Fest class
August 30th, 2006
How often do you come away from a local festival loaded down with CDs by people you’ve never heard of? Pretty much never, we’d wager - but that’s exactly what happened to PRSD at the Aeon Festival over the weekend.
Held at Ullacombe Organic Farm near Haytor on Dartmoor, Aeon boasted a host of top musical turns as well as some really tasty organic food and clean toilets - staggering work for a two-day local fest, we’re sure you’d agree.
So who were the aforementioned ‘top turns’? These were the aforementioned
‘top turns’.
First up, we caught a dose of Top Shop power pop from the 4-Star Lovers, whose ramshackle girl-group charms won us over instantly. The fab tunes conjured memories of Kenickie but the combo’s air of gimlet-eyed ambition was more reminiscent of The Faders. In fact, they even had a song called Give Us A Show On T4, Mr Producer (not strictly true). Nevertheless, we loudly proclaimed them our favourite band ever, until common sense kicked in and we skulked quietly from
the barn.
Next, we happened across David Sanders, who definitely had a touch of Buckley-the-younger about him, but there may’ve been some Robert Smith and Morrissey in there too. There’s not much more to say about the excellent singer/songwriter, other than if he’s not a massive star in two years time, we’ll eat our People’s Republic t-shirt.
We also found time for a chat with Evi Vine and her band before their show.
Evi (pronounced ‘Evie’, fact fans) admitted she was nervous about playing and ‘absolutely bricking it’. Turns out she needn’t have worried. Her voice is simply astounding, soaring above the tumbling drums and chiming guitars. Despite Evi warning us to expect goth music, it was actually more reminiscent of the shoegazing likes of Slowdive et al. Top stuff and well worth a listen.
We were also wildly enthusiastic about Caballero, whose two-man, dumb-ass riffola machine ended our Saturday night very nicely indeed. Mrs PRSD wasn’t quite so enamoured but by then she more interested in ‘hanging out’ with Evi Vine’s band. What a roggen roll lifestyle we lead, eh viewers?
On Sunday, we woke early to enjoy acoustic sets from Bow Jenkins, Daniel Rachel (pronounced ‘Rachel’, doncha know, watch his video) and the divine Ms Vine, who looked rather the worse for wear. David Sanders was also back to justify our musical love. The 4-Star Lovers, however, were nowhere to be seen. Blub!
We hung around a bit longer to sup tea and catch the 80s stylings of the Ghengis Brothers, and Hendrix-wannabes Cat In The Hat (we know - awful band names) but were not entirely won over. They were, however, the perfect accompaniment to a lazy Sunday afternoon.
Before we left, we caught up with unflappable Aeon organiser Niki who admitted she hadn’t slept for two days and assured the PRSD that Aeon would be back next year, ‘bigger and better’ with more acts and a dance tent.
Hey, what more can we say, other than we had a most excellent time. So much so, we haven’t slagged any bands off in this review. Wonders, as your mum used to say, will never cease.
Oh, and we wanna hear from yous lot. If you went along to Aeon at the weekend, why not leave a comment and let us know what you thought? We’d be interested to hear your views. Yes, really!
Posted by Thin White Duke
If you liked this story, you could buy us a coffee --------------------------------------------------------------------Entry Filed under: Arts, Environment, Society
5 Comments Add your own
1. Peter | August 30th, 2006 at 1:34 pm
Hi! I was at Aeon from Friday through to Sunday, and my friends and I had a great time. For a first time fest is was a real good one! I think it’s really sad that you don’t mention in your article that Bow Jenkins opened the festival with what, in my opinion, was the best acoustic set, demonstrating the best voice and songs of all the acts at Aeon! She had a hard task getting the very small crowd going, but by the end of it she had pulled in 3 times the crowd she started with! Surely this deserves a mention, other than just her acoustic set the next day, which was admittedly good! It has to also be said that the Fourstar Lovers girl band lost the audience and was out of place with their bubble gum pop! But what about the band from Birmingham? Scorpio was their name I think! They went on after Bow and their harmonies and acoustic aproach was exellent! In my opinion they were really really good, and despite the fact they played almost all cover songs, they definately deserve a mention! And what about the guy with the hair? His name was Daniel Orlick of Ghost Town Records, and he kept everyone energised between sets, and amazingly got the crowd up dancing on saturday night with his own songs… and the muppets! And you haven’t even mentioned him! What’s the deal? Are you the parents of Four Star Lovers or something? Coz they were truly awful! People were daring eachother to get up and walk out while they were on, and half the crowd had dispersed by the end! So show the acts that deserve respect, respect!!!
2. Marcus | August 30th, 2006 at 7:48 pm
Easy Tiger…. I think everybody did just dandy :o)
You gotta admit that it was the widest cross section of music styles EVER!!!! from Deth Metal to 1 man Acoustics (and The Muppets!!!)
4*Lovers may not have been your cuppa tea but they did put pop into the mix!!!!
I just had a good time and listened to lots of music!
:o+
Cheers
MIG
3. Peter | August 31st, 2006 at 9:51 am
Ok….! I admit, it was a great fest, and the Def Metal was awesome and so completely left field under the circumstances! I just felt the girl band were outclassed, and just a little conceited, they didn’t even stay after, just did their thing and left, like the superstars they aint!!!… but it’s just my opinion. Credit to the organisers tho. A massive success.
4. susie | September 1st, 2006 at 12:16 pm
The festival was great. For me Daniel Rachel was an absolute joy. I saw both his sets. He has great banter and brilliant lyrics. Bought the album which featres loads of guest appearances and the music was even better. There are some great shots of him at his website danielrachel.com
The DJ on Saturday afternoon was excellent a healthy dose of 60s Ska perfect
Looking forward to the next one
5. Peoples Republic of South&hellip | May 4th, 2007 at 8:34 am
[...] Regular readers (for there must be some) will remember we first mentioned David back in August when we caught him at the Aeon Festival. [...]
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