Day three and there were a few more jaded looking people among the many campers present. First up on the smaller stage were Splink, who you could say are typical of many Prog type bands. There was a lot going on with individual instruments each having a go at making an impact, more or less tuneful without any individual part having anything particularly memorable about it. Almost perfect ambient festival music! Doris Brendel on the main stage, performing in a mask, sadly didn’t sound much like she does on her recent album 'Big Blue Sky', which is very listenable.

I was curious about the KT Bush band. They are led by guitarist Brian Bath, who played in the band that Kate Bush put together to play her songs live prior to the recording of her breakthrough album 'The Kick Inside', as well as playing on several of her albums. There was an element of drama during the start of the set as vocalist Sallie-Ann Hurst was lost in the Kent countryside and the band filled in pleasantly enough prior to her belated and slightly flustered arrival. The singer doesn’t look like the much admired national treasure but lying back on the grass in the raised orchard that overlooked the Kev Riddles stage with eyes shut, pint glass optimistically half full, her vocal similarity to Kate Bush was uncanny. They played all the classics, ‘Wow’, ‘Baboushka’, ‘Running Up that Hill’ and many more plus, of course, ‘Wuthering Heights’. It was all very lovely.

The Members provided a genuine Post Punk classic back in the day in the form of ‘The Sound of the Suburbs’, which of course they played during their set. Apart from being a good song I always had a soft spot for it as the recording of the train announcement on it listed the route on the line that led to my University. Two members from 1977 still lead the band, JC Carroll on guitar and Chris Payne on bass. They played a fun, amiable, raucous set that also included ‘Muzak Machine’, ‘Solitary Confinement’, ‘Offshore Banking Business’ and ‘Working Girl’.

On the main stage, flute and guitar driven young Folk rockers meet Prog band Albion rather left me cold, despite their enthusiasm. At one point they performed a flute salute to Black Sabbath that mashed up different numbers. It didn’t spark any scenes of wild excitement. They were followed by the excellent Dr. Feelgood. The current band do not contain any original members but have done sturdy service for many years in keeping the Feelgood flame alive and successfully capturing some of the excitement of the band when it first burst out of Canvey Island in the 70s. Vocalist and harp player Robert Kane did a good job in the Lee Brilleaux role, energetically roaming the stage while guitarist Gordon Russell played the familiar riffs from Feelgood classics like ‘Roxette’, ‘Back In The Night’, 'Milk and Alcohol’ and ‘Down at the Doctors’. It was an all action display that went done a bomb. Brilliant stuff.

Man came and went on the second stage. Original bass player Martin Ace, looking remarkably like an older version of Peter Hook, led a band of youngsters. The only memorable part for me was Ace proudly recounting how he had introduced Ozzy Osbourne to weed and acid while meeting Sabbath on tour back in the 60s, which I suppose was the order of the day then, turning people on and all that, but which, in light of recent events and accepted wisdom about the detrimental impact drugs have on addictive personalities, struck a bit of a crass note.

They were followed by the headliners on that stage, veteran Jazz rockers Colosseum. You have to respect the musical pedigrees of all the current members and the band’s long history but while their set was entertaining, even their long time live favourite ‘The Valentyne Suite’ is really just a collection of meandering noodles that do not form a cohesive piece or reach a meaningful conclusion. Over on the main stage the penultimate act there Mostly Autumn played their grandiose, atmospheric numbers that featured strong soaring vocals from Olivia Sparnnenn-Josh and searing guitar work from band creator Bryan Josh.

Space rockers Hawkwind closed the festival. It was ironic, given that they were the only band that closed the pit to photographers, that their first song was introduced as being about the restrictive voices that say “you can’t do this and you can’t do that”. To be honest, that was no great loss. Dave Brock, the last remaining original member has added musicians to the franchise who have successfully added electronica elements into the sound. Their most recent album 'There Is No Space For Us' is pretty good. On this occasion their onstage lighting and array of lasers that beamed out into the sky did a lot of the work for them as they played along to the beats, providing a dramatic conclusion to what had been another well run and very successful festival.

Earlier in the day, the Wrinkly Rockers Cub had presented one of the festival directors with the award for the best festival in 2024. What are the odds on A New Day winning the popular vote again for 2025?

Review and Photos: Simon Green