While this is not considered one of the major festivals of the year, due partially to the fact that it does not attract legendary headliners like Glastonbury, Reading and Isle of White, they certainly pulled the stops out on Saturday with a man who is undoubtedly a legend in his own lifetime.

Despite the awful weather, which deteriorated to monsoon status by 9pm, the festival was a happy and peaceful affair with all the punters making full use of all the stages, tents, food, franchises and, of course, beer. The people selling plastic ponchos did good business, but nowhere was anybody trying to rip us off and the
food and drink was reasonable and plentiful.


Moving on to the music, there was plenty to choose from and I tended to move between the Main Stage and Ents 24, not actually catching a full set from any of the acts except the headliner. Linda Lewis was well into her set on the Main Stage by the time I actually arrived inside the compound, so I moved to Ent24 to take in some of Los Albertos. This Brighton based 6 piece really rock and make good use of five singers, a superb horn section, great guitar and beats for all seasons. They seem to travel far and wide, so I doubt that I will catch them at the London venues that I frequent, but it won’t be for want of trying.


I also managed to catch some of Toploader, a band that I have not seen for some time. They did a very competent set that included 'Dancing in the Moonlight' and 'Time of Your Life' as well as some new stuff, some
of which was a bit like a James Bond theme. They have, of course, been there before with material like 'The Midas Touch'. Eddi Reader was another performer gracing the Ent24, and one that I had decided that I should check out, as I had meant to many times before. I did so, only to discover that I did not warm to her material or her stage presentation, so soon found myself back at the Main Stage for Athlete. Despite the bass player arriving on stage on crutches, their set was good
and full of the likes of 'El Salvador', '24 Hours' and, of course, 'Wires'. This is a band that I would love to see in a rather more intimate venue and will endeavour to do so soon.


The last time I saw The Charlatans was some years ago when they opened for Bob Dylan and Counting Crows at an Irish Festival in Finsbury Park. I found their set less than inspiring on that occasion, not aided, I might add, by Ronnie Woods inviting himself on stage with them and trying to play a load of stuff that he didn’t know. This time they were back on form with a vengeance and really warmed the audience up despite the rapidly deteriorating weather and the legend that was to follow.

Brian Wilson arrived on stage to greet a very wet but enthusiastic audience at 9.30 along with his impressive line up of singers and musicians. I had heard many stories regarding his deteriorating health, so was glad to see that he looked and sounded in good form as he sat behind his keyboards and greeted the audience. Guilford
isn’t London, by the way Brian, but I guess, if you come from California it looks close enough. Anyway, they kicked off with 'California Girls' followed by more surf inspired material and a promise from the Man that, tonight, we were going to rock ‘n roll.


I was immediately impressed at the quality of Wilson’s vocals and his very upbeat rapport with the audience, even if we didn’t really need him to tell us about each song as we had been listening to them for 40 years. But that’s Brian, I guess. Last year I saw what’s left of The Beach Boys (Mike Love & Bruce Johnson) and their show was very structured; surf songs, teen ballads, hot
rods, boats, all in their own set. No such order from Brian, of course, as the set continued with songs like 'Shut Down', 'Surfer Girl', 'In My Room', 'And Then I
Kissed Her', 'Sail on Sailor'. The backing band were
remarkable, taking the lead vocals where necessary, which was also the format for The Beach Boys, and seeming to cope with Brian’s eccentricities, especially
when he tried to include Little Richard’s 'Keep ‘a Knockin’' which crashed and burned but seemed to move into the next number without a blip.


They certainly rocked their way through the main set, which included a track from Lucky Old Sun (must buy that album), 'God Only Knows', 'I Get Around' and 'Good Vibrations', the only contribution from Smile. Brian left the stage at this point and the band pretended to, although it was obvious that an encore was due. After band introductions and the reinstatement of Mr Wilson at the keys, they kicked off
with 'Johnny B Goode' followed by 'Fun, Fun, Fun', 'Surfin’ USA' and a 'Barbara Ann' that they managed to make as party sounding as on the original record. The whole thing closed with the beautiful 'Love & Mercy' sung by Brian with keyboard and backing vocals. He promised to be back in a couple of years; I hope it's
sooner.

Posted In Festivals, Jul 22 2009. Words - Peter