To be honest, I was unsure how to top last night’s epic day at Wychwood Festival, but I returned with the prospect and with eagerness to catch up with several acts I was looking forward to seeing live. The weather was warm and sunny, perfect festival weather, I guess Sharleen Spiteri’s weather forecast had come true, maybe a new career for her should Texas ever go their separate ways?
Dexys @ Wychwood Festival
The Futureheads have been around since 2000 formed in Sunderland, their post punk music was just the thing to kick off Sunday in style, and that they did. They played with vigour and power, playing a set that was enjoyable. It was the first time I have seen them and it won’t be the last. I’ve seen comments on social media stating they were one of the highlights of Wychwood, what I did see and hear of them was enough to impress me.
Buzzard Buzzard Buzzard are a young band from Cardiff that played Wychwood’s Garden Stage. Frontman Tom Rees cites the influence of metal legends AC/DC, and while BBB might not be as heavy as the Australian rockers, I could feel the influence in a modern context. I couldn’t help but admire his strong stage presence and that of drummer Ethan Hurst who gives his all in their performance, they are ably joined by Zac White and Ed Rees on guitar and bass duties. Their 2022 album Blackhand Deals has already been nominated for an award, judging by their performance I can see why they are making their presence known on the live scene.
Wandering back towards the main stage I caught up with a performance by Seth Lakeman. Seth has made quite the impression in the folk rock scene and was tonight celebrating the 20th anniversary of the widely acclaimed Kitty Jay album. The album was recorded on a shoestring and it’s title track has links to his locale, Dartmoor. I found his opening song, where he played the violin and was joined by Benji Kirkpatrick on the bodhrun drum, powerfully inspiring. Seth brings in his band and switches to playing viola, while the others add some extra dimension adding another violin and double bass to the mix. All in it made for a captivating set of folk music.
The Lightning Seeds had the 6pm slot. Referred to as Wychwood’s own “legends slot” on another well know festival stage, and they were a great fit for it. The Liverpool-hailing six-piece delivered a fantastic set, kicking off with the instantly recognisable Change and airing a number of their well-known hits from over the years including 1992’s Life Of Riley, written for frontman Ian Broudie’s then infant son – Riley. The sun shone down throughout and it was clear the crowd enjoyed their set. The band now includes said song namesake, Riley Broudie on guitar! Given the jubilance, it was a shame they didn’t have a longer slot, but the one song that really hit the sweet spot had to be England’s de facto national football anthem Three Lions, quite poignant considering the European Championships are almost upon us! Of course this time they were not joined by Baddiel and Skinner!
The penultimate act on the main stage was one that many had waited for and were looking forward to, Steven Gene Wold – AKA Seasick Steve – joined by drummer Dan Magnusson. Together they gave a fantastic, barnstorming, foot-stomping blues set. For most of it, the 73-year-old was seated on his well-worn chair and cushion, resting his guitar on his lap. He interacted well with the crowd, recalling all the old-fashioned food outlets in the Southern United States as he launched into Soul Food from his Only On Vinyl album. His latest LP. A Trip A Stumble A Fall Down On Your Knees, is out Friday and Steve asked everyone on the left-hand side of the audience to buy a copy, his reasoning: well if Taylor Swift can go straight to Number 1 with the amount of sales she had, then he stands a good chance too, even if only for a week! I thought he played a fantastic set and particularly loved You Can’t Teach An Old Dog New Tricks, closing it out with Bring It On, it was clear he had.
Closing the Garden Stage this year were Dexys (formally of the Midnight Runners variety), with frontman Kevin Rowland and trombone maestro “Big” Jim Paterson the only remaining original members. Rowland looked stylish in his blue and red suit as he stepped up onto the stage speaking lyrics, before launching into To Love Someone, and while his set was short it did include fan old-school fan favourite Geno, and of course monster 1980’s anthem Come On Eileen. It seemed a lot of people were here; the Garden stage was packed out. The music was very soulful and the addition of the brass section has always added to their sound in a great way.
A quick dash over to the main stage for the festival-closing headliner Ocean Colour Scene. The heavy basslines of The Riverboat Song seemed to be drowning out the vocals and their sound as a whole. Fans were shouting from the audience to turn the vocals up in the mix because they couldn’t hear. As the set progressed, they covered The Beatles’ 1965 classic Day Tripper. It seems a lot of the acts this year have played a cover in the set. Ocean Colour Scene’s was largely made up of songs from their seminal 1996 LP Mosely Shoals, closing the music for the weekend with biggest hit, platinum-sellng, The Day We Caught The Train from the album.
Wychwood Festival, now in its twentieth year, has grown over that time. Although it’s not in the area once known as Wychwood according to ancient history, it’s close and has found its home at Cheltenham Racecourse. As people have described it before ‘set in the Cotswolds’, it’s a great festival offering so much more than simply music, is incredibly family friendly and one I’d love to visit again.
Live review and photography of Wychwood Festival 2024 @ Cheltenham Racecourse by Sam Holt on 2nd June 2024
From Hip Hop To Rock, It’s A Bangin’ Saturday At Wychwood Festival 2024 – Day 2
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