Sunday 8 July – Celebr8, Kingston-upon-Thames

I turned up early for Sunday as travelling to Kingston was difficult because of the Hampton Court Flower Festival, and to allow me to have something to eat before the scheduled 2pm start time. I was expecting a full day – three of my very favourite bands were playing – Tinyfish, Touchstone and Magenta, plus Dec Burke and It Bites.

Also, on the acoustic stage, Matt Stevens, Alan Reed, Gary Chandler & Kerry Chicoine. But, I decided not to “do” the acoustic stage. I just don't have the ability to stand up for that long.

Anyway, upon arriving at around 1:15 for 1:30 doors (right!), I met up with friends outside of the venue where a queue was built around us, allowing me to get to the put early enough to speak to a few people inside and still get to the pit early enough for Dec Burke band.

This is a new version of the band, with keyboard player Paddy Darlington and bassist Steve Woodcock being new, plus long time members TimChurchman on drums and Hywel Bennett sharing guitar and vocal dutieswith Dec himself. The band is much different – the five of them know when to play and when to give space – meaning that the songs come through clearly with Dec's vocals (ably supported by Hywel) coming over clearly. It was a great way to start the day.

The Hippodrome in Kingston, where the festival took place, is a nightclub. There is a pit to watch the band and steps going up to a balcony area further back, and various points to look over the stage from the sides. And around the sides, plenty of comfortable chairs. This is where I headed for a brief respite, before returning to the pit in time for Tinyfish.

Amazingly, there was already quite a crowd and Tinyfish were involved in a sound check/ comedy show. It was quite the most enjoyable sound check I've ever seen, with the banter between the band and the sound person Tim. Eventually, singer & guitarist Simon Godfrey came on stage wearing a “Prog Princess” t-shirt (presumably purchased from themerchdesk.com), and commented that it was too short. At which point Andy Rotherham (described by Simon on Friday as the most professional person on stage) gaffer taped it to his trousers. This gave the additional benefit of preventing Simon from dropping them.

This was Tinyfish's last concert (or at least, last for a while) and they really went out on a high. They never have gigged enough, but they have been friends for very many years, and it showed in the way that they interacted. Jim Sanders on guitar put in some lovely solos, and Paul Worwood must be one of the most underrated bass players in prog. It is always great to see Rob Ramsay do his spoken word parts, which adds interest. And, of course there is Leon Campfield, the drummer. Best moment – Leon pouring talcum powder on the drum kit in the middle of “Nine Months on Fire” and when he hit them (hard), naturally there was his own personal smoke machine.

The last song they did was “Motorville”, which Simon said was the first song they did on their first gig. Simon Godfrey has a way of drawing people into the performance. With Tinyfish, there are no barriers between the band and the crowd; Simon ensure that it is one massive party. I will miss seeing them live. Since February 2008, I've seen every one of their concerts except the one in Poland for “One Night on Fire” DVD and the one at RoSFest. Hopefully they will play live again.

Coincidentally, the other band that played on that February night was Touchstone. Touchstone have come a long way in 4 years; they are the nicest people on the planet and I can't think of anyone more deserving of success. Anyway, Touchstone played through a number of songs from the three albums. Having seen them many times, it's been good to see Kim (Elkie) Seviour grow as the front person for the band; she is now fully confident and her vocals were spot on through the whole show. And with Rob Cottingham's vocals as well, there was plenty going on. Moo is one of the best bass players in the country, but the best bit for me was Adam Hodgson's guitar work which was clear and precise – so frequently I've been at Touchstone gigs where the guitar has been too low in the mix. And, of course, Hen Rogers on drums is surely on the threshold of something very big indeed.

They finished the set of with “Mad World” with Kerry 'Compost' Chicoine. Kerry was previously bass player with Mars Hollow who were originally supposed to at the festival but couldn't. And didn't Kerry make the most of his time on the stage, rushing around like some sort of over-excited Tigger. That will be another memory that I'll take away from the festival.

Next up, after another rest, was Magenta. In earlier times they had two guitarists, but now it is just Chris Fry, and for me, this version works. A lot of this is to do with Steve Roberts behind the drum kit who holds the whole thing together. Magenta played with energy, and the way that Chris Fry, Tina Booth and Rob Reed interact is just wonderful – I suppose it just comes with playing in the band for many years. They played with so much energy; from time to time I'd look around and see people everywhere bouncing along to the songs. There are very few bands that exude sheer joy of playing live as Magenta – we were treated to two more over the weekend – Tinyfish and The Tangent.

Magenta played songs from every album. The variety of songs also pleases me – the softer ones like “Anger” and “Red” both of which are particular favourites. And then they can rock it with “Pride”, which was done as an encore. And during this song, someone managed to persuade bassist Dan Nelson to move to the front of the stage for a short bass piece. It's just a shame that they can't get to play more regularly.

After the Magenta set I got some food from the cheap-looking takeaway opposite – mostly because it was really tipping down. On return, I sank into the comfy chairs to listen to It Bites. I've nothing against It Bites – the new album is very good, but I was exhausted – the bands that I really came to see had played, and they'd all given everything and received a tremendous reception.

So, the end of Celebr8 2012. Jon Patrick and Geoff Banks have put on a great show. Well done guys – you should be very proud of what you put on; I hope that we can do it all again next year.