Tag: CSS

Preston Venue 52 Moor Park – Part 1

Somewhat remarkably I have arrived at the door of my 200th (and 201st) blog so I cogitated long and hard about to what to cover in this particular piece and eventually decided to write about what was arguably Preston’s biggest ever music event in terms of national exposure in my lifetime.    

On returning from a holiday in early 2007 we were informed that astonishingly the Radio 1 Big Weekend was to be held in the sleepy backwater of Preston in May 2007, and not only that but the venue chosen was Preston Moor Park, a ten-minute bumble from where I lived at that time. This event was Europe’s biggest free ticketed event, with 35k punters in attendance over the two days.

   Moor Park with an outdoor stage in approximately 1955. Image Credit flickr.com

Moor Park is Preston’s largest and oldest park. It was the site of the Battle of Preston in 1648 where there was a four-hour scrap between the New Model Army, commanded by Oliver Cromwell (commemorated in song by Elvis Costello) and the Royalist and the Scots. Horse racing was held there annually between 1736 and 1833, and there is still in place the stone that was the starting point for the races.

Also, in 1833 it was rebadged as Moor Park and the original Serpentine Lake and ‘Ladies Walk’ (Moor Park Avenue) remain to this day. Preston North End began their existence initially as a cricket club on the park before changing over to football and moving location onto the other side of Deepdale Road.

During the Great War, it was utilised as a hospital and in the Second World War as a prisoner of war camp. The observatory was installed in 1927 just before a rare occurrence of a total eclipse in that year.

Moor Park with Deepdale in the background. Image Credit blogpreston.co.uk

There was an open-air baths in existence there until the early 1970’s, just before my time though I do recall visiting the other open-air baths in Haslam Park across town before that closed, though from memory the water was brutally cold! I do also remember they had a decent pitch and putt golf course in the middle part of Moor Park in the 1980’s.  

The first challenge was to purloin a ticket for the Radio 1 shindig, and they did thankfully allocate a vast proportion to local postcodes. After submitting applications from several addresses (with prior agreement!) I was notified we had been allocated two tickets for the Sunday bill, though confirmation was only received ten days before the event. The tickets were free though that did not stop many greedy charlatans trying to sell them at hugely inflated prices, before thankfully the sites were shut down!

It was obviously broadcast live on Radio 1, and coverage was also available on BBC Three, with Edith Bowman, Jo Whiley and Chris Moyles amongst others in attendance. There was a huge encouragement for attendees to use public transport as there is very limited parking facilities in that area, two separate park and rides schemes were set up to assist in this venture.   

There were many Fringe events with local bands playing at the Mad Ferret, 53 Degrees, Bitter Suite, Kolor Bar and the Venue. They featured acts such as Jelly’s Last Jam, King Casanova, How’s My Pop and Redwings who had recently had a support slot with the Subways.

King Casanova playing Oxjam in Preston in 2007. Image Credit flickr.com

On the Saturday there was an exciting vibe as festival goers walked past the end of my road and I could hear the music from the bands in the distance. My pal Rick Clegg was in attendance and acts playing that day included Razorlight, Kasabian, The Gossip, Biffy Clyro, CSS, Scissor Sisters and LCD Soundsystem.

Connect Festival 2007

Alongside my favourite ever festival, which were always the Wickerman events, I have always endeavoured to attend other festivals in Scotland so was intrigued to hear of a new one called Connect in 2007. We decided to attend the debut event as for us it had a dream bill of four of my favourite ever bands, (if Carlsberg did festivals!) and three of which appropriately were Scottish. Unfortunately, the festival only lasted one more year and was scrapped thereafter due to high running costs, which was a shame as it turned out to be a belting event. 

The setting was the idyllic Inverary Castle, located on the banks of Loch Fyne in Argyll and was badged as the first ever ‘boutique’ festival and was aimed at a more mature audience with the bonus of a real ale tent saving you from the ‘delights’ of Tennents Lager!  

Inverary Castle. Image credit johansens.com

The first conundrum was bagging accommodation and Uncle George played a blinder by finding us some digs above a pub on the main drag in Arrochar. We then decided to undertake the trip by train as we always like to avoid driving if there is a viable alternative. The Preston to Glasgow leg was easy but the second part needing planning as there were very sparse trains onwards to Arrochar.

So, on the Friday, we arrived in good time for the 12.22 from Queen Street to Oban, because the next train was not for another four hours. Once the train traversed through the industrial area north of Glasgow it turned into a very scenic route with a steep uphill section bringing us into our destination of Arrochar and Tarbet. 

The pub owners very graciously picked us from the station as it was a good mile walk into the town. We grabbed some hearty food and a couple of cold ones and then headed to the nearby bus stop for the ‘regular’ buses to the site…

An hour later we were still stood there and there was a small group of us now gathered but no sign of any transport. One of the brethren rang up to complain and astonishingly a taxi arrived which I think was free to take us to our destination.

As we walked up to the entrance, we encountered a young lass with the heaviest most overladen backpack I have ever seen replete with pots and pans (literally the kitchen sink!) who it transpired had travelled in from Manchester. Chivalry kicked in and we took in turns to carry the lead weight into the site, joking afterwards that we could have been inadvertent drug mules!

We watched Aerogramme’s last ever show on the Guitars and Other Machines stage, they were a very decent post-rock band from Glasgow. We also saw Vector Lovers, Baillie and the Fault, Numbers DJ’s and an enjoyable set from electro band Cansei de Ser Sexy (CSS). 

The first of the big hitters on the main stage was Jesus and Mary Chain, who I was seeing for the sixth time, but for first time for nine years since a chaotic Liverpool show on their final tour in 1998. Despite the inclement weather, they were excellent. We also witnessed a little of the headliners Beastie Boys before an infinitely smoother return journey to our digs where we were allowed to take a ‘one for the ditch’ Guinness upstairs at last orders.       

On the Saturday, we managed to pick up a standard bus that dropped us in the small town of Inverary with its two pubs, the George Hotel, and the Anchor Inn. The George particularly was a lovely establishment with lodgings that Gill and I utilised a few years later whilst travelling to Mull. On the way to catching the ferry at Oban, you pass Loch Awe which lives up to its moniker. Mull itself was a beautiful island and we had one of our best meals ever at Café Fish in Tobermory. The restaurant looked like a transport café from the outside, but the food was astoundingly good.

Back to the festival, we arrived early specially to see my new favourite band the Hold Steady who I only caught for the first time a month early in Manchester and they did not disappoint. This time, we only got a truncated thirty-five-minute set, but they were still compelling viewing. We also witnessed Rilo Kiley and a segment of Primal Scream’s headline set.

The two acts prior to the headliners were of infinitely more interest to us, the initial one being the hardy perennials Teenage Fanclub and the latter the ever-magnificent Mogwai. More chaos then ensued at the coach pick up point, but we made it back eventually.

Arrochar and Tarbet station. Image credit geography.org.uk

The Sunday consisted of a leisurely walk back to the station to await the opening train of the day back to Glasgow which landed at 14.09. In the interim we began to hear the distinct sound of a steam train hauling itself up the hill into the station which is always a sight to behold. It then sat on the platform for a spell, and we could see many contented punters being treated to a fine Sunday lunch and accompanying wine.