Glastonwick 2006

Stayed at a b&b just across the tollbridge from the festie - very handy, although being run by a loud, clueless Eastern European woman. The countryside round Shoreham is stunning, and the sunsets over Lancing College were fab - took a few photos of those as well as the music.
The lineup was maybe not as good as previous years - although McDermott's 2 Hours and David Rovics were on on the Friday, and John Otway and Bob Grover's Dates were there on the Saturday - but the bar was definitely better, with 4 serving hatches instead of 1, preventing the long long queues of yesteryear.
Friday - met up with Gail, Dave, Mike and Rosie from the Ranters (McD2H's fan messageboard) also Glyn whom we knew from Cardiff beer festival. Nick Burbridge came over to chat to us about his new album, still untitled but he's very pleased with progress so far. David Rovics came to say hello, he had recognised me from my photo on Myspace, thought that was really nice of him. At least he reads the comments on his Myspace site, unlike most bands!
David Rovics was as gritty and left-wing as ever - he's a like a cross between Woody Guthrie and Michael Stipe. He played some fab songs, 'I'm a Better Anarchist Than You' went down a treat, as did 'The St Patrick's Battallion', a song about some Irish-Americans who joined up to fight the Mexicans - till they realised they were on the wrong side, and ended up fighting the US instead!
Then McDermotts 2 Hours were on, and they were FABULOUS! Ben Paley, the violinist, was in superb form, as was multi-instrumental Matt in his stylish hat! Ben really seemed to be enjoying himself, which made all the difference. Nick sang Dicey Riley, which is my Ranter's sign-on, so sort of my tune. I'm glad he didn't do the verses about how old and ugly she is though!! They also played All Souls Night, from the new album, a superb slow dance song. A small bald bloke insisted on dancing with me to this, much to Dave's amusement! Luckily he found requited love with a pink haired lady later on ;-D The famous Dirty Davey was played, which got everyone dancing (even Bill), as well as Darkness and Sail, Fox on the Run and Move On Molloy, the fan's favourite from the new album demo. Bone's Farewell, another one of my favourites, was sung as well, a very beautiful tribute, I'm sure Bone would be proud, if listening from above.
Lastly the rather drunk Attilla the Stockbroker performed some doggerel as we went to say thanks to the band.

Saturday - in the morning had a walk around Shoreham, found the beach with some difficulty - maybe as an SSSI they don't want many people visiting? Didn't see a Childing Pink but visited the fort and had a look at the Marlipins building, the oldest building in Sussex. Very nice too. Can reccommend the food and beer at the Red Lion, Shoreham.
The spirit of the punkfest seemed to return in the afternoon session, as various people with dodgy haircuts spat out their hatred of the System, and people spontaneously chatted with total strangers. Verbal Warning were good, but Tracey Curtis was a bit disappointing - she seemed to sing out of tune, and her songs only seemed OK, the usual left-wing vegan type stuff. The John Otway lecture was very amusing, with some interesting socio-political bits about Woolies, record companies and the media. Later he played in the Hall but Otway's act is very visual, only the front row could really see what was going on, so it was a bit wasted on me at the back. The best act of Saturday in my opinion were Bob Grover (ex Pirhanas) and the Dates, tuneful, dancey punk rock with meaningful, spiky lyrics - loved it. Looked around in vain for an album to buy.
Bloody good weekend - as ever! Thanks Attilla!!