Warriors,Hippys and Goslings

19th May-The Damned,Derby,Bearded Theory Festival

We forced ourselves up 9:00am and managed to get downstairs for breakfast.I wish I hadn't bothered cuz it was shite!The scrambled eggs tasted like powder,the bread was the cheapest cardboard they could find and the sausages were worse than a tesco cafe.The croissants weren't bad though.Martin was already up as usual then D.V. came down and joined us.
After breakfast we set off to Derby.We wanted to get there nice and early so we could get shit sorted in good time,plus it was a festival so we shouldn't get too bored.
On the way,we discovered that Jon and Martin's caravan names were makes of caravans not models so that meant they didn't qualify and we had to find new names.So,for Martin,using the rules explained in my previous blog post became "Charisma" and Jon became "Wisp".Then we found the perfect caravan name for D.V. He became "Lunar Eclipse"!Perfect.
We stopped off at another services,probably one of Jons favourites, and had a bit of lunch.Jon had a car park tour shave and I spotted some Warrior APC's.Jon was good enough to drive around them so I could get some picks.

Tour shaving

Warrior APC's being transported

We set off and got to the festival at about 13:00.It was a Hippy fest.When we got there,Martin discovered there was a txt from Chris (tour manager) saying,no rush,we're on at 10:30pm and there won't be much to do when we got there.Great,I don't really like festivals unless it's a Metal or Punk fest and I'm definitely no fan of Hippy festivals.Still,maybe it won't be that bad.So we went for a walk to see what was going on.Yep,my worst nightmare.Hippys everywhere,lots of different colours all around,market stores selling hippy tat,a dance tent and the worst crime of all,no distortion on any guitars of any of the bands playing!!! I thought I might spark off a protest just for wearing leather gloves and boots.
We decided to go backstage for a while.As luck would have it,we were next to a lake which was swarming with Geese and there goslings and Swallows doing some amazing acrobatic displays.As I love animals and taking pictures of them,this kept me busy for a good few hours.Here's a few that turned out ok.

Proud Parents

I could watch these for hours

This one was running back to it's parents after struggling to get out of the lake

Eventually,after all three of us had a kip in the van,it was time to load in and set up.

Boredom kicks in

We set up after Dr Feelgood finished and The Damned took the stage.The Smoke machine went mental and it was a fucking good show.No problems, but even if Pinch was having problems,I couldn't seem him through the smoke for most of the gig anyway.In fact,when I did go on stage to help Monty with something minor,I got stuck on stage in the smoke not knowing which direction to go.I nearly ended up flat on my face tripping over a monitor.

The smoke machine going mental

My view of Pinch through most of the show

Stu in the moment

D.V. making use of the monitors

After,we packed up and headed off straight away.This was another show that was close enough for us to go home from.I txted into Radio 2 again but got no mention this time.I got home about 3am and was forced up early (only joking Missy) to go to the Sunday Market at  Cheltenham Racecourse in the morning.All good though cuz I managed to get a load of desert camo gear cheap.Bang on!

Magic Dave.
Next Blog: 4ft fingers report of 1st rehearsal for 10 year anniversary tour.