12 replies to this topic

[mikeb]

Well ... unlike my often (if not always !) War and Peace stylee posts, this is probably going to be my shortest post on any subject at any time in any place, ever !!!  Best be making the most of such a rarity in my posting repertoire   Having said that, I'll be adding stuff like the full line-up for each stage and so on to this post when there is sufficient official confirmations so it probably wont end up anything remotely like a short(ish) post at all !

The thread title pretty much says it all really for the mo.  The 7th Cambridge Rock Festival has recently been confirmed as going to be held at Haggis Farm, the same venue as last year, on 5th - 8th August   So, just a date for the diary and all that for now ... but watch this space for loads more details as and when they're officially announced. I'll also be trying to put something together somewhere along the way with more info about the Haggis Farm venue and what's available on site to give anyone who doesn't already know an idea of what to expect plus all the usual line-up previews and so on when bands start getting officially confirmed of course.

BTW, a particularly good choice of date this year I must say ... so I'll be the one standing by slumped against the bar for most of Thursday, slowly working my way through the seemingly never ending supply of fine ales that should WILL quite obviously be coming my way due to such a good choice of date

Edited by mikeb, 29 July 2010 - 11:15 PM.

[gratedenini]

BTW, a particularly good choice of date this year I must say ... so I'll be the one [s]standing by[/s] slumped against the bar for most of Thursday, slowly working my way through the seemingly never ending supply of fine ales that [s]should[/s] WILL quite obviously be coming my way due to such a good choice of date
[/quote]

i like how you put a line through some words.... how do yer dee that eh?
den

[mikeb]

gratedenini, on Feb 9 2010, 11:53 AM, said:

i like how you put a line through some words.... how do yer dee that eh?

Ah tis easy ... just put  [ s ]  before the text and  [ /s ]  after it (but without the spaces of course) and it comes out kinda like this

Ticket prices for this years festival have now been announced. Full 4-day adult festival ticket are just £69 (super-saver, only available until the majority of the line-up is officially published), then £79 until 1st May and £89 in August and/or on the gate (if still available).  Under 16's full festival tickets are £25 and under 10's are £1. Individual day tickets are also available.  Camping tickets are £25 and £45 for a tent and caravan/camper respectively plus there's also a super-saver discount of £5 for those buying tickets early.  

As usual, entry for Thursday evening is FREE if you hold any CRF 2010 ticket or you are a member of CAMRA, CURAS, CUSSC, UEA etc.  Defo ought to be free entry if you're wearing an eFests Tee Shirt as well I reckon

For more information on the festival, to buy tickets online or to check out the very latest line-up announcements, please visit The Official CRF Website or contact the CRF Box Office on 01 353 749 749 or 0845 299  0845.

Bands have also started being announced as playing the festival, those confirmed so far (and in no particular order) are:

• Panic Room
  
  
• Praying Mantis
  
  
• Stray
  
  
• Mostly Autumn
  
  
• Larry Miller
  
  
• Wolf Law
  
  
• Chantel McGregor

Although I didn't see him myself, Larry Miller is apparently returning this year by *VERY* popular demand following an absolutely stonking headline gig on the Rotary Rocks Blues Stage on Saturday last year.  I've seen Praying Mantis (latest album Sanctuary is well worth checking out BTW), Mostly Autumn and Stray several times now and they never disappoint, always a real good gig, but I've just checked out Chantel McGregor with a li'l help from Mr.Google and WOW!  Young Yorkshire lass has guitar and *really* shows the boys how to do it right or what    Bl**dy brilliant, some seriously impressive stuff Ms.McGregor.

Cover of "Red House" (Hendrix)


Cover of "Voodoo Chile" (Hendrix)


Cover of "Lenny" (Stevie Ray Vaughan)


"Freefalling" (Chantel McGregor)


Definitely now looking forward to seeing her play and very much hoping for an extra-large helping of Mr.Hendrix's fine material amongst all the other good stuff needless to say

Edited by mikeb, 21 February 2010 - 04:26 AM.

[Powell009]

The event's classic rock line-up is spread across three stages with the likes of Eddie and the Hotrods, Australian Pink Floyd Show and Dr Feelgood all performing in the past

[mikeb]

Hi there Mr.Powell009 and welcome to eFestivals and your very first post as well it would appear.  An excellent choice of thread to pick for it I must say ! Yup, you're dead right of course, there are usually 3 all-weather stages with the Main Stage headline acts over the years being the likes of Blockheads, Australian Pink Floyd, Thunder, Limehouse Lizzy, Eddie and the Hotrods, Dr Feelgood, Marillion, Wishbone Ash, Barclay James Harvest, Bad Company, Quireboys, Uriah Heep, Asia ... amongst many other great bands. At least 70 and as many as around 100 or so bands play the festival every year. It's never a good idea to ignore the 2nd and 3rd stages either because there's always been some absolutely cracking bands playing on them in previous years as well.  You may not have heard of some of them ... but you will almost certainly find that you want to hear many of them again.

Were you there last year ? Even if you weren't, check out Asia headlining the Main Stage and closing the festival last year anyway.  Not the final entry on the setlist mind you but I just couldn't resist posting their version of a certain *very* well known ELP track and not to mention the fact that it contains the most awesome drum solo ever from the grandmaster Carl Palmer himself starting around the 5 minute mark.  Bl**dy exxxxxcellent stuff:

There are several other great vids from last years festival as well, all posted by the same guy on good old youtube.

Anyway, enough of the quicky history lesson and last year's stuff ... because it seems like there's a BIG announcement coming up and the line-up is expected to be revealed this coming weekend   Expect there to still be a few gaps and all that but The Official CRF Website is currently advising that:

The (almost) complete line-up is expected to be released 7th March

and

Super-Saver Tickets will cease to be available very soon thereafter

So, going to need to keep one eye on the CRF news page and the other on the CRF tickets page this weekend I reckon if you're anxiously waiting for the line-up to appear before trying to grab Super-Saver Tickets and saving yourself a good few quid   Mine are already in the bag and have been for ages now. In fact they're currently lurking quietly in the usual ticket hidy-hole just waiting for August to come along and they get to see the light of day again.  Which of course all means that I get a jolly good lie in this weekend with no need to keep an eye open for line-ups appearing as if by magic closely followed by ticket buying activities various However, I expect way more than a few sneaky peeks at the CRF news page will be on the agenda at various times over the weekend mind you just to find out exactly who I'm going to be enjoying at the festival this year !

There have been a few more bands recently confirmed as playing as well:

• Danny Bryant's Redeye Band
  
  
  
• Led Zep Too
  
  
  
• Smokin' Hogs
  
  
  
• Hazel O'Connor

Just seeing the top entry in the list really ought to reduce Mr.Grumpyhack's potential grumpyness level no end for starters but add the second entry as well plus a few vids of Danny Bryant for all to enjoy into the bargain and it'll probably make him so not grumpy that an eFests name change might even be considered necessary !

Danny Bryant's Redeye Band - Alone In The Dark


Danny Bryant's Redeye Band - Always With Me


Danny Bryant's Redeye Band - Voodoo Chile


Danny Bryant's Redeye Band - Last Goodbye


Danny Bryant's Redeye Band - Girl from the North Country


Must say that them Smokin' Hogs sound, well, pretty d@mn smokin' as well with their "high energy R&B with a leaning towards the British Blues Boom of the 1960's" kinda stuff.  AND not only but also, the most excellent Hazel O'Connor who has just been quietly sneaked on to the confirmed list whilst I was typing all this out   Hopefully with the awesome Subterraneans in tow but a more acoustic set with Ruairi De Barra (guitar) and Cormac De Barra (harp) or Sarah Fisher (keyboards) and Claire Hirst (harp) would be almost equally as good. Although I do have to admit that Hazel plus The Subs plus a good old bit of Sax and not to mention a full rendition of Breaking Glass would of course be just brilliant with it being the 30th anniversary this year. I don't really care either way tho TBH, so long as Hazel's there !!  She played the festival in 2005 and 2007 with The Subs as well as playing Glastonbury twice recently, with The Subs in 2004 and with the De Barra boys in 2008.  All of them were totally excellent gigs so needless to say I'm well pleased that she's going to be back at the festival again this year.  Hmmm, so it's the 30th anniversary of Breaking Glass and all that this year ... Oooo, b*gger, kinda makes ya feel well old and decrepit thinking about that doesn't it

So there you have it, the (almost) complete line-up is a'coming real soon now ! Anyone running a book on who's going to be appearing at the top of it this year ? or has a wishlist ? or perhaps even some inside info they might just like to accidentally share for that matter ? Go on, you know you want to ... just between me and you and all that, no one else will ever know

Oooooo, exciting.exciting.exciting.
Are we there yet ? Are we there yet ? Are we there yet ?

Watch this space and all that ...

Edited by mikeb, 05 March 2010 - 02:00 PM.

[mikeb]

SHINY NEW NEWS -:- SHINY NEW NEWS -:- SHINY NEW NEWS

Oh WOW !!!!! I've just stumbled across this li'l gem of info whilst looking for something else:

Quote

The Tygers [of Pan Tang] are delighted to announce that they will be appearing at the Cambridge Rock Festival on the 6th August 2010. The festival is well known for its diversity in Rock music and we are really looking forward to sharing the stage with some fantastic bands. Its going to be a very busy weekend for the band as they will then fly out to the Czech Republic the following day for another festival appearance. 2010 is proving to be a very busy year for the band and hopefully we will be announcing some more live dates very shortly.

Source: Tygers Of Pan Tang Myspace blog entry and the Official Website

That is so strange cos I was only listening to "Spellbound" and "On The Prowl" literally just a couple of nights ago !  I've also been wanting to see them live for absolutely ages and esp so after hearing an old live gig that was featured in full on Radio Caroline quite a while back now and being reminded just how d@mn good they were.  This is absolutely brilliant news

Euthanasia and Raised On Rock


Gangland


Hellbound


Don't Touch Me There


Ooooooo, the new vocalist is a tad Robert.Plant-esque ... and dontcha just love it

Edited by mikeb, 06 March 2010 - 08:44 PM.

[mikeb]

... and now for something completely different: The Enid

The who ? I hear you ask ! Nope, not the who but The Enid Yup, that's right, The Enid and according to the front page of The Official Website not only does Robert John Godfrey still exist and has never really stopped composing but along with artistes various, The Enid is still very much with us and will be playing several dates this year including the festival.

Now, I have to admit that whilst I obviously have heard of them before albeit in the very dim and distant past, The Enid wasn't really something that I ever got into I'm afraid.  Not sure why really because I do actually enjoy just about every type/style/genre of music and certainly a h*ll of a lot of more classical stuff as opposed to just good old fashioned rock and metal various plus current stuff. But it just never seemed to float my boat somehow at the time unfortunately. However, I still have absolutely no idea why because after finding and watching this relic on good old youtube in particular, it's *really* impressive stuff I think and esp so considering that this was 1979 and no doubt performed entirely live - no tapes, sequencers or computers various doing half the work and all that !

Who knows quite what to expect from The Enid at the festival mind you because from what little I can remember about their early work, it was never the same thing twice. In fact not even remotely similar in most cases !  But it's not just an extensive although somewhat ancient back-catalogue either, there is apparently new material coming soon as well. So your guess is probably going to be just as good as mine as to what it's going to be ... but I must say that I'm really looking forward to finding out

Incidentally, a large part (if not all) of the back-catalogue is available for legal download from the band's website on a donation basis. I think my internet connection is about to get a bit of a hammering so that I can find out what I missed all those years ago and re-evaluate my previous feelings for The Enid !  If the late great Tommy Vance reckoned "Robert John Godfrey is one of the greatest composers Great Britain has ever produced" then I'm certainly not going to doubt his opinion in any way so I think I definitely need to educate myself and to do some serious listening before August.

Edited by mikeb, 07 March 2010 - 01:00 AM.

[mikeb]

Ummm, nope, I've no idea exactly what's causing the delay on the old line-up release front either ! but I would guess that there's still the inevitable several acres of paperwork to get sorted to everyone's complete satisfaction and websites to tweak plus all the usual mundane kinda stuff that no doubt always does it's best to screw up plans various It'll be along sometime pretty soon I'm sure.

Anyways, whilst we're waiting, how does Micky Moody and Neil Murray plus a few friends sound ?  

Sadly, said friends don't appear to include a certain Mr.Coverdale or even Mr.Marsden for that matter either but it still sounds very much like a bit of old skool Whitesnake to me ! According to the website of their management agency Moody Murray's Whitesnake is going to be on the menu for Saturday. I'm not a huge Whitesnake fan myself but a whole bunch of early Whitesnake stuff could well be way more than a bit good I reckon

Quote

Moody Murray's Whitesnake does what it says on the tin - classic 70s & 80s Whitesnake blues/rock songs played by two founder members of the original Whitesnake, legendary slide guitarist Micky Moody and top bassist Neil Murray, together with some of the UK's best musicians and singers. Playing songs from Whitesnake's golden era, such as Fool For Your Loving, Don't Break My Heart Again, Ready An' Willing and Ain't No Love In The Heart Of The City, Moody Murray's Whitesnake are the genuine article. The band also features the fantastic talents of guitarist Laurie Wisefield (Wishbone Ash, Tina Turner), drummer Harry James (Thunder), vocalist Chris Ousey (Heartland) and keyboard player Michael Bramwell (Uli Jon Roth), and between them the members of the band have played with literally hundreds of world-famous artists.

August
Saturday 7th Cambridge Rock Festival


Direct quotes above are taken from the Rock Artist Management website.

Edited by mikeb, 09 March 2010 - 11:32 PM.

[mikeb]

Tygers of Pan Tang, The Enid and Moody Murray's Whitesnake who'd announced on their own websites that they were playing the festival have all now been officially confirmed. In addition, the following bands have also been recently added to the confirmed line-up:

• Split Whiskers
  
  
  
• Voodoo Johnson
  
  
  
• Newman
  
  
  
• Oliver Dawson Saxon
  
  
  
• Medicine Hat
  
  
  
• Pallas

I've just added the Main Stage line-up graphic to the first post in this thread for easy reference and I'll update it as/when I notice there are any additions or changes. Similar graphics will also be added for the other stages as and when sufficient confirmed details are available of course.

Super-Saver tickets will apparently only be available up until this Sunday 21st March and will then be withdrawn.

So just a few more days to save yourselves a few quid if you already like what you're seeing on the line-up so far or keep an eye on The Official CRF Website for the most up-to-date line-up information and for details of any additional bands that might be confirmed before the deadline.

Hmmmm, kinda turning into something of a MetalFest this year ain't it but definitely not even the merest hint of a complaint from me about that and especially not at the prospect of having a bit of Saxon gracing the Main Stage on Saturday:

Oliver Dawson Saxon - Strong Arm Of The Law


Oliver Dawson Saxon - Victim You


Oliver Dawson Saxon - No One's Gettin Over


The awesome Subterraneans have also now been confirmed as being with Hazel O'Connor along with Clare Hirst on Sax. Exxxxcellent, that's going to be an absolutely cracking gig.  Always great to see Hazel and The Subs playing but especially so this year with it being the 30th anniversary of Breaking Glass.  I think this is going to something more than a bit special.

I'm still not sure quite what on earth to expect from The Enid tho I've grabbed around 6 random back-catalogue albums and must admit that they're exceptionally good even at the first listen.  I could listen to them all day - in fact I pretty much have done today TBH ! I particularly enjoyed "Six Pieces", "White Goddess"and "Touch Me" as well as "Fand" the tone poem from "Aerie Faerie Nonsense" but there's absolutely loads more and particularly the more recent stuff that I've yet to check out. My only concern is that whilst I really enjoyed all of the albums I've listened to so far and am very much looking forward to seeing them perform live, it's possibly slightly more Festival Hall music than Rock Festival music if you get what I mean. I think if you have an appreciation for complex and incredibly well written classical music then you'll almost certainly be very impressed.  Probably similar if Wakeman or Yes in general is your kinda thing or if, like me, you think S&M is by far the best album from Metallica as well ... but if not then it may not go down quite so well I'm afraid.

Perhaps the more recent stuff is more suited to a festival stage mind you because 2 of the albums I particularly enjoyed are of course intended to be modern classical compositions not really in in way rock. Vocals are also fairly rare it would appear as it's mostly instrumental work of course.  Although The Enid have apparently always scowled at any suggestion that their music is "prog rock", it's almost by definition progressive by virtue of the primarily classical style and structure of the compositions. As for their work being described as "Symphonic Rock", well it goes almost without saying that it's absolutely guaranteed to be very "symphonic" but whether it's "rock" or otherwise is definitely something for you to decide entirely for yourself !

I really don't know. It could so easily be an unbelievably good gig or an appallingly bad one depending on your particular views and whether you appreciate the sheer complexity and outstanding quality of their work or not.  I'm not so sure that there's going to be much in the way of shades of grey here. I'm pretty much convinced that I'm going to enjoy them a lot but I somehow suspect that many others may perhaps be enjoying an unusually packed performance on one of the other stages at the time ! Time will tell and all that but I genuinely hope not because they totally deserve a penultimate slot on the Main Stage IMHO.  In the meantime, I seriously recommend that you give them a good listen and make your own minds up because their work is just so hard to describe or pigeon-hole.  It needs to be heard to be understood and appreciated. Unless you're already a fan of The Enid then you'll almost certainly not have heard anything quite like them before I would guess.  I'll definitely be looking out for reviews of their upcoming gigs to find out what the verdict was as well as finding out what is likely to be on the menu so to speak at the festival

Edited by mikeb, 17 March 2010 - 02:11 PM.

[mikeb]

... totally shameless and completely unprovoked bumpage

But in my defence, I have just added the line-up graphic for the Second Stage to the top post in the thread so it's not entirely unwarranted and all that   Additional info and some more vids, linkies and so on hopefully coming along sometime soon(ish). Still kinda trying to recover from the best Glasto ever and sort out the general chaos as direct result thereof at the mo

Edited by mikeb, 07 July 2010 - 01:03 PM.

[mikeb]

A quicky update on a couple of the Main Stage headliners.

Monsters Of British Rock (AKA Moody & Murray's Whitesnake) [SATURDAY]

As revealed ages back, this years festival closes with some real good old skool Whitesnake courtesy of Micky Moody and Neil Murray plus a few friends However, it would appear that a certain Mr.Coverdale didn't much like Messrs Moody & Murray making reference to their past endeavours in their current band name so apparently Mr.Lawyer was swiftly instructed to have a word with them about it   Suffice it to say that the end result is that the Saturday Headliner we'll all be enjoying is now officially called "Monsters Of British Rock" ... but fear not ! It defo does still mean a whole load of old skool Whitesnake to close the festival of course - or at least it does for those of us who don't have an ego the size of a small country or any particular problem with ex-Whitesnake band-members making occasional references to *very* light coloured reptiles



All Star Band - The 80's Rocked [THURSDAY]

Hmmmm, I seem to have missed out the Thursday headliner so far but I'm very happy to rectify that by saying that Thursday night closes with probably the best 80's stylee rock gig that you're ever likely to attend any time soon ! We all no doubt know that a certain (so-called) beer company doesn't do rock bands ... but if they did, then the line up would probably also be something a bit like these guys

Danny Vaughn - lead vocals & guitar (Tyketto)
Carl Sentance - lead vocals & guitar (Persian Risk, Geezer Butler Band, Krokus)
Dave Bishop - guitar (Sabbat, Loudman, Whole Lotta Metal)
Jon Pease - Keyboards & Vocals (Vandal, Jealousy)
Chris Childs -Bass & bBacking Vocals (Thunder, Paul Young)
Harry James - Drums (Magnum, Thunder, Terraplane)
Matt Prior - Guitar

So with a line-up looking pretty d@mn fine, what about the choons I hear you ask ? Funny you should say that !  Just think of the 80's (ish) bands that you kinda like and those rock compilation CDs various that always demand playing at #11 no matter what or where and I reckon you're going to be pretty much there ... but all played exceedingly well, live, "up close 'n' personal" and "in the flesh" [and any other dodgy clichés you can possibly think of !] Plus of course, expect everything to be played extra-loudly purely for your total enjoyment with not even a remote chance of the neighbours banging on the wall for a change   Expect wall to wall classics from the likes of Poison, Queen, Scorpions, The Stones, Twisted Sister, Simple Minds, Joan Jett, Billy Idol, INXS, Aerosmith, Guns 'n' Roses, Bon Jovi, Van Halen, Whitesnake, Europe, Btyan Adams, Def Leppard, Journey, ZZ Top, Toto, Bruce Sprinsteen, Foreigner, AC/DC, Rainbow, Kiss ... and more.

You can practically guess the likely setlist just from seeing the band names above can't you although sadly, there's not going to be anywhere near enough time for everything unfortunately but my money is defo on knowing virtually every single word of every single song that does make the setlist on the night !  Defo going to be an absolutely stonking set that's for sure and just to whet the old appetite a bit, check out the promo below ... whilst trying to work out how exactly you're going to get that mullet back into top form over the next couple of weeks or if like me you're well into grade #1 (or less) territory these days, find an appropriate hat for the night and just pretend the mullet has been pimped to perfection underneath it - no one will ever know

The 80's Rocked - promo vid


Couldn't find any other vids but you can listen to more good stuff  HERE

The current official line-up is shown in the first post in this thread but please wander over to the Official CRF Website for much more info, any late changes and/or additions to the line-up and full ticket details.  Advance ticket prices finish at the end of JULY so almost the last chance to save a few quid on this years tickets as they go up on 1st August for Box Office collections and/or at-the-gate purchases (if still available) etc.

Edited by mikeb, 23 July 2010 - 09:53 PM.

[mikeb]

The Buskers Stage is a shiny new addition for this year - featuring many of the best artists from this years Cambridge Buskers & Street Performers Festival over the weekend.  I've just added the complete line-up for the Buskers Stage to the first post in this thread.  After a quick listen to some the guys listed as playing, it's certainly a very interesting mix of many genres of music from pure acoustic, jazz, funk, soul ... right up to almost pop and some pretty good rock so absolutely perfect for those "fancy something a bit different" moments as a change from the heavier rock/metal/blues orientated stuff on the main stages.  

Very difficult to pick just a couple to mention but I particularly enjoyed listening to Gavin Adam Wood and especially his version of the Frankie Goes To Hollywood hit "The Power Of Love" I must say. Nice one, haven't heard that in absolutely ages Although it's apparently not all covers so expect some of his own material as well.  There's plenty of audio on His Website and I must admit that I've just spent the best part of an hour listening to practically all of them ! I can only find the following vid to post tho as an example of what to expect but if you like what you hear then take a wander over to the website for much more similar kinda stuff. What a great voice and I'm defo thinking that lounging around on the grass in the blazing sun with a fine ale enjoying it seems like a good plan to me.  I'm not entirely sure if there's going to be an after-hours venue this year (for all the happy campers not ready to call it a night when the main stages close) but there usually is so I expect this year will be no different and I sure hope he's going to playing another set then

Gavin Adam Wood - Be Mine (David Gray)




Another artiste that grabbed my ear so to speak was Broken Arrow and YES, I know, they defo don't quite fit into the "something a bit different" category as they're very much rock and all that ! However, anyone who plays stuff from the most excellent album The Pros and Cons Of Hitchhiking by a certain Mr.Waters is ALWAYS going to attract my attention I'm afraid Not bad. Not bad at all guys. I reckon the grumpy old b*gger Roger might even approve

Broken Arrow




It very much looks like there's no shortage of seriously good talent going to be gracing this new stage so please take some time out during the festival to wander over and check some these guys out. I'm quite sure that a few coins and/or beer tokens in the hat (or whatever) if you enjoy what you hear will always be much appreciated ... and very well deserved

Here's a few more artistes playing the Buskers Stage worth checking out for yourselves:

Chancellors Of Vice

Rich Young

Ain't Misbehavin'

Karmadillo

Jessica May Buckle

HoneyDog

Simon Gillies

Chris Newman

Chris Free

Freddie Hall

Georgia and Olly

I'm quite sure that any I've missed out are equally as good as these guys it's just that I couldn't find anything to listen to and then post the relevant linkies.

Edited by mikeb, 31 July 2010 - 01:10 AM.

[grumpyhack]

Sadly Mr Grumpyhack remains grumpy but only because family commitments mean that I'm not going to be able to make Cambridge this year.  
Saw Chantel McGregor recently at Trowbridge and she's certainly a young woman with great talent and potential - though sadly she didn't do much of her Hendrix repertoire.
With Danny Bryant and Larry Miller you're in for some very good blues rock.  Have a great fest everyone and hope to see you in 2011.