Solffest Day one - Friday

After a 6 and a half hour drive from rainy London My trusty driver (my brother, not a chauffeur!) and myself arrive at sunny Tarnside Farm. Solfest is now in its 8th year and is a very laid back festival that is a cross between a village fete, a carnival, and a hippy commune but with loads of bands.

Here there are more types of people than most other festivals I have been to and there seems to be quite a few candidates for the TV show Snog, Marry or Avoid! Everyone in the main arena seems to be very friendly and chatty although the teenage element in the main campsite is a little difficult to endure.

Why pay good money to sleep in your tent all day and spend the night in the rave tent getting out of your face and then behaving like an idiot until 9:00am? The rather strange thing is that a two-minute walk from where I was camping, takes you to a different world of chilled out travellers and hippies. I will be camping with them next year I think!

The festival is fairly small but the main arena feels like a tardis, with stages, shops, loads of really good food stalls and a great ‘green’ area with demos, workshops and a tent where anyone could get up and play and sing.

Right, enough about the festival itself so let’s here about the bands

Friday

First band on the main stage are the Hoochie Coochie Moonshine Band who play a mixture of Rockabilly, Skiffle and Country and get the crowd dancing. A kazoo makes an appearance at one point, which is always good to see. My favourite song is Graveyard Shift which has some interesting lyrics!

3 stars

I head over to the Bar stage next to see Alice and the Buzz. The bar stage is a huge marquee that consists of a stage a dance floor, a large seating area and a bar at the back. More festivals should do this as it works well.

Alice and the Buzz are not that suited to this type of event. The singer has a great voice but I think they may be more suited to playing weddings. Their version of Tained Love is fantastic though.

2 stars

On the main stage I watch Marner Brown who have been applauded by such legends as Paul Weller, Ronnie Wood and Steve Craddock of Ocean Colour Scene. The play no holds barred Rock ‘n’ Roll and they play it well. It feels like it is 1990 all again! They are really tight, have some great songs but it does sound a little dated.

3 stars

You can’t come to Cumbria without having a Cumbria Sausage, so that was my lunch (yum). Next on the main stage are Folk sensations Lau. Made up of three musicians who play acoustic guitar, keyboards, accordion and violin their gentle melodic folk is perfect for this chilled out afternoon. Most of the large crowd are enjoying the band while sitting down with a beer or two but there is some dancing from a few. The songs are brilliantly executed with passion and energy.

4 stars

Back on the Bar stage is Washington Irving. A group of harsuit lads from Scotland playing folk/rock. Again, a great band to chill and have a beer to.

3 stars

Pikey Beatz are next up on the main stage. These guys have been playing Solfest for many years but today is the first time gracing the main stage. They really lift the crowd with their entertaining take on Ska/Punk. The electric ukulele really made me laugh and it worked well too. The biggest cheer went to their cover of ‘I like to Move It’ that was both brilliant and funny at the same time. They have the biggest crowd of the day so far and most are moving and dancing. Great fun!

4 stars

Rory McCloud is up next on the Drystone Stage, yes you have guessed it the stage is made from a drystone wall, this brings home the fact I am not in London anymore which, coincidently is where Rory is from. A man with a message he is a powerhouse of blues, harmonica and folk rock guitar. It is easy to forget there is one man up there. Rather than stuffing his political ideals down your throat he lets you ponder while roaring onto the next track

4 stars

The headline act tonight is the Saw Doctors and most of their fans seem to have descended on a field in Cumbria to see them. Their brand of Irish folk/rock is very infectious and from the opening track ‘Johnny says’ everyone is on their feet dancing and singing along.

‘Forever More’ is a real crowd pleaser and then they bring the tempo down a little with a glorious version of Indian Summer. Just when you think you have seen the last of them they come back with three blistering encores.

The saw Doctors were a pleasant surprise and a great way to end the first day of Solfest

4 stars



All photos by Dave Thorpe