Beautiful Days 2024 – August 16th – 18th, Escot Park, Devon

I think this was our seventh Beautiful Days and…miracle of miracles…it actually stayed dry. Apart from a slight drizzle on Thursday night but we’ll ignore that.

Perhaps this wasn’t the strongest line up ever but all three days produced more than their fair share of musical treats, new and not so new. Here’s what we caught (as the loos were particularly clean this year hopefully we didn’t catch anything else…ahem).

Friday August 16^th

Our 28^th wedding anniversary. Yes, I know, I don’t look old enough do I eh?

Hotwax – Spunky, punky teen trio fronted by two girls of the female variety (can you still say that these days)...

...which was something of a rarity on the main stage in particular.

David Wax Museum – Lordy I loved this lot. 

One of my festival highlights. Imagine Paul Simon and Vampire Weekend on a day trip to Mexico and that’ll give you a tiny idea of how some of their tracks sound. I bought five of their CDs so they must’ve been good.

The Scratch – Another highlight! Irish rock, roll and soul with a percussionist who appears to be playing a box with a pair of greyhound’s legs. I may have had some cider by then though.

Lottery Winners – Indie rock with a dash of stand up. Played ‘our’ song, ‘It Must Be Love’...and on our wedding anniversary too. They must've known.

Moon Hooch – Highlight #3 of day #1, two scronkingly brilliant sax players and a drummer that must’ve been powered by at least a dozen Duracell batteries. It’s jazz Jim, but not as we know it.

The Saw Doctors – Second Irish band of the day, this lot are 40 years into their career though, as the crowd’s lusty singalongs proved.

Saturday

Holy Youth Movement – Despite an 11am start (what madness is this?) HYM attracted an impressive audience for their rock-tronica 

Yep, I’ve just made that one up. You’re welcome.

Pet Needs – The crowd swelled for this lot and I’m not surprised. Perfect pop punk singalongs with some slightly mellower moments to help you catch your breath back.

Up, Bustle and Out – Global dance music that deserved a much bigger audience than they got. So much on though and so little time to see it all.

Cast – First saw this bad supporting The Lightening Seeds back in 1894…possibly…and here we are 130 years later enjoying some of Brit Pops finest moments again. A Finetime was had by all…see what I did there?

Inspiral Carpets – Loved this set. Cool As Fuck. Particularly enjoyed the ghostly voice – no doubt recorded on a beer and baccy stained cassette found on a bus in Manchester – of Mark E. Smith on I Want You.

Mr Bruce – How does this man not explode? How can anyone dance with such energy and still carry on breathing let alone singing. This was one of the three seconds of his set when he wasn't leaping around.

One of the nine wonders of the world.

A bit of Richard Ashcroft – Clearly the drugs are still working.

Toyah and Robert – 

Mr and Mrs Fripp cover everything from Metallica to Bowie in one of the most fun sets I’ve ever seen. And I’ve seen The Darkness play an 11am set at Glasto after a night on the pop.

Sunday

The Gulls – Why weren't these guys on later? Hell, why weren’t they headlining? 

Shut yer eyes and you could be at Woodstock in 1969…open yer eyes and, well, as you can see they look the part too.

3 Daft Monkeys – Legendary folk punksters play their first BD set for 12 years.

Kathryn Priddy – One of folk’s most beautiful voices with a mesmerising and maturing song book of current and future classics. 

You could have heard a pin drop in the Big Top, which is particularly impressive given the fact that we were standing on grass.

Pop Will Eat Itself – Almost 40 years after they formed the Poppies are back and sounding as rad as ever. Great to hear Touched By The Hand Of Cicciolina for the first time since 1990.

A bit of Stornaway and Hard-Fi…sadly not on the same stage though.

The Damned – Punk godfathers (and grandfathers probably) dished out the hits and camped it up a bit too, at least Vanian did. Highlight? A shout out to the “Dawlish massive” from Captain Sensible himself.

We heard some of The Levs set and bits and pieces of other stuff but spent many a happy hour chatting to some of the many lovely peeps that make up the BD crowd, which is one of the joys of a festival like this one. If I'm still alive and kicking I'll be back next year. 

You Must Change Your Life - David Wax Museum

Just back from our seventh (I think) Beautiful Days festival and it was a cracker. I may pop up a bigger post about some of the best acts but for now enjoy one of the highlights, David Wax Museum. Trust me, they're well worth a listen. 

I Want You - Inspiral Carpets ft Mark E Smith

The only track to have featured in John Peel's Festive 50 for two years in a row. I've not listened to this for a while but I used to have it on a self compiled tape in the car that got a right hammering every Friday night on the way home from work. One to play LOUD. 

Doctor Jazz - George Lewis

Jazz may be having a bit of a revival right now but, as far as I can tell, the Trad stuff couldn't be less fashionable. I could be wrong, there may some kind of super cool underground Trad Jazz scene in Hoxton but I doubt it. That's a shame when it sounds at good as this, a mere 71 years after it was recorded (and almost 30 years after it was written by King Oliver). Picked up this CD at the weekend along with a bunch of even older stuff. Jelly Roll Morton anyone? No? Oh well, just me then. 

Bells and Whistles - Bright Eyes

If Springsteen and Dylan had got it on in the late 70s I reckon their lovechild may well have been Bright Eyes' Conor Oberst. Check out their latest track and tell me I'm wrong. 

Faith Healer - Sensational Alex Harvey Band

Sadly I was too young to see SAHB with Alex but at least we still have recorded performances like this to look back on. If this floats yer boat I can highly recommend the Sensational Alex Harvey Band Live At The BBC double CD, yours for around a tenner on eBay right now. 

Cookie - David Devant & His Spirit Wife

Just discovered that David Devant & His Spirit Wife played an all too rare gig a few days ago! Darn it, haven't seem them live for bloody years. If you've missed out on their charms for the last three decades or so try this track for starters. 

Ain't It Time - Queen Yahna

Bit of an Across 110th Street vibe from this mid 70s underground soul disco gem. Perfect for gently sizzling in the sun too for anyone lucky enough to be off work today. I'm not jealous...honest. 

God Gave Me Feet For Dancing - Ezra Collective ft Yazmin Lacey

Instant classic from Ezra Collective to keep the Brit Jazz flag flying. I might have to try some of those dance moves down the Co-op. 

High Energy - Evelyn Thomas

Who doesn't like and, let's face it, need a little High Energy right now eh? Sad to hear that Evelyn Thomas passed away this week along with Duke Fakir from The Four Tops and now John Mayall too. Good grief. Still, they all had a good innings and they left the world some cracking music which is more than most of us will do. I rescued a baby crab from a herring gull the other day, does that count for anything? 

Flowers power

Picked up a couple of albums from a band called Flowers last weekend and they're the perfect indie pop soundtrack to a dreamy summer's day which...miracle of miracles...we seem to be enjoying today. Love the vids too...

Life - Jamie xx featuring Robyn

Look up 'banger' in the dictionary and it'll probably mention this track, even if the video induces seizures... 

'ouses, 'ouses, ouses - The Imagined Village

As someone who's been lucky enough to live in beautiful South Devon for just a few years I've already witnessed what I would class as overdevelopment, but now it seems that the gloves are off and no field, wood or patch of dirt's safe. How sad. It might be a hard truth for some people to swallow but what this country (and planet for that matter) needs is fewer people, not more 'ouses, ouses, ouses... 

PS: Here's Sir David Attenborough's take on the subject of overpopulation David Attenborough: The planet can’t cope with overpopulation | World Economic Forum (weforum.org)

Bargain Buckley...

Picked up the 2 CD Tim Buckley Starsilor Anthology over the weekend for 33p and it reminded me of just how staggeringly diverse his output was. If you've not yet dived in to his 9 albums (and all released before he sadly passed away at just 28) you're in for a treat...

Double Denim - Cornershop ft Rosanna

The weather may be predictably shite this summer...now there's a change...I'm 54 and the only proper summer I can remember was 1976...but at least there's a new Cornershop track to warm the cockles (and other bits of your anatomy) on a distinctly autumnal July day. 

Burning Boats - Annie Hogan (ft Marc Almond & JG Thirwell)

Picked up a sealed double CD copy of Anni(e) Hogan's classic 1985 Kickabye album on my travels and it sent me spinning right back to the mid 80s when I first heard this track. Almost 40 years later it still packs one hell of a punch.   

Let’s Rock Exeter 2024 @ Powderham Castle (ft Ali Campbell (UB40)/Boomtown Rats/From The Jam/ The Real Thing/eXTC/Jason Donovan/Kim Appleby/Clare Grogan (Altered Images)/Sonia/Sister Sledge

Perhaps not the strongest line up ever for Let’s Rock Exeter but still more than enough musical treats to make it well worth the £40 or so for a ticket (even if the cans of ‘cider’ – containing less than a pint – were £6.50 this year). Here are a few of my highlights…

Sister Sledge kicked things off in fine style at 11.50am, almost breakfast time. Lost In Museli anyone? Debbie Sledge may the only original sister in the band but at least her daughter and son are part of the line up now, so the lyrics of We Are Family still kinda ring true. 

Shared DNA aside they put on a cracking show and the Chic powered tunes are absolute belters.

Clare Grogan (Altered Images) was another early highlight, slipping in a quick swearword, “Well, I am from Glasgow” she explained after forgetting the lyrics to a song. Bless 'er. 

Clear winner of the 'Most Fun Set Of The Day' Award she dropped in 2022's Mascara Streakz, bringing that classic Altered Images sound bang up to date. 

I wasn’t expecting to enjoy eXTC’s set so much, given that drummer Terry Chambers is the only one from the original band, but hearing some of these songs played live for the first time was a proper treat. This Is (top) Pop!

The Real Thing dished up some of the best British Soul ever committed to vinyl, with a particularly funky Can You Feel The Force hitting the sweet spot, before From The Jam delivered a hits filled set that, at times, sounds spookily close to the original band.

I thought The Boomtown Rats might divide the crowd a little but St Bob soon won ‘em over. And yes, they did play all the songs you’d want them to play. Looking a little like Gandolf’s younger brother the 72 year old’s in remarkable shape and relatively new track, The Boomtown Rats, capped things off with an almost techno vibe showing there’s life in the old rats still.

Ali Campbell ended the day and he was in fine voice with a great band behind him. It’s not UB40 sadly but we all know what happened there. He wasn’t the chattiest soul, but maybe he’d had…wait for it…too much red red wine the night before. Oh dear.

Let’s Rock Exeter 2025’s still unconfirmed at the moment and I’ve read rumours that it may not happen or that it could move, which would be a shame. If it is still on though can we please, please, please finally get Jimmy Somerville down here? Cheers.

Everybody Hurts - REM @ Glastonbury 1999

A lot of my Glastonbury experiences (I managed 9...and a bit...don't ask) have faded from my ageing brain over the years but some are as fresh as my socks on day one. Seeing REM sing Everybody Hurts back in 1999 is one of those memories and the lyrics are as true and as powerful now as they were then. Enjoy...and if you know someone who's having a bit of a shit one send 'em this video. 

Fruitcakes - Jimmy Buffett

Picked up this album yesterday for a whole 10p and it seems pretty appropriate for these times. Shades of Paul Simon's You Can Call Me Al perhaps...and that's never a bad thing. 

Circles Going Round - Galliano

A mere 28 years after their last album acid jazz legends Galliano are back with this beauty. Hopefully I'll get to see 'em live later in the year, it's been a while. 30 years or so?! Good grief.