Some Of The Best Festivals Ever - Part One - 80's Rewind Henley and Download Donnington

80's Rewind - Henley On Thames

What a fantastic weekend! This is how I like to spend my weekends, sat out in a huge field with the sun blazing down surrounded by a large group of friends, chilling with a beer and having a lot of laughs whilst listening to live music. Perfect!.

Well as the name of the festival suggests the whole theme is around 80's music and to have some of my favourite bands from my love struck, angst, teenage years brought back some wonderful memories and a great excuse to dress up (and I mean dress up) in the old eighties gordy and decadent outfits. More is more in the eighties, that meant more hair (big back combed effigy piled sideways on one's noggin... lots and lots of makeup, a Madonna beauty spot, fingerless gloves, leg warmers and bright nail polish...) and that was just the men!!!

Yes we all made an effort and making each other up gave us something to do in between sets. Some of those playing were Carol Decker of T'Pau who actually runs a pub in Henley these days made an appearance, as did Heaven 17, ABC. I'm not entirely sure why Chesney Hawkes was there, but I found it highly amusing whilst singing "I am the one and only" nearly half the crowd put on Chesney face masks...

I was in awe when Midge Ure sang "Vienna" which is one of my all time favourite 80's song. As was Tony Hadley singing "Gold". The whole crowd joined in and it is times like these I feel an affinity with the world. (I know, a bit deep, but that's how I feel when I'm in a big crowd all singing our hearts out.)

Anyway, I was really looking forward to Boy George, unfortunately I realised I didn't know the majority if his songs and asked a friend if he was going to be on for a while and if I had time to visit a portaloo. I really only wanted to hear Kama Chameleon and my friend thought that this would be his encore song. So off I trot to the loos only to my horror the moment I sat down said song came warbling out of Mr Georges mouth so I heard him live albeit through the echoing reverberation of a plastic box... Hey ho.

Rick Astley was good until he opened his mouth to speak, I'd never heard him talk before so it was a bit of a shock to hear this horrendous broad northern accent belt out insults to the crowd after each song. Ben from Curiosity not only killed the cat, but his entire set of songs. In fact I think a cat scraping it's claws down a blackboard would have been more entertaining and Hazel O'Connor is now just an old mad box of frogs!

Highlights had to be Jimmy Sommerville, Marc Almond, 10cc (I cried when they played "I'm not in love") and an impromptu sing along from our gang. We Sang Queens Mr Fahrenheit and we got quite a few others singing along too which was fabulous.

Last weekend was incredible. I can tick off another ambition achieved from my list of things I want to do before I get too old and suddenly discover one day that I enjoy crochet and listening to Terry Wogan on Radio Two!

Download Rock - Donnington

Download is the ultimate rock festival of the year and as a rock chic it was the one festival I hadn't done after Reading, V and Glastonbury. I thoroughly enjoyed the whole experience because firstly the camping wasn't 10 miles away in another county! And because the festival isn't as large as the other aforementioned there was plenty of tent space, although two guys came in and asked to put their tent up next to ours stating that there was plenty of room, however they didn't tell us they were erecting Balmoral Castle next door to us!! This grated me a tad because there were huge expanses of Field further up the field, but hey ho!

We spent most of our time at the Tuborg Tent, which was in effect the Thrash Stage. I preferred it here because you could see the artists on stage and I like to hear new talent and emerging groups. Plus the fact when the sun became too much we could sit in the shade, oh yes and the Guinness bar was right behind us. Voivod and Face Cage are two bands to look out for.





We ventured to the larger stages for acts that we really wanted to see. For me it was Pendulum, Prodigy, Static X (who sang Queen of the Damned track Cold), Black Stone Cherry (who I'm going to see in October) and Slipknot... The showmanship in that band is awesome. The drummer was on this hydraulic stage that twisted and turned and he was actually drumming upside down at some points. I would love to be in a band like that. Can you imagine the fun they have? I first saw them ten years ago at Reading and thought they were strange, but mesmerising and I still hold that belief to this day.





I have a new digital camera which I am still working out how to down load photos on to this computer. When I've figured it out I will post piccys. Damn technology!!!

Two Amazingly SCARY Plays

Ghost Stories - Duke of York Theatre - London

What a fantastic Play. Immediately as you walk into the Theatre it has been decorated with plastic sheets yellow and black tape and industrial lights with lots of eerie base noise and dripping water in the background. Clearly we were meant to be in some deserted mill or building site. 

The play was based on three ghost stories narrated by a professor of parapsychology. Some of the photos he showed on a slide show were creepy as was the first story about a father hearing his daughter’s voice as she followed him around a deserted building he was caretaker of. The Second one I was expecting what happened. The usual car in woodland then breaks down at night. The third story wasn’t particularly scary, but it was disturbing, the viewer makes of it what they will. My take was that the baby was Spawn of Satan and could manipulate those around him. The twist at the end though was truly amazing and one I hadn’t suspected at all. 

Spoiler alert: All three stories were actually connected as the professor was the one in the coma dreaming these horrors and specific sentences used were in fact the staff talking around him. It brings to the forefront the question of what is reality exactly and whose reality is real and who’s is fake. Or my favourite, how do you know that this is reality?

Woman In Black- The Lowery - Salford

I know now that this play has been made into a film and I will say no more about that, but going to the theatre and seeing something genuinely frightening, live with a group of other people prepared to be scared out of their wits is truly something special and this play certainly delivered the unexpected screams that made everyone jump!

The basic gist of the story was a man is employed by his solicitor boss to go and close a deal on an old foreboding house in the country. He gets there at night, naturally, when it's all creepy and mysterious and the house appears empty except for the odd moan, groan and creaking door. 

As our reluctant story teller investigates the house further it becomes apparent that the previous occupant was killed in a tragic horse and carriage accident and hasn't accepted their death or moved on blah blah blah.

But for me it wasn't the actual story or plot that particularly blew my socks off in a ghostly paranormal or unexplained breeze but the sudden rocking chair, the lights going out, the thunderstorm effects and as the lightening flashed around the stage and audience the ghostly apparition of the ghost women dressed in a Victorian black dress appearing intermittently that gave me the serious heeby jeebies... In fact I have a shiver run down my spine and arms just writing about it!!! Yurgh!

For Some More Spooky Tales Click Here