty horrendous. We were all hanging and we had a last minute audition for our chance to play in front of thousands of people at this year’s; ‘Big Arts Day’. Unfortunately the hangover was joined by a shoe cleaning session as we’d forgotten that our shoes had been utterly destroyed from the day before. After all, who is going to let us play their festival if we have muddy shoes? I guess.
Ethan’s shoes were so badly destroyed, that he was forced to wear his aunts daps. They had the word ‘Fly’ imprinted on the back. Nuff said.
Old Colours 