dondo

From many years of clubbing and gig going there was many times I woke up with ringing in my ears but thought recently I better take better protection of my hearing so have used the foam type earplugs at recent load gigs. But I found they were too muffled so have bought the pluggerz ones for me and my wife as we have them for the kids and thought they were good. Will be testing them out next month when I'm next at some gigs and at WOMAD

We will be back for the 2nd time to WOMAD this year having been for the 1st time in 2016. We have done plenty of festivals before (bothe with and without kids) and we really like WOMAD. Yes bit middle class like others have said but really like the location- loads of nice flat ground for camping and a decent sized site which allows for a nice wander around without it being the giant that Glastonbury is. Really good childrens area though now ours are a bit older we will also try and get a bit more music in this year. It is an amazingly diverse range of music (and I'll admit by lots of artists I am unaware of) so worth going on the WOMAD site and there is a Spotify playlist on there which is well worth a listen- certainly helped me make a shortlist of bands to see.

Some good ones in 2nd wave of acts- looking forward to Leftfield

WOMAD and Cure at Hyde Park for me

Also consisder Stratford International station as that has quick trains into St. Pancras. When we went to see Depeche Mode at the London Stadium we were staying at the Premier Inn next to it and when the gig was finished there was loads of crowds heading towards Stratford station & underground but hardly any towards International.

Fantastic result for Scotland- my son said it was the happiest he'd seen me all year! Great to see Russell back on form.

Yes- was a depressing performance. So many mistakes it was gutting.

We saw a few people there that didn't have kids (spoke to a couple on the Sunday who were nursing a pretty big hangover!) and there is some late night stuff that goes on so wouldn't think you'd feel to out of place. It would be more whether there'd necessarily anything of interest to you during the day if you haven't got kids.

We went to Deer Shed for the 1st time last year- was our 5th festival as a family having done Croissant Neuf, Beatiful Days & WOMAD in previous years. Friends had been going for a good many years and as it's only 40 mins away and the family we normally go to a festival with weren't doing one last year we decided to give it a go. The weather didn't help as it was pretty awful at times and we thought overall that it was OK- not terrible but equally not brilliant. Good stuff: Short drive for me We got there pretty much as the gates opened so were parked really close so was only short walk to site and where we camped Kids were at school on the Friday so enabled us to set up camp without any "I'm bored" situations. Were with a big group of friends so was good from a social aspect- we also bumped into a fair few people we knew as well. Loads for the kids to do. Site is pretty compact so not too far to walk and easy to arrange/meet up with others. Good beer selection. Nice friendly atmosphere. Not so good stuff The festival was just to short for us- we are used to longer festivals both going as a family and when my wife & I have done Glastonbury. You set up camp Friday and really only have a full day on the Saturday before leaving on the Sunday- you do have the optyion of buying a Sunday night ticket but not many people seemed to do that looking at the tents that remained when we left. Based on the above we found it relatively expensive on a per day basis but also thought that other things made it pricey too. Food whilst always expensive seemed even more so at deershed and some of the kids actvities were expensive too. You can't take your own alcohol into the arena. Our friends are going again this year but we are decided to pass and return to WOMAD. If WOMAD wasn't the week after Deershed we might have done it as line up looks pretty good this year.

Signed

Tickets booked for the Cure- great supoort acts too Also sorted for accommodation near Hyde Park- just need to wait for cheap train tickets and all good

Fantastic performance from Scotland- yes I know that Australia were down to 14 men but still absolutely brilliant even without Hogg.

Aye- was a great performance. We were unlucky not to go in at half time with a lead. Unfortunately I didn't see the 2nd half but will try to get it on catch up.

Yep- tickets all sorted for us and our friends too. We've done Red Park & Camp for a bit of easiness. Looking forward to it as really enjoyed it last year

I saw Public Service Broadcasting last night in Leeds- great gig, really enjoyed it. Regarding the other PSB- still love them too- their set at Glastonbury in 2010 is 1 of my favourite ever Glastonbury sets.