Tag: Skerryvore

Wickerman Festivals 12 and 13

My penultimate Wickerman article commences with the 12th festival which took place in 2013. Dreadzone were back for their third appearance and Dundee rock band Fat Goth were on their second showing. There was as ever the contingent Scottish representation with Primal Scream and singer songwriters KT Tunstall and Amy MacDonald.

On the roster were Welsh folk band Glendale Family, ska bands Random Hand and the 9-piece Amphetameanies from Keighley and Glasgow respectively and some rambunctious ska punk from London’s Buster Shuffle. Casual Sex from Glasgow were very much in the Orange Juice/Fire Engines mould and there was a decent set from the Edinburgh rock and roll band William Douglas and the Wheel.

Also on the bill were Mark Wilson, Maask, Machines in Heaven, Bellowhead, Friends in America, The Hang Project, Galapagos, Mark Thomson & Neil Patterson, The Yawns and Gardens of Elk. Dexys produced a rather limp set, and The Enemy from Coventry were also in town.

Wicker had over the years had many punk bands on the bill, many of whom were ageing and who should maybe give up the ghost! One sparkling exception to this viewpoint was the Rezillos from Edinburgh who were superb and their stellar single 1978 single ‘Top of the Pops’ went down a storm! My fave punk band Stiff Little Fingers also produced a fine greatest hits set.

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The Rezillos. Image Credit Blurt.

The post-burning act was my first opportunity to witness Public Service Broadcasting who were at the stage in full computer voice mode even when acknowledging the audience, they were thoroughly enjoyable, and I have seen them a couple of times since.

The best band of the weekend and arguably the finest ever Wicker performance was from the legendary Nile Rodgers and Chic. They were so accomplished and a visual spectacle and played hit after hit reminding you how many fine tunes he has written/produced. Normally one of our crew would wander off but everyone remained in place for their terrific set complete with dubious dad dancing and I have never seen the festival crowd so engaged!

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The incomparable Nile Rodgers and Chic. Image Credit godisinthetvzine.co.uk

Our accommodation at Dewhurst Towers in Kirkcudbright is literally next door to the Selkirk Arms which has an old-fashioned front room with the portable TV in the corner and fine Guinness on tap. The back room is the food lounge area with a large sunny beer garden, and remarkably it can get proper warm in Scotland in July! They also have lodging rooms and the Proclaimers resided there when they played the festival.

Other pubs in the town were at different times the Gordon House Hotel (AC/DC regularly on the jukebox), Masonic Arms (best pub in town), Commercial (apparently the racing driver David Coulthard has been spotted in there over the years as he was born in neighbouring Twynholm), the Steam Packet (by the harbour), the Royal (used to watch Open Golf) and the Tides (battered establishment where we watched the racing and contained a commendable jukebox).

Wickerman 13 in 2014 had Dizzee Rascal, Shed Seven, Jason Dupuy and the Mac Trio on the bill. The old troubadours Martha Reeves and the Vandellas, Idlewild’s Roddy Woomble plus band and the always top value the Beat played. I created a first by catching two individual sets on the Main and Acoustic stage by Colonel Mustard and The Dijon 5.

Also on the roster were Explosion Soundsystem, The New Piccadillys, Neon Waltz, Vladmir, United Fruit, Broken Records, The Zombies, The Feeling, Skerryvore, The Chair, Cockney Rejects, Pale Honey and Schnarff Schnarff.

Another punk band who could still most definitely cut the mustard were The Members. They were a very tight unit and thunderously loud and their extended closing track of Sound of the Suburbs was sublime. British Sea Power were as excellent as ever.

We saw a highly touted Glaswegian three-piece rock band called The Amazing Snakeheads who produced a rip snorting live set to a frenetic packed tent. They had just released their sole album Amphetamine Ballads but disbanded the following year. I have just discovered that tragically their lead singer Dale Barclay died of brain cancer in 2018 at the brutally tender age of 32. I now feel even more privileged to see them in their heyday!

The final band to reference was a terrific vibrant set from a Scottish female 4-piece called Teen Canteen who produced slabs of sugary indie-pop and they since received acclaim and sessions and airplay on Marc Reilly’s 6 music show. 

Wickerman Festivals 10 and 11

In 2011, I was astonished to realise that we had reached the 10th anniversary edition of the Wickerman Festival, because there was initial doubt if it would survive past the first event.

There were the usual old timers on that year’s bill including Echo and the Bunnymen, The Damned, Pigeon Detectives, James, King Kurt, and the Coral. There were two enjoyable ska punk bands, Bombskare form Edinburgh and Spunge from Tewkesbury, and we witnessed Department S playing their famous number ‘Is Vic There?’ track released way back in 1980.

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Department S ‘Is Vic There?’ album cover. Image Credit Discogs.

Also in residence were The Hoosiers, The Moonzie Allstars, The Sundancer, Loose Kites, Rock System, The Hostiles, Katy Carr, Modhan, Discopolis and Homework. There was some ear shattering metal from Glasgow’s Desalvo, dreamy indie from French Wives and 60’s infused sounds from the Noisettes.   

Also playing were Endor Gun, Twin Atlantic, Bioorchestra, The Frues, The Capitols and Jack Townes. The highlight that particular year was a very fine engaging set from Feeder.

I recall there was an article in the local paper, the Dumfries and Galloway Gazette at the time asking for ever present attendees over the last decade, we didn’t put our names forward but the four of us must have been part of a very select crew in that particular club.

Other members of that exclusive crew were a trio of lads who we spotted over the years in various tents and in the Kirkcudbright pubs and we begin chatting with them and gleaned that they travelled up from Mansfield and stayed at Olive’s B&B in the town. They usually travelled without tickets and purchased some on arrival however that particular year the festival for the one time only was surprisingly sold out, thus they lost their ever-present attendance.

One of the newer members of our crew approached them and mentioned Mansfield only for us to discover a huge misconception that we had been wrong all these years and they actually derived from Pontefract! However, despite that geographical anomaly they shall always be known to us as the Mansfield boys!

Wickerman 11 had Skerryvore, Bis, Cast, Levellers, The Cats, The Razorbills, Moon Hey, Parrot, Fat Goth and Anderson McGinty Webster Ward and Fisher on the bill. The daddies of Wickerman, Castle Douglas’s pipe band the Dangleberries made an appearance after 5 years away with Dougie and Wee Dougie still in their extensive line up.

The Sharks, a rock band formed by ex-Free bassist in 1972 were playing alongside the punk contingent of Peter and the Test Tube Babies, The Blockheads and Johnny Robb’s Goldblade. The most woeful act was Newton Faulkner with his faux intimacy even employing a dubious prop of a drink’s cabinet on stage. We muttered ‘ye gods’ before shaking our heads and tromping off in disgust up the Wickerman hill, though there were lots of people singing every word, so what do we know!

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Newton Faulkner! Image Credit viagogo.co.uk

Also, in residence were The Lafontaines, United Fruit, Xavia, Kassidy, Andi Neate, The Darcy Da Silva Band, Duncan Maitland, Chris Bradley, Pronghorn, Janice Graham Band, Aaron Wright, The Mirror Trap, Martin John Henry, Chris Devotion & The Expectations, and the always entertaining Bad Manners.

As ever, there was a strong contingent of Scottish bands represented including Texas, Brown Bear and the Bandits from Ayrshire, the brilliantly titled Fridge Magnets from Aberdeen, and the ever-irrepressible View from Dundee. The post burning finale set was provided by the glitzy Scissor Sisters.