Togfest 2009: Part III
Jun.27.09
So, where was I? Oh yes, the Chill Out Marquee, a place where kids run around, people jam around and the odd demonstration sets up. Most importantly, it’s the place where most of us will end up after the festival has finished as we drag along our instruments and play into the night as we enjoy the last hours of the festival spirit. But for now, the area is going to be a bit of a performance space for local beat-boxer Grant Reeves, aka, “The Big G”…
For a while the tent is home to a few kids running around, but after they’ve finished you can make out a few people coming up and forming a bit of an audience, it turns out to be for Grant who takes a pew with a couple of guitarists as they go through some tracks that they wrote with Grant taking on the usual beat-boxing duties. After that there were a few “exercises” to get us going but it wasn’t quite so educational this time around, and mainly just had a few vocal games going around. It was fun though and a few people did get up to dance, rhyme and so on. After that the crowd clears away and I have a jam as I meet up with Anti-Vigilante’s Sean, then make my way off to the Courtyard stage to see a certain few lads kick up a fuss.
The Soundcasters asked me to see them for myself during the interview as they tried to describe themselves, and I can sort of see what they meant now, the guys are all about sixties pop with a sharp modern edge that gives us something rather different to listen to. When it comes to those different sounds “French Habit” is probably the one that’s going to stick out with a fairly Russian sound to it that can catch you by surprise. Other than that, there’s a definite swing style kicking off along with the guys putting on an energetic show, lead guitarist Simon really getting into his licks. I sometimes worry when bands rely a fair amount on image, but when they can back it up with their live set like this, there’s naught to worry about.
Meanwhile, in the Marquee stage, a band called the 7.20’s are setting up, five guys from Rugby who have keys and an array of guitar pedals at their disposal, something tells me I’m going to enjoy this. There’s a bit of a Kasabian/Killers sound to what they put out, a solid beat, majestic keys and roaring guitar blur the line between rock and trance at a few moments. Though “J’adore L’amour” is described as a dancey number the same could be said for most of their tracks, though the track that really gets me is “Keep On Holding On”, a really poignant number that comes across pretty epic. With catchy riffs, the odd break-beat and a well layered sound, it’s no surprise that the tent is pretty packed and that I find myself walking to the merch tent to pick up their cd.
Chichino are, in a word, “hot”. Poppy vibes and a stunning front-woman are a couple of clues on what they are like, this Leeds based group seem like a good choice for the afternoon. The sound is pure sugary, bubbly funk laced pop that revolves around Narelle’s vocal talents and seemingly boundless energy, it could probably put a smile on anyone’s face. Their tracks are fairly cheeky too, painting rainbows with a bit of a sly wink with tracks like “Everybody’s Doing It” and “This Is It”.
After Narelle drags out a keytar later in the set my mind is made up, Chichino are officially legends now without a shadow of a doubt. Unashamedly, I have to say that this is a feel-good band I fell for, fun to listen to, amazing fun to photograph and very, very infectious.
There’s a few things every Togfest festival have in common, one of them is the presence of a certain local band named Togmor and usually end the festival with a huge bang. No difference for this year then, from the gentle start to an explosive ending the set is pretty much bang on, if you come to the festival and don’t see these guys then you must be pretty mad. The lineup has a few changes with a familiar face rejoining the group in the form of Sarah Malleson, the set is also a little different too. Notably, it doesn’t have the usual “Journeys End” (a track that is 10 minutes long and is known as one of their more epic efforts) as the program warns, but there’s a whole lot more stuff going on that more than makes up for it, it’s Togmor after all so every moment is an epic collection of folk-inspired sounds as it is. However, Del Bromham also makes an appearance to pull in some crunchy guitar lines, it’s one of those legendary moments that makes a festival like this memorable. That and the atmosphere, that is, the crowd is buzzing and entranced by the meandering songs as fiddles, squeezeboxes, guitars, flutes and whistles rub shoulders, you really had to be there, my words just don’t do any justice here.
After that, it’s obviously off to the Chill Out Tent, for more music as we all improvise with each other, even getting a few jigs going and a few people dancing. There’s a fair few people down there too, with Dan Plews, Grant’s crew, Tom Dick & Harry and even The Soundcasters are down for a good time among other festival goers and bands, it was a little harder to get going than last year, but it was still a good laugh.
As for the festival itself, it’s been a different one this year, the range of bands and music styles were a lot more expansive and from up and down the country too, along with fantastic weather plus with a chilled-out family atmosphere, it was surely vibrant. And like last year, I’ve some good memories to take away home, camping, meeting bands, jamming out and enjoying some good music, I’m already looking forward to 2010’s offering, make sure you keep the 25th and 26th of June free for it.
Craig \m/
The official Togfest website
Togmor on Myspace
Chichino on Myspace
The 7.20’s on Myspace
The Soundcasters on Myspace
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