Welcome to my blog. I live, knit, crochet, spin and craft near the Northumbrian Coast (but not too near – the waves won't be splashing my yarn!).There's a story in every stitch, every grain of sand, every blade of grass. I thought I'd blog about it…
Although the Stitches by the Sea blog has evolved quite a bit since it began, these days it has two main strands: my crafty makes and classes and also the gigs I go to and review. This is one of those rare posts that involves both!
My most recent make was the Festival Fever Blanket: a crochet-a-long project from Eleanora Tully of Coastal Crochet. Eleanora’s blankets are amazing – extremely imaginative and colourful, Her patterns are well-written and there are video tutorials available to help with the complicated bits. There’s so much detail that you never get bored.
Fitting in with the festival theme, the design includes tents…
…bunting…
…and even musical notes….
…all finished off with a funky bobble edging.
It was great fun to make and I absolutely love it.
Of course I had to take it to a music festival, so it came with me to Darlington last month for the Rewind 80’s Festival (read about the music here and other aspects of the event here)
My lovely friend Angela came with me – here she is modelling the blanket. That’s The Farm on stage in the background.
I wonder which festivals that blanket will visit next summer?
I already posted a review of August Bank Holiday Sunday’s 80’s gig here. The music was great (we were treated to The Human League, Bananarama, Tony Hadley, The Christians, The Farm, Toyah, Altered Images and Carol Dekker: a great lineup. It’s so good have an 80’s festival in the here North East, and long may that continue. However there were some issues with the way the event was organised where there was room for improvement, including accessibility for disabled fans. I hope that those concerned get to read this (please share) and take it as the constructive criticism it is intended to be, to learn from and make improvements for future events.
Unless otherwise stated, these are my own opinions and observations.
Ticket Purchase
Disabled fans requiring accessible seating and/or an essential companion ticket were advised to purchase tickets from TicketMaster and I did so – they have a good registration system for disabled customers, so proof of disability is given once and is valid for ticket purchases for 3 years.
Booking a parking space
I would be driving to Darlington (which takes about 1 hour 20 minutes) in my adapted vehicle. I worked out that I would need to park at the stadium, being at the edge of town away from Town Centre Car Parks. The event was on grass so I’d need my `all-terrain” scooter: this can be loaded into my own vehicle using a built in electric winch, but is too large and heavy to go on a shuttle bus or regular taxi..
When pre-event information was released it advised that venue parking had to be booked and paid for in advance, including disabled parking. The charge is not ideal, when disabled people may have no other option but to park on site , but more importantly there was no separate priority route to purchase a disabled parking pass, resulting in what seemed to be a bit of a scramble for all the parking, certainly on the link given on the pre-event info email and this quickly sold out. I couldn’t see another way round this. Had I missed something? It was looking increasingly likely that I would not be able to attend at all. I reached out on social media and discovered that I was not the only disabled customer who had missed out on the parking. Others were going to attempt to manage with sticks, though were concerned about whether they’d be ok. My final thought was to contact the promoter, Liz Hobbs Group via the contact page of their website. Give them their due I was soon sent a link to an alternative ticket vendor website (Eventim) and was able to purchase parking at last. Crisis averted, but not an ideal situation. it would have made more sense (to me) to have event tickets and car parking sold on the same site.
Getting into the car park
The day of the event arrived. I picked up my lovely friend A and the journey passed without incident until we were close to the stadium itself as queues of traffic were starting to form. Following the directions automatically sent to my phone when I purchased parking, I inadvertently drive past the entrance to the stadium where I should have been – the directions sent me towards a locked gateway, so I had to do a U-turn into traffic (fortunately slow moving) and eventually found my way back to the correct entrance – I only knew this because other cars were turning in there. I saw no signage for disabled or reserved parking indicating this way in or any stewards outside directing drivers in.
Inside there seemed to be very few stewards – I did not recognised the logo on their hi-viz gear as belonging to one of the major event security firms that one would normally see at such an event (they may have been employed directly by the Rugby Club but I’m not sure) -the parking e-ticket was scanned but there was some confusion about were we were supposed to park – the stewards didn’t seem well briefed. Eventually we found the designated area earmarked for disabled parking. Fortunately we arrived before this had filled up and I was able to get out the car easily – the individual bays were regular narrow ones, not the wider ones purpose made for disabled drivers/passengers, which are essential when transferring from seat out of a side door into a wheelchair.
Getting into the Stadium
With the scooter out of the car we set off towards the stadium entrances by a convoluted route to use the drop kerbs. There was not signage to a disabled entrance and some of the gates had steps. I asked a female steward where we should go and before she could answer a man in a Rugby club top took us to where we were supposed to go next – I asked him if he worked for the Club and he said he built it! As he took us to the next steward who scanned tickets he also told us that once we were inside, the wheelchair area was to the left of the stage and the steward there would give us yellow wristbands. We got there and were admitted to the area but were not given wristbands. A was given one later to allow her back in after purchasing food and drink. Apparently we were supposed to collect wristbands from the box office – who knew? There were no signs. At no point was there a security check of our bags. Although no food or drink was supposed to be allowed in, I did have a full water bottle with me, and was prepared to pour it away if challenged – I was not. I later discovered that another friend had been at the event, unbeknown to me. She told me that a steward had attempted to confiscate her sunscreen. She wisely refused to let him – this was after all one of the hottest days of the year – not good practice to ban sun protection,
The Viewing Area.
This was nothing more than an area separated off by barriers. Not a proper platform. there were some folding chairs stacked against the front barrier that people could get out and use if needed. The best thing about the “Pen” was that there were accessible portable toilets.
Although situated at the front, the area was so far to the left that only half the stage was visible. If you imagine a diagonal line drawn between the near front corner of the stage and near the opposite back corner. I could only see in front of that line – the back line wasn’t visible at all. The only time I saw a drum kit all day was on the screens! Even band members at the front of the stage were often obscured by the rigging at the side.
The front barrier was pretty solid and not the easiest thing to see over, especially if you were very short in stature and/or requiring a reclined position in wheelchair, making a raised platform even more necessary. All wheelchairs and scooters are not the same height!
At other events I’ve been to the wheelchair area stewards have been a lot more pro-active in ensuring the safety and comfort of disabled customers, for example ensuring that seats were positioned so no-one’s views were obscured. This certainly did not happen here – there was one steward on the entrance to the area who never ventured beyond that – there was a bit of a free-for all for chairs and people just positioned themselves wherever.
Event Information
There was no running order posted up on the screens – we only had the start and finish times given in the pre-event information. On stage times for each act would have been useful for timing trips to food vendors and bars (especially as the queues were long) and to use the toilet, which can take longer if you are disabled. Dynamic running order posts are especially useful later in the event if things are running late and people need to rearrange taxis.
The Smell
I mentioned earlier that this was a particularly hot day. The stadium is situated on the edge of town close to farmland. Later on in the afternoon there was a strong smell of farmyard manure! It was definitely not coming from the toilets. I’m a countryside dweller and I know the difference. I also know that we are entering the muck spreading season to fertilise fields for the next crop. I could be totally wrong here but I did wonder if there had been much liaison with local residents and farms and if a local farmer had been angry enough about the traffic, disruption and noise that they had staged a sort of agricultural dirty protest!
Food and Drink
I’m pretty used to the bans on taking your own food and alcohol into such events. Usually sealed bottles of soft drinks are often allowed though. At least there was free water available which was absolutely essential in view of the hot weather. I don’t think the party crowd or the hot weather had been taken account of though. People do drink more when it’s hot and the lager ran out early in the evening. Not good. There was a good variety of (expensive) food available
Leaving the Stadium
After the last band came off stage at the end of the night, exiting the venue took ages. One would expect all exits to be open to allow free movement off the premises. Only one exit seemed to be open, leading to a potentially dangerous bottleneck. Even when a crowd is moving in a slow orderly fashion,, when it’s packed tight like this it can feel very unsafe in a scooter or wheelchair as you are much lower down and cannot be seen. The stewards appeared to have given up by this point – a few were standing around chatting but seemed to take no part in ensuring the audience’s safe and speedy departure.
Once outside, the car park was chaos. With no stewards to direct traffic everyone was trying to find their own way out. At the same time, taxis and shuttle buses were trying to get in. A chorus of car horns blasted through the night air as drivers got more and more frustrated.
We on the other hand sat tight in the car, with our flask of coffee and picnic, waiting for the traffic to clear before we left, arriving home in the small hours.
This is not a Rugby Match
I did wonder if the organisers had simply applied what they did on a match day to this music event, without much heed to the differences, of which there are many. For example a majority home crowd of regular local supporters who know where they are going, and can use public transport or taxis, need less stewarding and signage. Many of the audience at this event would have come from further afield, probably visiting this venue for the first time with no idea of the layout. It also lasted around 11 hours, considerable longer than the duration of a match and many people were continually drinking – quite a few looked the worse for wear and would be thirsty in that heat, not the case for a winter season sport like rugby! More beer was needed!
A lot of the issues I’ve outlined could have been solved by using professional event stewards, with more experience of this type of event, better briefed and more of them, both inside and outside the premises and on duty from well beforehand until after all cars had gone. The addition of a viewing platform and adequate signage would have solved just about everything else.
As it stands I would hesitate to attend another event here. There would have to be a really good lineup of bands to persuade me. I hope that those concerned can learn from and improve what they do. We need and want 80s music here in the North East. More please but do try harder next time!
(Human League, Bananarama, Tony Hadley, The Christians, The Farm, Toyah, Altered Images, Carol Dekker)
A sweltering August Bank Holiday Sunday saw a cracking array of artists from the 80s and 90s perform at Darlington’s Bowden Park rugby Club, aka Darlington Arena. I approach the summer festival season with a certain amout of trepidation. As soon as you combine open air events with the British weather, access becomes unpredictable. The larger and more established events have got their act together but with new events springing up in sports grounds, parks and stately homes all over, some have not yet got the access for disabled customers fully worked out. But I’m going to save all that for Part 2. This one is all about the music! Today I was accompanied by my lovely friend A, who is great company and great help , which included navigating, doing the bar/food runs and even providing backup photography when my phone failed –
You only had to look at all the mullet wigs and neon ra ra skirts to see that there was going to be a party on the pitch today. We sixty-somethings do love a bit of nostalgia. We can enjoy recreating our mis-spent youth while contributing to the pension plans of our favourite 80s bands and there is absolutely nothing wrong with that!
Kicking off the afternoon was Carol Dekker, the flame-haired T’Pau front woman. I enjoyed seeing her at Bents Park, South Shields last summer with Haircut 100, and love that her voice is as good as ever.. She belted out songs old and new, including fan favourites Heart and Soul and of course China In Your Hands, which has to one of the greatest. power ballads of the 80s, or even of all time. We also got a surprise cover of Journey’s Don’t Stop Believing (with a bit of a disco beat). That’s a guaranteed sing-a-long crowd pleaser (whether you remember it from first time around or were glued to Glee) and it went down a storm.
From our vantage point in the accessible area we noticed that there was a pretty good view of the area behind the stage and we spied Clare Grogan, looking fabulous, rocking shocking pink sequins and feathers, with some very high heels, arriving for Altered Images’ set. Everyone fell in love with her in the 80s (remember Gregory’s Girl? ) – on stage she’s as engaging as ever, Glasgow’s feisty wee Barbie doll (in pink)!
We got the first bit of on-stage drama of the day when Clare fell off those pesky heels. You could feel the gasps of concern from the audience but she was back on her feet right away, blaming the new shoes. She told us that at least her daughter wasn’t present to see it and complain about how embarrassing it was ~(parents everywhere will empathise with that!) .
All our favourites: Dead Pop Stars (going back to the “Baby Punk” days); Happy Birthday; I Could Be Happy; Don’t Talk To Me About Love – the crowd loved it and sang along enthusiastically! Scotland needs more national treasures ‘like you Clare!
Last April, after K died, I wrote a lot about him and coming to terms with that loss. I was really touched by the response. Live music had been our shared passion and I just had to keep that going. That first gig without him, was hard but I continued, blogging those reviews and access details as much as I could . That first one was Interzone: a big line up of mainly 90s bands, including The Farm. I got a lovely comment back from The Farm guitarist, Steve Grimes aka Sip Advisor, who writes the band’s blog incorporating a photo diary of life on the road with The Farm, taking in the gigs, the journeys in between, pubs visited, beer sampled (with tasting notes) and the people they meet along the : Check it out here.
I messaged Steve to say I was going to the event at Darlington and he came to say hello, along with Carl Hunter (bass). It was great that the guys took the time to meet up with us and we chatted about the blogs and the gig. It’s quite refreshing that in these times of filtered Instagram posts and contrived paid-for Meet-and-Greets there are still musicians who try to keep it real. In the middle of all this, Clare Grogan was spotted again backstage, about to leave the venue and we were briefly left holding the beer, so that Carl could fulfil his ambition to meet his teenage crush…. the coveted Access All Areas wristband has its uses!
Toyah took to the stage next and owned it…I love that she doesn’t take herself too seriously. You only have to watch Robert (Fripp) and Toyah’s Sunday Lunch: the hilarious videos that went viral during COVID lockdown. Mr and Mrs Fripp kept us smiling at a time when we needed it most. This was an energetic performance that had me reaching for my phone to see if there’s a tour this Autumn. We got the hits and more, and just enough talk in between: It’s a Mystery (“Not the best song for a singer with a lisp,” she quips) and I Want to be Free were in there of course and a cracking rendition of Joan Jett’s I Love Rock and Roll…fabulous!
The Farm are on next. The crowd are warmed up and loving it. We are treated to some of the new album : title track Let the Music(Take Control) and Forever and Ever….I’ve been listening to it this week – definitely worth a play. We also get a nice change of pace with The Farm’s take on The Clash’s Bank Robber. It’s all sounding great and Peter Wooton still has the neccessary swagger to front it all.
Of course everyone wants to dance to Groovy Train and sing along to All Together Now and they soon get their wish, A very loud, alcohol-and-sunshine-powered crowd sang their hearts out. There’ll be some sore throats tomorrow!
Didn’t know much about next act, The Christians, though I do love that charity single – their version of Harvest for the World. Lead singer, Garry Christian alluded to recent health problems and seemed hestitant at first. He has every right to be nervous. It’s only weeks since the band’s drummer, Lionel Duke had a cardiac arrest while on stage at another festival. Thankfully he’s now recovering, but that must have been pretty traumatic to all concerned.
Once Christian got into his stride he was in his element, getting down to the front with the crowd, giving us great bluesy soul vocals and harmonies, especially on Harvest. I don’t think he wanted to to end! Did they overrun their allotted slot? Maybe. It was hard to tell with no detailed running order available.
Tony Hadley had the best voice of all back in the 80’s and still sounds sublime. Coming on in a suit (must have been roasting on such a hot day) and perching a stool in the style of a Vegas crooner, singing Feeling Good; then on his feet to sing the Spandau Ballet classics. To Cut a Long Story Short; Gold; True; Highly Strung…and finishing with Queen’s We are the Champions (and the audience knew all the words of every single one. Such a voice!
I’ve never seen Bananarama and wasn’t sure what to expect. These days the band is down to a duo. And poor Keren was suffering from food poisoning (her son’s barbecue was to blame) – you have to admire someone who goes on stage with that to deal with. Sara was obviously concerned and kept asking if she was ok. With two acts declaring health issues and Clare Grogan’s fall, today is certainly presenting an added level of jeopardy….will they or won’t they get to the end of the set!
I had seriously forgotten how many hits Bananarama had back then and they came thick and fast.. Really Sayin’ Something; Cruel Summer; Love in the First Degree; Nathan Jones; Venus; Robert De Niro’s waiting….I’m know I’ve missed some. All delivered with the choreographed dance moves – nothing too complicated so everyone could join in with that AND sing along. A real crowd-pleaser of a set!
It was time for the last act of the evening: The Human League. I always say that when I think of my record collection from the 80s, the album that comes into my mind first is Dare. I was a student in Sheffield at the time – they were a local band, so part of my history in a way. These days HL are pure pop pantomime – and I mean that in a good way….over the top and cheesy, but still belting out those hits that were the soundtrack of the 80s.
There’s an obvious effort made with the staging of their set: the choreography consists mainly of lead singer Phil Oakey running from one corner of the stage to another. We have another 80’s staple on stage tonight – keytars (like a keyboard/guitar hybrid)… And the costume changes! Oakey tries on more outfits than Mr Benn in the fancy dress shop. Tonight’s looks included Ming the Merciless Goes Goth ( a military style black jumpsuit with massive shoulder pads ……
…Miami Gangster (pale blue double breasted suit over floral shirt)…
…Choirboy/Pierrot Clown – a white frilled surplus.
While we are on with the fashion notes Singers Joanne Catherall and Susan Ann Sulley had some costume changes too (nowhere near as many as Phil ), beginning in pink (Long and sequinned for Joanne and short satin for Susan… ending with red and black feathers and a sort of dark Statue of Liberty vibe respectively. Throughout it all Phil Oakey presides, grinning like an evil puppet master. There’s plenty going on up there as well as the music.
Of course there’s all our favourite tracks from the commercially successful third album Dare (Love Action; Don’t You Want me …and the rest ) and later tracks too: The Lebanon, Mirror Man, Human, Heart Like a Wheel, Fascination. One Man In My Heart (with Susan’s vocals – the only one Phil doesn’t sing). The audience got to do the whole of Don’t You Want Me earlier on, with just the help of the keytars to accompany them. Everybody knows the words to that one (probably a costume change going on. at the time).
As headliners, HL are given the privilege of an encore and I’m delighted that it begins with that first hit, Being Boiled – I love the early stuff from when Martin Ware and Ian Craig Marsh were mainstays of the band, prior to leaving to form Heaven 17 back in 1980. I do wish they wouldn’t end on Electric Dreams though – not my favourite. It was originally credited to Oakey and Georgio Moroder rather than Human League . For me it just lacks the HL sound. I think Don’t You Want Me would be a better choice in that slot and keep the audience wanting more right until the end.
Despite that it was a fun set and the audience loved it. Keep on doing what you do Human League! We all love a good show and that really kept us entertained!
As the audience left, happy, hoarse and in some cases, more than a bit drunk, you could hear them still singing those songs.
It was just as well they were in good spirits as leaving the stadium was challenging. Regular readers might be wondering why I haven’t written about disability access as I usually do. I’m keeping all that for Part 2 as there’s quite a lot to say!
For now, the music takes priority, along with all those memories of the 80’s. We may all be getting older, and not just the audience – those big screens unforgivingly show every wrinkle and bead of sweat. While we may not be able to party quite as hard as we used to (and even embarrass our children a little bit), this generation is going to proudly carry on and grow old disgracefully!
I’d love to hear your memories and stories of the 80s, music-related and otherwise.
Update: Steve Grimes – guitarist and blogger for The Farm posted his blog about the gig > read it here. Thanks for the mention and the photo credit Steve!
Seeing live music has now changed for me. Just a few days after the last gig we went to (Hawkwind) my husband, Kevin died following a massive heart attack. We met through our love of live music over 40 years ago and as my mobility has deteriorated somewhat, he also became my carer/essential companion when we went to see a band. With tickets already booked for the rest of the year, and no doubt, other gigs to be booked along the way, I hope to continue. Kevin would have wanted me to.
We had tickets booked for the Interzone Event , which took place just a few days after Kevin’s death. It was a hard decision, but I ended up going with my daughter. It’s taken a while, but I’m now ready to write about it.
With so many bands on the bill it would have been a long night on top of little sleep so we compromised and arrived later, just as Theatre of Hate’s set was ending.
I’ve spoken of Newcastle City Hall’s facilities for disabled customers at a standing gig previously (Echo and the Bunnymen), and as usual the viewing platform was situated at the back of the stalls, affecting the acoustics slightly but high enough to give a reasonable view and well-stewarded. Sadly, there was no sign of lovely Alec, our designated bar waiter, so it was just as well I had daughter with me for the bar run, especially since I had considered going to this gig alone. The accessible viewing platform was fairly empty, but I hope this doesn’t mean that the additional bar service has stopped for good.
First on for us was The Farm (the evening had kicked off with ex Inspiral Carpets frontman, Tom Hingley and the Kar-pets, before Theatre of Hate). A great set, including a personal favourite Stepping Stone. – I had the 7″ single of The Monkees version of that one back in the day. Then there were the big hits: Groovy Train and of course finishing with All Together Now, such a great anthem.
NERD ALERT: it’s a great anthem that shares its chords with Ralph McTell’s Streets of London and Maroon 5’s Memories, among others, and all owe that chord sequence to Pachelbel’s Canon in D, thought to have been written at the end of the 17th Century. Pete Waterman (who used the same sequence when he co-wrote/co-produced Kylie Minogue’s I Should be so Lucky) once described the Canon in D as “almost the godfather of pop music”.
The anthem played on….The crowd were absolutely loving it and singing their hearts out. Audience participation at its best. You can read about the band’s experience of their trip to play Newcastle on their blog here.
Next up was the Wedding Present. Now I have to confess that I went to this gig knowing absolutely nothing about this band, and I’m not sure why. They were prolific in the number of tracks they released. I really loved their set though. I always think that if a band can make a venue seem smaller, then they have really communicated with their audience and that’s what happened here.
These days only frontman David Gadge remains of the original lineup, but the band around him were great. In a male dominated industry, female musicians are noticeable – they have to be the best to make it and Rachael Wood is a cracking guitarist, playing alongside Paul Blackburn (Bass) and Vincenzo Lammi (drums).
Standouts for me were Kennedy and, as a tribute to the late, great Steve Harley, a cover of Come Up and See Me (Make Me Smile).
Then it was time for Peter Hook and the Light. I was really looking forward to this and booked the tickets on the strength of Hooky’s brilliant gig last year at The Boilershop, but I was disappointed.
To be fair, the set was beset with technical problems and during most of it an unfortunate member of the crew was frantically unplugging and replugging in leads trying to rectify the issue. Whereas I loved that last gig, which included all the New Order hits (even more than I remembered), this one omitted all my favourites (I really love Temptation but it was not included)
Obviously distracted by the Gremlins in the equipment, Hooky neither introduced his band or deigned to play an encore. At one point a scuffle broke out near the front. Cue ShowSec staff running to deal with it and a couple of punters being ejected. It was no longer the feel good experience we’d had singing along to The Farm earlier.
With no encore, and a full five minutes before stated finish time, it was over. Hooky removed his t-shirt and threw it into the crowd (some things are better left not done) and that was it. Everyone was left just hanging. As we departed, the atmosphere was not great. There was an uncomfortable edge to it and none of that euphoria I love, when everyone is still singing the encore as they disperse into the night. It was just a disappointed crowd heading home.
Stitches by the Sea 