Tag: Stiff LIttle Fingers

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 4 and 5

Wickerman 4 took place in late July 2005. On the bill were the semi-permanent residents and Castle Douglas’s finest the Dangleberries. There were a couple of punk bands The Zips and the Vibrators and the legendary Stranglers were still strutting their stuff.  Anti-Product returned to provide another chaotic set. Also playing were The Hustlers, Acousticat, Mostly Autumn, Andrew Jackson, Jellybones, Space Ritual and Mercedes.

Alabama 3 who were formed in Brixton in the mid 90’s were in town and produced a decent set of swampy blues including their huge hit ‘Woke up this Morning’ made famous by its choice as the Sopranos theme tune, coincidentally in my view one of the finest TV series out there.  Dreadzone were the headliners after the Wickerman burning on the Saturday.

One there purely to pick up their paycheck was the inexecrable Arthur Brown who from memory seemed to play about 17 different versions of Fire! Perhaps he should have played just before the burning….!

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Arthur Brown. Image Credit Dreamstime

The two best acts of the weekend were from the Specials and Fun Boy Three singer Neville Staple who was excellent in the late afternoon sunshine on the second stage and provided an appropriately excellent version of ‘Too Hot’. The other being the SLF cover band Straw Dogs who were deliciously loud.    

As the festival grew in stature there were different non-music elements added to the mix each year. For a couple of years there was a Circus tent which was a slightly surreal place to visit after you had imbibed a few cold Tennants. There was also for a spell a Cinema Tent where I recall them showing The Shining. One particular year when the music was a bit limp, we ensconced ourselves on the grass inside the tent to watch in full a film called the Wickerman!

There was also one year where right next to the entrance wall they installed a small funfair. Thus, there was an occasion where four full size adults squeezed into one of the little cars and braved the Ghost Train which was great fun. On the drive back on the Sunday we received a text from Tony Dewhurst who was in a separate car informing us that he had just passed the Ghost Train parked in a lay-by somewhere near Dumfries!

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The Ghost Train. Image Credit hcpress.com

Wickerman 5 had of course the Dangleberries and Straw Dogs playing again! On the punk roster were Vice Squad, The Blockheads and Eddie and the Hot Rods reprising their stellar hit ‘Do Anything you Wanna Do’, the rest of the set paled in comparison.

Also on the bill were Spiral Tower, The Hussys, Data Panik, Gin Goblins, Flying Matchstick Men, The Alamo, The Gift, Three Daft Monkeys, Eek A Mouse, Kid Ego, My Latest Novel, The Deadbeats and Sandi Thom.   

Two old troubadours Wilko Johnson and Steve Hillage and System 7 were in residence alongside the Welsh rockers the Alarm.  I caught Marky Ramone again who I had seen at Preston Mill the year before.  

The two standouts of this weekend were Jo Mango a folk band from Glasgow, the lead singer and driving force Katherine Waumsllaying had the adopted name Jo Mango and she had a superb voice that lit up the acoustic tent.  

The other highlight was a band formed in St Helens in 2004 called Tiny Tin Lady who produced a terrific folky set with thrilling harmonies. They have since been championed quite strongly by Mark Reilly.

2006 saw the debut Wickerman attendance by Jez Catlow who camped out before joining us in the Towers for the remaining 9 festivals. The reason for his appearance was naturally a festival slot from New Model Army!

The fly in the ointment was the surreal decision by the promoters to invite Arthur Brown back and he had certainly not improved from his previous years slot!