We were here for End Of The Road Festival, which has been running for 6 years and has built a reputation as being one of the best festivals on the circuit. You can see why. It’s location, line up, organisation and all round intimate vibe made it undoubtedly one of the best I’ve been to.
Having arrived we headed for the Tangerine Fields campsite and found our tent. In an effort to travel light we hired a pre pitched tent. I can recommend this and will definitely use them again. The staff were friendly and helpful and while others struggled to put up their tents we were free to go off and explore the site. I think it’s a good sign, when you are walking across a field under a large expanse of sky, and you look up to see two parrots flying off into the sunset! It happens at End Of The Road and is one of the first things I saw.
Friday morning came around and the haze soon burned off to reveal a beautiful blue sky. It turned out to be a scorcher of a day. My itinerary meant a 1.30pm start, Caitlin Rose on The Garden Stage, but whilst exploring I stumbled upon a band who were new to me, The Growlers. I really enjoyed their show on the Woods Stage. Not only was the music great but their whole look and demeanour really worked for me.
Other bands that day included Best Coast and Clap Your Hands Say Yeah. Best Coast were pretty good. Their sound was better than I expected but as the set progressed each song sounded more and more like the one before. Clap Your Hands Say Yeah were fantastic and a definite highlight! I was expecting them to be a bit shambolic on stage (I don’t know why) but they turned out to be really tight. At one point being joined by Gordon Gano. Gordon was playing the Big Top and we ventured over and caught a bit of his set later on that evening.
I also managed to see sets by The Secret Sisters (country duo from Alabama), a bit of Cambodian Space Project (very odd ensemble consisting of a female Cambodian singer, a Cambodian drummer and some Australians from what I could gather). The start of The Walkmen’s set (seen them a few times now and never disappoint) and The Fall (say what you like Mark E Smith is a legend). Micah P Hinson (who I’d been looking forward to but frankly disappointed).
Further highlights that day were meeting Zach Condon of Beirut and having my CD signed. They played a great set on the Friday night opening with my favourite, Scenic World.
Saturday and another good day weather wise (although not quite so hot) and it was back along to the Garden Stage to see Beth Jeans Houghton. I’ve seen her twice before and I like both her voice and music however I always come away thinking that something’s lacking.
15 minutes later and I was in the Big Top for Allo Darlin’. A great indie band who seemed to enjoy every minute of their set as did the crowd. At one point, lead singer, Elizabeth Morris apologised for seeming a bit overwhelmed “because we’ve not played to this many people before”. Clare was in two minds about going to the festival and it was the chance to see Allo Darlin’ that eventually swung it. Down at the front she and the bloke next to her created their own two person mosh pit!! She had a great time!
Later that day we had the chance to meet Elizabeth et al and found them all to be lovely. Signing our records and chatting for a good ten minutes. She asked about my Moseley Folk 2010 T-shirt and remarked upon a great line up. I told her she needs to play there or at least somewhere in Birmingham. She signed my record with a promise to come to Birmingham soon.
Sunday and a grey, wet start to the day. It didn’t last long and although it threatened to rain most of the morning the afternoon turned out to be quite nice. The rain returned later in the evening but didn’t last long. Clare and I headed over to the Tea Stop, a double decker bus with a kitchen downstairs and cafe upstairs. We ordered breakfast and headed to the top deck to eat. This place was fantastic. Formica tables and original bus seats. At one end, a mono record player and a rack of vinyl albums. Choose your breakfast soundtrack. Mine had already been chosen. Whilst I tucked into my egg sandwich I was treated to the sounds of Chuck Berry. A great choice!
Band wise the day started in the Big Top with Lanterns On The Lake. I had been looking forward to these ever since I first discovered them last year (I think I posted a track on this blog somewhere). They were everything I’d hoped for, creating beautiful soundscapes and haunting melodies. Their set past all too quickly!
Afterwards it was off to the Tipee Tent for Kathryn Calder. Still jet lagged from her flight she played a fantastic set made up mainly of songs from her first album Are You My Mother? As with most of the bands, she remarked upon how great the festival was and joked that she’d played with her other less well known band, The New Pornographers, last year. Afterwards I bought her album and Clare managed to get it signed for me.
Later that day I managed to catch Tinariwen (great look and great sound as well as a great back story). Kurt Vile (I’d been really looking forward to his set and he didn’t disappoint). Towards the end of the set the band left the stage and he played a great tune. I’ve no idea what it was but I really loved it). I also managed to catch the end of Emmy the Great’s set (sounded good) and some of Woods’ set (I wish I’d caught all of this as it sounded really good).
After their set it was back to The Woods Stage for Midlake who were far better than I’d expected (despite knowing they were a good band). The audience seemed smaller than some of the other acts but this may have been down to both the fact it was a Sunday night and that the rain had returned.
Having headed back to the tent for a bit of a break I braved the weather and went over to the Big Top to see Brakes. I’d forgotten how good this lot were live. They played a storming set and although I’ve seen them before they are still one of my highlights of the festival.
I woke up Monday morning feeling chilly. There was quite a breeze blowing across the campsite. It didn’t help my mood. It was time to go home. Helping some friends take down their tents meant we were away slightly later than we’d hoped but it wasn’t long before we were heading towards Salisbury on the coach. The driver had made a good call with Bob Marley on the stereo. It suited the subdued mood.
The trains home fell nicely changing at Banbury rather than Leamington meant we got off one train and five minutes later jumped straight onto another without having to move from our spot.
The journey took around 3 hours. Once back on home turf we collected the cat from my parents and headed home. It’s a strange feeling getting back from a festival. On the one hand it’s great to have running water, a bath/shower and a comfy bed but on the other you don’t half miss waking up with nowhere to be other than in front of a stage with host of great bands to see.
Despite seeing some great bands I also missed a host of others but with 87 acts on offer as well as lots of impromptu performances and secret gigs it is impossible to fit it all in. I think I managed around 30 odd this year. Roll on End Of The Road 2012!
