Another beautiful day and more fine music, although the music that greeted me on arrival was, to my ears (although I’m sure some folk rave about them), the tuneless droning of three-piece Neon Fields. The singer seemed to be riffing with great force on a range of about three notes. It was atmospheric but perhaps more suited to non-discriminating Goths in a cellar at midnight than to an early sunny afternoon slot. Someone mentioned that Blue Stragglers were going to be worth watching. This guitar driven trio were totally different to the act that preceded them, playing with energy and drive, but, despite all the huffing and puffing, didn’t have any songs that left an impression. The same could be said for Karnataka, who played the same stage later in the afternoon. Their sound was much more expansive, with keyboards from Rob Wilsher filling out the spaces and adding colour. Sertari, the band’s striking singer, providing powerful vocals and a dynamic stage presence. However, while there was a lot going on musically there was no one number that, to someone unfamiliar with their music, made you prick up your ears. To be honest this was a problem for a many of the bands performing over the weekend. There was some great playing but too often the songs were mediocre at best.

Any old idiot can write a song but not many it seems can write a good song that incorporate quite simple elements like a hook or a chorus or a different passage that takes a song beyond its one dimensional boundary.  One band that didn’t fall into this category was Henge. If there was such a thing, I would award the stand out song of the festival to their number ‘Slingshot’. It’s an absolute earworm of a song. Musically interesting and featuring witty and intelligent lyrics. The band were visually eye catching; these inter-stellar travellers had two aliens in their ranks, on keys and drums, and frontman “Spor” (aka Matthew Whitaker) had all the entertaining showmanship of a leery music hall entertainer, not to mention some splendid headgear and other accoutrements. Second keyboardist “Sol” (aka Roy Medhurst) was like a bopping, mischievous druid. They were brilliant and, as you should expect from a Prog band, used the sonic range of synthesisers to create imaginative sounds. Their music also incorporated twangy surf guitar. Equally entertaining earlier, in a different way, had been the lively and colourful performance of Kanda Bongo Man. The Congolese band leader Bongo Kanda was not actually present at the gig as he had received last minute notification that a donor was available for a transplant operation he was waiting for. This did not affect the ability of his band to create a joyous sound as they got straight into their infectious grooves, the two guitar players weaving their melodic lines in and out of each other. Fantastically entertaining. They were followed by Jump, who were pretty good, featuring some nice guitar work, but were pretty bland compared to what had gone before. Vince Lee and Sophie Lord provided the soundtrack to the mid-afternoon period on the small stage and, while low on stage histrionics, the duo provided some great music. Vince Lee played some beautiful jazzy, Blues guitar on a number of old-time tracks like Louis Jordan’s ‘Blue Light Boogie', including several Tom Waits covers, while Sophie pounded away solidly on her double bass. One of their original numbers, ‘Spanish Turkey',  was described by the guitarist as spaghetti surf music, which summed it up well.   

Martin Turner was scheduled to perform as the final act on the smaller stage but had cancelled due to the recent death of his drummer. Filling in for them were A New Day regulars the Soho Dukes. The six-piece play a splendidly rambunctiousness form of Rock’n’Roll with the swaggering, geezer of a front man, Johhny Barrucuda (probably not what he is known as in the annals of HMRC) giving it large. He delivered the surprisingly rich and witty lyrics for songs like ‘Suited & Booted’, ‘Bovver Boys’, ‘Elaine’, and a bunch more, with energetic gusto. Their tuneful songs are full of hooks and crashing chords, with verses that build up to climatic choruses. Great stuff and highly enjoyable. The final act of the festival was Gong. There are no original members in the line-up but the band’s founder Daevid Allen had, prior to his death from cancer, asked that the band continue and suggested that current guitarist and singer, Kavus Torabi, become the new frontman of the band. The band’s history is as complex as their music. Playing live they weave dense musical patterns that become quite hypnotic. Their individual songs aren’t particularly immediate (although ‘Rejoice!’ has a memorable chorus) but the band created a wall of sound that was powerfully compelling.  Torabi has an impish and slightly manic stage presence that made him the focus of the audience’s attention. Gong were possibly not the most obvious band to close the festival but their selection typified the eclectic approach taken to organising the line-ups over the three days. 

A New Day celebrated its tenth anniversary this year and seems as popular as ever with its faithful and committed audience that come from far and wide to enjoy the distinct ambience of this fabulous festival.  Long may it continue.

Review and photos: Simon Green