It’s August and that meant that the A New Day Festival was happening, slap bang in the middle of the month, having become a firm fixture in the musical calendar. Like an old friend, the relaxed festival was back and very welcome. There are various reasons why the festival has become so well established: the location is in the heart of old-fashioned Kent, orchards stretch into the distance all around and the walk from the grassland car park is like a Sunday afternoon walk in the country, fruit trees on either side, branches bowed under the weight of plums and apples. After the visitor has strolled through the encampment of tents leading up to the old manor house the sculptured gardens fall down to a lake in front of which the main stage is located. It’s a charming landscape and the sloping ground provides a natural multi-level auditorium for festival-goers. The sound quality is incredible. The lie of the land captures the sounds coming from the stages, and all the way to the entrance live music can be clearly heard without distortion, getting louder as the entrance is neared. The eclectic choice of music, leaning heavily on heritage and retro sounding Prog bands leavened with some more punchy, Rock acts, creates its own mellow vibe and attracts a spirited but equally mellow audience, the majority of which have matured at the same pace as many of the acts appearing, many dating from the late 60s and 70s. If you are of a certain age the music on display has a broad appeal, even if some of the acts may not exactly be your own personal turntable favourites.

The festival was blessed with warm sunshine over all three days, especially so on the opening day. Replacing the Dead Writers on the main stage (named the Lesley Dawes stage in honour of the lady who bought Mount Ephraim and opened up the gardens to the public in 1985, who sadly died a few months earlier in the year) was singer Vikki Clayton who accompanied herself on acoustic. She sang with a crystal clear voice, interpreting songs by Sandy Denny and John Martyn, among others. This was a pleasant and gentle introduction to proceedings before Voodoo Lake, a power trio ramped up the volume on the second stage, the Kev Riddles stage (named in honour of the founding member of Heavy Metal band Tytan, who followed them next on that stage, who had died only a month earlier). The band was fronted by blonde haired Dave Strange on vocals and guitar (who had also played previously with Tytan - all very incestuous) and he impressed with his soloing ability. Their numbers included ‘Turn It Up’ and ‘Bad Love’ and a cover of ZZ Top’s ‘Beer Drinkers & Hell Raisers’. They kept it simple, playing Classic Rock. Lively bassist Mark 'Bomber' Randon helped with the onstage dynamics; he had a busy weekend, appearing again the following day with the Soho Dukes.

The Sacred Geometry Band were the first of many Prog like acts, although they describe themselves as “Trans-Ambulant, Psychedelic, Regressive”. They did their thing, which was entertaining enough, especially when joined by dancer Angel who caught the eye in a glittering golden cape and exotic head gear; she was a pleasant distraction from the rest of the band who looked like they’d dressed themselves from one of those fancy dress shops and had a bit of a (very) mature student rag event feel about them. Sons of Liberty who were next on that stage are almost a perfect festival band. They rock out in classic twin guitar fashion, throwing shapes left right and centre, and have an exuberant front man in Russ Grimmett, who knows how to engage with the audience, which he did physically on a couple of occasions, climbing over the pit barrier in order to loon around with an excited crowd. They always look like they enjoy themselves and this was no exception. They scored highly in terms of impact in actually having songs with memorable hooks, like ‘Rich Man Poor Man Beggar Man Thief’, ‘What’s A Man Supposed To Do’, ‘Libertine’ and ‘Ruby Starr’. Rifftastic! They were in stark contrast to the band that followed them, the David Cross Band, who sadly suffered from a number of technical issues that the sound guys failed to address, such as inaudible vocals. The dramatic moment when keyboard player Sheila Maloney went to get grooving with one of those mini keyboards that can be played like a guitar was ruined when the lead failed and it became a bit Spinal Tap. The music drifted along rather aimlessly and it all looked and sounded a bit pained. eXTC are a tribute band to the mighty XTC and have been blessed by XTC’s genius writer and leader Andy Partridge as giving fans a chance to hear XTC songs played live. They also have cred from having original XTC drummer Terry Chambers in the band. Steve Hampton on vocals and guitar, accompanied by Terry Lines on bass and a second guitarist did a great job in recreating the intricate guitar sounds and harmonies on a whole bunch of great songs across the XTC catalogue: ‘This Is Pop?’, ‘The Ballad of Peter PumpkinHead’, ‘Towers of London’, ‘Sgt Rock (Is Going To Help Me)’, ‘Senses Working Overtime’ , ‘Generals & Majors’, ‘King For A Day’, ‘Making Plans For Nigel’ and many more Pop Rock classics. It was fabulous to hear the songs but it wasn’t, naturally, the same as the real thing. Close tho’! Headlining the main stage was Canterbury band Caravan. I had imagined them to be rather whimsical but they rocked out on the opening numbers and had a nice energy about them. Founding member (and member with the most interesting name) Pye Hastings, on guitar and vocals, charmingly refused to conform to the convention among many older musicians to look like that they are either extras on Pirates of The Caribbean or have become detached from their carnival mime troupe, looking instead like an older gent with a good head of hair quietly enjoying playing the old songs, like ‘Golf Girl’ and ‘Nine Feet Underground’ from 1971 album ‘In The Land Of Grey and Pink’, which went down well. Long time, on and off, member Geoffrey Richardson on guitar and violin featured heavily; he made another appearance at the festival the following day with Penguin Café.

Some of the best music of the opening day took place on the Kev Riddles stage. Tytan were the third act on and played a powerful set, burly front man Mark Hale giving it plenty of energy. They were followed by Medway mob, The Zac Schulze Gang, who, typically, played an outstanding, blistering set including original numbers like ‘Hole In My Pocket’ and, more memorably, super tight frenetic cover versions of ‘Framed’, ‘She Does It Right’, ‘Hellhound on My Trail’ and their tour de force, ‘Hit Me With Your Rhythm Stick’. Zac Schulze, sporting a shortish haircut that, along with his shorts, made him look like an impish schoolboy, played some beautiful Blues lines on a great cover of Floyd’s ‘Breathe (In The Air)’. A festival highlight. They were followed by an American Blues band, Lightnin’ Willie & The Poor Boys, led by veteran Texan singer and guitarist Willie Hermes. They were great, playing witty, mid-tempo Blues (with song titles like ‘Shake My Snake’) featuring some nicely rhythmic solos and licks from the bandleader, who looked like he was on sabbatical from a rodeo show. The band was augmented by UK harp player Giles King, although, they went a little left field towards the end of the set and included a nice version of Jimi’s ‘The Wind Cries Mary’. In a completely different change of pace the last act on the second stage was another Canterbury band Soft Machine. This was a band who’s name and exploits were familiar from a ton of Melody Maker and NME pieces back in the day; their music, however was almost unknown to me. Their list of ex-members is longer than the cast list of the musical Chorus Line (pretty much like most old Prog bands) and the longest associated current member is guitarist John Etheridge. They were a pleasant surprise, the four-piece playing around each other to give space for their ambient instrumental music to flow out into the night air, with some fine individual playing that was technically excellent without descending into egotistical meandering. They included older tracks like ‘Facelift’, ‘Fourteen Hour Dream’ and ‘Joy Of A Toy’ in a nicely balanced set.

Review and Photos: Simon Green