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Cambridge Rock Festival - Friday 5 August 2011
So CRF – a big field, a big tent for stage 1, a much smaller tent for stage 2, a little tent as the busker's stage, an “access to music” area, a marquee for arts and crafts, many food outlets, including one named for Leon (Camfield, drummer from Tinyfish,...
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27th November, 2001 – Heather Findlay at the Borderline
First up was Shadow of the Sun – the new band of guitarist Dylan Thomson, formerly of The Reasoning. The band have been in existence for about 6 months and I've been watching their facebook announcements about practice and song writing. The rest of the...
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Cambridge Rock Festival - Sunday 7 August 2011
Sunday looked like the proggiest of the days, even if I liked the Saturday line up more. First up – Empire of Fools – a metal band really although they played a number of rock classics (Black Night, Wishing Well, which I sort of enjoyed. Their own songs...
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Naples December 2011 – Saturday 31 December
Our last day in Naples started with clear blue skies. I always find the last day difficult because there is a chance that I'll never go back to a place again. I said goodbye to Jinesh (from India) who shared reception duties with Giovanni at the hotel....
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Saturday 4th September – Caamora – Boerderij, Zoetermeer, Netherlands
This was my second visit to the Boerderij (it means “farm” in Dutch – thanks Jeroen) which is one of the nicest venues that I've been to. There was a decent crowd in for Caamora's performance of the musical She. For those who don't know, the musical “She”...
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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...
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Summer’s End Day 2 – Sunday 30th September – Evening
Sunday evening kicked off with the Paul Menel Band doing the complete Nomzamo album. It was, judging from the official title of the band, 25 years since the album’s release – not that I cared as I had not heard it before. Paul Menel’s band included John...
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Thursday 2 August - Peddar's Way Day 4
I slept well – and woke at 7:30. After getting ready for the day, I made my way to Waitrose for a quick breakfast, and then after a quick return to the bungalow, I drove to Hunstanton along busy country roads. I parked up before the town got busy – about...
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Naples December 2011 – Wednesday 28 December
I woke up at 7:30 in a very cold hotel room. Fiddling with the contraption on the wall convinced me that it was an air conditioning unit and had no ability to make the room warmer. The hotel floor was tiled, which would have been lovely in August, but...
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Naples December 2011 – Friday 30 December
When I woke up and opened the shutter of the hotel room, the sky was gloomy and grey – a contrast to the blue skies of the previous days. We left the hotel at 9 the following morning. The door of the hotel led directly onto the street. Cars and scooters...
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Cambridge Rock Festival - Saturday 6 August 2011
I took a trip to Tesco before arriving at the field to get liquid – one big problem that I had was getting something to drink. There was plenty of beer – and two legged evidence was about to suggest that Cider was available – but £2 for a small bottle...
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Naples December 2011 – Thursday 29 December
I slept well again last night. I fell asleep very quickly and was awoken by someone wheeling a trolley along the corridor outside my room at some ridiculous time of night. Checking on just how ridiculous – 10:30... Anyway, I was soon asleep again. The...
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Caamora - House Concert - 14th October
Sometimes I travel some distance to concerts – so far this year I've been to the Netherlands, Wales, Yorkshire and Lydney (or “nearly-Wales” as it was once described by a friend). However, this evening the event was somewhat closer. Having spent Thursday...
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Summer’s End Day 2 – Saturday 29th September – Afternoon
Some people in the apartment might have drunk to excess and didn’t get up until midday. We then headed back to Lydney for the afternoon session. First up was Unto Us . They had been due to play for the last two years, but various problems led to them...
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Wednesday 1 August - Peddar's Way Day 3
I wrote up my notes sitting in Rasputin's, the Russian restaurant in Swaffham. I did the 13 mile walk – the last 3 miles were very difficult indeed. At this time, it seemed very unlikely that I would be walking anywhere on the next day. I was also listening...
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Tuesday 31 July - Peddar's Way Day 2
So, I was awake early and indeed the rain had set in. The day was miserable, gloomy and grey. The forecast, according to the BBC, was that it would clear up later on in the day. I certainly had no interest in walking through the rain. At about 10, the...
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Monday 30 July - Peddar's Way Day 1
I woke up much later than usual – about 6:15. After sorting myself out, tidying up and so on, I was on the road out of Wokingham at about 7:30 and arrived at Thetford Station at 9:50. As expected there was a taxi driver who took me to Knettishall Country...
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Summer’s End Day 1 – Friday 28th September
This was my fifth trip the longest running dedicated progressive rock festival. It really does mark the end of the summer festival season and the beginning of the autumn gigging season. And it is the festival where I meet fans on other circuits – from...
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Summer’s End Day 3 – Sunday 30th September – Afternoon
First band of the day was Comedy of Errors . I saw them with Credo a while back, and I recall thinking that they were OK. For Summer’s End, the seemed to pull out all of the stops and they put in a really good performance. The singer came into the crowd...
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Offa's Dyke - Day 0 and Day 1
It's been a while since I did an update. Things change and sometimes it is difficult to keep up. I had a stressful week in the office. I should say that the stress is largely brought upon myself for attempting to do to much. So, this weekend, when I had...
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Summer’s End Day 2 – Saturday 29th September – Evening
Wobbler were playing in the special guest slot. They had the same set up as K2 – singer/guitarist; guitarist; bass player; drummer; keyboards, and they used the same Hammond Organ and Minimoog as K2, but they had a completely style. Whereas K2 could not...
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The Unexpected Festival – Supernormal Festival 2011 - 19Aug
A few days ago, Matt Stevens posted something in facebook about playing at the Supernormal Festival near Reading and how difficult it was to get there by public transport. Difficult would have been an understatement – the festival could best be described...
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Cleveland Way - 7 July
Last night I was out watching Panic Room, Touchstone and Morpheus Rising in the sweltering heat of the Garage in Islington, getting home around 12:30. After a brief sleep, I was up at 6:30 in the morning. After breakfast and getting ready, I had the car...
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Naples December 2011 – Thursday 27 December
I decided to go away for the few days between Christmas and New Year. In the past few years, I have worked these days, but this year I decided to take the time off, and fearing that I would just end up doing nothing, I decided to go away. I also invited...
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2011 End of year Review Part 2
April Early April saw us back at the Peel, this time for Maiden United – an acoustic rendition of some Iron Maiden songs. I wouldn't know an Iron Maiden song if it became solid and bit me on the nose. But, what an evening! The vocalist for the evening...