Bill Badger and I just went for the weekend, getting into Swanage at Saturday lunchtime. The venue, the Sand Pit gardens near Swanage sea front, couldn't have been better (although some the stall holders compained of fighting to save their stalls from the strong winds!). The main stage tent had one side of clear plastic so that you could look at the gorgeous view of sea and cliffs as well as listen to the music. During the daytime the music was free, yet the quality of the artists was still excellent - Morgan and Robson (Ms Craig was poorly, sadly), Heelstone, and the fabulous Mary Jane were some of the bands we saw in the main tent. There were loads of good, unusual stalls, including a homemade liquorice seller, a too-tempting fairtrade handbag and scarf stall, hand made shoes and lots of jewellery and t-shirts. Found a superb shop in town too, 'Ever After' which sells all sorts of things to do with fairies, made me feel about 12 again! Needless to say it was an expensive weekend!
Whilst in town I watched the Procession come past - dozens of Morris sides of all shapes and sizes, and a bemused looking Slovakian dance troupe. Later the Morris teams danced by the seafront. Joyce Gang also played looking out to sea, near the Wishing Well, and were so impressed that they took photos of the crowd - with the sea behind us.
We booked into our rather poky room in the b&b in East Stoke (the nearest we could get at short notice) and drove back to Swanage for the non-free concerts. Quicksilver were first (Grant ex 'That's Life' presenter and her with the operatic voice from Mrs Ackroyd Band) who were quite funny, Grant also a surprisingly good guitar player. Then it was lovely ColvinQuarmby, on fierce form with the new song about America, religion and war, as well as Jerry's powerful song about so-called 'care in the community', performed acoustically for extra impact. Later Martin was allowed back to his drums for some thumping good dance numbers. A really good performance of 'Angels' got a lot of cheers. There were a family from Yorkshire who sat pursed-lipped all the way through, clearly hating the music. Obviously, ColvinQuarmby are like Marmite, you either love them or hate them!
Last up were Tanglefoot, the only Badger-related band Bill likes! Great fun, really powerful songs and lively stage act. Especially liked the song about the captain who lets the silvermine get flooded because bonking his girlfriend is more important than delivering vital fuel...
Sunday evening, hubby and I walked from the centre of town to the Globe in Durlston Park, along the cliffs. It was a clear day and the sun starting to set over the sea produced some beautiful colours. Very romantic. No dolphins though!
Highlight of Sunday was the Dolmen playing in the White Horse, again for free, they started off with Mystic Fairy Folk which is one of my favourites, together with their Bon Jovi style rendition of Prickleye Bush. We had to leave after the break though, in order to get a reasonable night's sleep for work on Monday. Awww! Next time we'll make a holiday of it down in Purbeck, and we won't have to rush away.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment