Tag: The Enemy

Preston Venues 52 to 53 Moor Park – Part 2

Sunday arrived and Gill and I were up bright and early for attended the Radio 1 Big Weekend on Preston Moor Park and with the weather set fair and my festival hat donned we traversed the fifteen-minute walk to the gates.

The festival site was located towards the ‘Deepdale Road’ end of the park where the football pitches are located, probably selected by the organisers as the best geographical drainage point. We were in place for the opening of the doors at 12 and there were three stages in operation, the Main Stage and the In New Music We Trust Stage, both under marquees and the Outdoor Arena for more dance orientated acts.

The exact location of the Radio 1 site. Image Credit blogpreston.co.uk

The first band we saw was an enjoyable set from the Enemy from Coventry with their mod-inspired sound. They had just released their debut album ‘We’ll Live and Die in These Towns’ which remarkably went straight to Number 1 in the UK Charts and in fact their first three albums all went Top Ten.

Next up was a musician called Sam Duckworth whose stage name is Get Cape. Wear Cape. Fly. He was followed by the Sri Lankan rapper Mathangi ‘Maya’ Arulprgasam who performs as the rapper M.I.A. which translates as either ‘Missing in Action’ or Missing in Acton’! She subsequently received an MBE in 2019 for her services to music.

We then saw Dizzee Rascal with his suitably ‘hammed up and bonkers’ set, with the London group the Klaxons followed Dizzee. Three months earlier they had released their debut album ‘Myths of the Near Future’ which went on to win the Mercury Prize later that year.

The day of watching bands was interspersed by wandering around the site, basking on the grass, having a cold brewski and seeing many people I knew. On one such foray I caught a segment of Rihanna singing her current hit ‘Umbrella’ which went to Number 1 that very day with its refrain of ‘Ella, Ella, Ella’!   

I also saw Just Jack and Mark Ronson, who has been a renowned collaborator with many acts such as Amy Winehouse and Lady Gaga. The Dundee scamps the View were reassuringly shambolic and their ‘Superstar Tradesmen’ track was as gloriously anthemic and joyous as ever!  

The View. Image Credit tenementtv.com

We missed the Stereophonics as we decided to watch the full set of Newcastle Upon Tyne’s stalwarts Maximo Park, who probably shaded it as the highlight of my day with Paul Smith’s laconic delivery.  

We split the headliners and watched the first half of the set by Bloc Party before wandering over to view the final part of Kaiser Chiefs, who I always slightly cruelly paint as a cartoon band, but they do have some fine festival tunes and the lead singer Ricky Wilson was a whirling dervish on stage. He gave the security staff palpitations by clambering up a gantry during the outro of ‘I Predict a Riot’.  

The music finished bang on the curfew at 10pm and we sauntered the short distance home down the park reflecting on a never to be repeated day in Preston musical history!

On a much less grand scale there are other festivals that take place annually on the park. One such event is Rockprest that places its stage near to Preston Moor Park Pavilion which I attended the once in 2015. It is a tribute band event which I am always highly sceptical of but that was countered by the chance of visiting a new venue virtually on my doorstep, I believe the event continues to this day.

Preston Moor Park Pavilion. Image Credit flickr.com

I attended the day after gallivanting around the Heptonstall festival which I shall cover in a future blog. Thus, I was rather jaded and the two bands I saw, namely an East Lancashire act called Folkestra, and the nattily named Pearl Scam from Manchester who have been in operational since 2011, didn’t salve my fatigue. The torrential downpour obliterated my remaining resolve and I skulked homewards! 

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.

See the source image
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!

See the source image
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.