Summer Madness! 2009
Sunday 30th August 2009Carisbrooke Castle Fields, Carisbrooke Castle, Isle of Wight, England MAP
£35
Daily capacity: 10,000
Last updated: Fri 7th Aug 2009
Eight years ago the Isle of Wight was a musical wasteland, apart from local bands playing in pubs there wasn't much happening at all, then in 2002 it all changed, the Isle of Wight Festival was resurrected after an absence of 32 years and since then we have seen several major annual events spring up. The latest of these was billed as Summer Madness 2009, although unless they have the same headliner next year I doubt that name will stick too long.
On arrival we were presented with a well laid out site boasting the usual selection of burger vans and bars, but also a few slightly hopeful hippy-clothing stalls. Most notable was that many of the food stalls were run by local vendors selling produce from local farms, as opposed to the usual clone collection of food stalls you usually get at these events. A quick trip to the bar for, what was surprisingly, properly cold cans of cider and we were ready for the bands.
After they had left the stage it was left to Jerry Dammers to entertain the crowd as DJ between the bands. Jerry used to be keyboard player with the Specials before the split in the 80s and he played a good mix of Ska, Reggae, Northern Soul and Mod music to general appreciation of the crowd.
Next up was the Gentleman's Dub Club, a Ska band who were let down by their lead singers increasing irritation at the crowd for not singing along. Unfortunately as none of their songs were known to the audience or had catchy enough choruses to draw the crowd in, this level of participation was never going to happen and most people took the opportunity to go and get another beer instead.
After the early bout of rain at the start of the show the weather had held out for us, however as Madness took to the stage the drizzle returned with a vengeance. But this failed to dampen the spirits of the crowd who weren't going to let it get in the way of having a good sing and dance. Even the slight technical hitch that delayed them for 10 minutes didn't stop the enthusiasm from the band and crowd alike.
Organiser John Curd has said that he is hoping to make this an annual event, and we left the venue looking forward to seeing what he has in store for next year.
review by: Steve Collins
photos by: Steve Collins
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