Festivals you may not know

If you don't mind me asking, how much did they cost?

So, just on the Liverpool-Belfast ferry back from the mudfest that was Bearded Theory 2024.

I know people complained about ATN last year (I was there) but this was another level.

It rained & was muddy when I arrived Friday morning. Saturday was saved by some sun. Of course, rained again, so mudfest back on Sunday.

So, what about the actual festival? Well, firstly, I felt positively young at the whole thing - I'm 54. And there was a lot of crustiness on show. Don't get me wrong, I've no beef with crusties. Just not for me. And great Levellers love (and merch, including t shirts, jackets, totes etc.). New Model Army played...of course!

The second thing was the great amounts of punk - they do like it up them, over there. Our very own scary Meryl Streek (are those creepy white contacts he wears?) played. And boy is he angry. But ya know what, TBH, I don't blame him.

Then, there were the angry girls. Lambrini Girls & Panic Shack were two proponents. Proper angry punk - and good it was, too. Sunday @ 12md brought Belfast's own Problem Patterns - angry punk girls. I look forward to seeing them at Stendhal in a few weeks. I wonder how the much more "refined" audience will find them, there?!

Bob Vylan. He's angry, too! But I liked his schtick.

Therapy? played later in the evening & were proper good.

Future Islands, eh?! What's that all about?

Great entertainment but crazy dude fronting the band! Mad dancing & he occasionally has this guttural roar/growl into the mic. Very entertaining!

Saturday was the best day, simply because a) the sun shone & b) the ground nearly firmed up!

Look - green(ish) ground!! This was a quagmire, 24h later. And note the crowd - older than me!!

Goat Girl were good - not half as angry as other ladies - and brought their flag.

I suppose Sleaford Mods had to be done!

Ditto Jane's Addiction. Perry Farrell comes across as very through other. Brain a little addled, perhaps? And more than a bit misogynistic...as were the Mods. Or am I just over interpreting?

Caught part od 808 State DJ set - wish I could have stayed.

Orbital turned in a great set before my bed time. Got my step count up! 😏

Sunday brought more good stuff. The previously mentioned Belfast punk girls were great. And the highlight of the weekend was English Teacher. Fronted by this diminutive young lady:

Wonderful vocals. Spine tingling & lump-in-the-throat, dust in my eye stuff. I know their Dublin gig got meh-ed on here somewhere, but this was gorgeous.

Les Savy Fav - WTF is the lead singer on?! In and out of the crowd like an eejet. Crept up behind some folks at a point!

Dry Cleaning are perhaps well named &, well, dry! But I do like them!

Then came the ultimate clash - Dinosaur Jr v The Orb at same time!! But, will see The Orb at Stendhal, so off to Dinosaur Jr through the mud. Great entertainment and efforts were made to overload the sound system.

Picked up a wee bit of Steve Davis on the decks.

Caught a bit of The Orb DJ set.

Picked up Stereo MCs - really like 'em. Finished off with part of the System 7 set.

All in all, good weekend.

The keywords are: - punk, crusties, angry girls, mud…..and I felt young!

Never knew this thread existed ! Chances are none of ye know this festival exists either, and it's not really in the same vein as the others mentioned above … but it's a damn good festival all the same, and dirt cheap if you can get to it:

It takes place in the centre of France, in the grounds of a non-descript château close to the town of La Châtre. It'd fall under the heading "world music" but that's only part of it. The day event includes a huge instrument-makers' fair where you can try-before-you-buy (or not buy) all kinds of acoustic instruments ; then listen to them played properly under every tree in the park.

Unless you know the groups on the main stage, I recommend first-timers to stick with the day pass (8€) which gives access to everything except the main-stage concerts - so about twenty acts in total, per day (till 4am); entry to the campsite/field is an extra 5€ pp (flat rate, regardless of whether you stay 1 night or 6)

It is! Full disclosure: as it's just up the road from me, I do have a certain involvement in it.

It's very much a musician's festival as much as a music festival. If you turn up with raw talent, everything else you need is there - a huge range of (acoustic) instruments to try and to buy, hundreds of other musicians to jam with, an "open mic" stage if you think you're good enough, an enthusiastic public that'll tell you whether you're good enough - or not! - and the chance to get invited back as one of the featured acts in subsequent years.

Although this video was recorded at a different festival, the vibe is the same, and the group itself was born during a previous edition of the festival (and were back as one of the headline acts last year):

By all means cram in everything but it's nice to sit back and watch the world go by and chat to people too. Running around chasing bands can get to be a bit wearying i find and remove some of the joy. Looking forward to your report anyway. It'd be nice to go to a festival with a bunch of decent acts. Not jealous at all!

A quick follow-up to that previous message. Le Son Continu all over and done for 2024, another very successful edition despite temperamental weather (by French standards!). To give an idea of the kind of public we cater to, here's a picture from Monday evening of the vacated 3000-person festival campsite before the clean-up team moved in. :-)

Looking forward to hearing your thoughts on it. Enjoy!

Wowser, sounds amazing, great write up

My mum's Welsh so I've always had half an eye on Green Man but never made it, you've convinced me to look into fixing that!

"An older, middle class crowd". I think you said the same about EOTR last year. I must admit that's the only thing that's put me off both festivals previously. I like a party and some late night shenanigans and i'm not sure i'd find that at either of them. I'm not a big drinker so would tire of that option pretty quickly. Although i'm sure the music would go a considerable way to compensate!😀

Looks and sounds great anyway and you seem to have got the weather too.

It is a week long fest. I've done the week twice. I'd focus on picking 3 days.

Weather is almost guaranteed, don't camp, book a place as there is plenty on offer.

It's a nice fest. Lineup isn't there these past years. I haven't been since 2016 but I've heard the arts part of the festival is becoming less and less each year.