In
June, the Swindon Music Community lost a towering figure, both figuratively and
literally, in Dave Young, former owner of the Victoria and 12 Bar gig venues,
promoter and impresario extraordinaire, and latterly our “live” favourite Gaz
Brookfield’s tour soundman. As a relative newbie to the music scene that for
years had been sprouting fertile tendrils right under my unknowing nose, I
never really knew Dave apart from on brief nodding terms, but I can still
acknowledge the massive impact he’d made to Swindon’s entertainment scene, and
to the lives of many of the good folk therein. Following his passing, a number
of said folk, led by Ed Dyer of the “Swindon Shuffle” team, came up with the
idea of this event, apparently a continuation of events Dave himself used to run
(hence the name), as a perfect way not only to celebrate the life of such an
important figure in Swindon music lore, but also raise some much-needed cash
for the Prospect Hospice, who supported Dave during his final days. That in
itself would have been enough to ensure my attendance, but when Gaz decided to
break his current gig hiatus to play a full band set in honour of his friend, Logan
was up for it too!
Another
wander around the Bowl, then, bumping into folks and catching up with the likes
of Paul Carter, Si and Matt Hall, Steve and his charming wife Caz, a returning
Mark Carter back from Aus, then, back out by the bandstand, an arriving Tim and
Danny, then Gaz Brookfield! Gaz had rocked up there, as had we, to catch the 5
p.m. set from his touring buddy B-SYDES. “I’m glad to be actually playing to
people’s faces!” announced Ben after kicking off his set with a robust and
rambunctious solo version of the excellent “Crutches”, a real banger with the
full band but still pretty damn fine in this format. The more plaintive and
poignant storytelling of “This Was My City Once” followed, and a
none-more-appropriate “Good Times” elicited a nip of whisky from Gaz’ hip
flask! A great set from Ben, despite his worries that, “I’ve forgotten how to
tune and chat in these last 18 months!” which culminated in an angular and
discordant “Still In Saigon” and featured an impressive last note hold from
Ben. Good work, mate, you certainly earned your subsequent planned “advanced
state of refreshment”!
A
little chat with the man before the subsequent SHUDDERS set, which initially
seemed very understated and almost hushed in comparison with Ben’s performance,
but then settled into a combination of relaxing and hazy 70’s West Coast Laurel
Canyon vibes (the likes of opener “Thought I Saw You” and “Sorry”), and more
upbeat earlier “Pirate Folk” stuff (“Words Of A Fool” and the later jig of
“Lost And Broke”). By now, Stu had arrived so the Shudders formed an
atmospheric backdrop to our catch-up.
After
GAZ BROOKFIELD AND THE COMPANY OF THIEVES’ totally understandable withdrawal
from our recent Wickham Festival, we’d assumed that this was going to be
another blank Brookfield year… so Logan and I were both well up for this set,
so much so that I had to persuade Logan not to grab a bit of barrier until the
band actually came onstage! However, when Gaz led the band on and implored us
to, “gather round!” we didn’t need any further persuasion! Opener “The March Of
Progress” demonstrated not only that Gaz and co., despite the forced “live”
hiatus and possible lack of face to face rehearsal, really hadn’t missed a
beat, but also, judging by Gaz’ impassioned roar of the “What is going… ON!!!!”
hook, he was “on it” too, determined to play a blinder for the old friend Dave.
“The Tale Of Gunner Haines” got Logan singing along down the front, bringing
back memories of that RSD duet (!), and a galloping “World Spins Round” was
ragged and racey, Gaz and co whipping through the set at quite a lick, although
Gaz admitted, “the lockdown pounds have made this a lot harder work – good
cardio though!” Tonight’s stage-time organiser, the esteemed Mr. Dave Franklin,
got a shout out as a “piratey type” before an excellent “Land Pirate’s Life”;
the inevitable “Be The Bigger Man” featured a toned down lyric of, “I grabbed
the scoundrel by the throat,” in deference to the younger audience members (!);
and all too soon, final number “Let The East Winds Blow” saw Gaz lead the
clapping and singalong echo line, to conclude a superb festival set full of
utter bangers. Great to have you back, Gaz!
A
brief break before headliners KOVA ME BADD came onstage, led by what appeared
to be the Honey Monster in an old style stripe bathing suit! Their relentless
cheesy covers were however a bit much for me, and when Logan asked to call it a
(long) day I was fine with that. So that drew our participation in My Dad’s
Bigger Than Your Dad Festival to a close; a complete success in my experience,
with lots of good times, good friends and great sounds, all brought together to
celebrate love, life and music. Just as Dave Young, no doubt looking down on us
with a wide bandit grin, would want. Ed and co., this was simply a splendid
day, you’ve all done Dave proud. Well done and thanks!
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