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Big Session

Guest RichardH

By Guest RichardH,
in Summer Sundae Weekender

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  • 1 month later...
alfie672 Newbie

alfie672

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Posted

i have nerver attended the big session but i was tempted last year without doing it, much the same this year, the difference being there is at least one other definitely maybe.

i assume it is a laid back affair so i may even take one of my children?

how many people attend?

i assume the camping is located on vic park?

i reckon that many people have attended every ss (including myself) but i cannot imagine many have attended every ss and every big session, for those i suggest a free day in the real ale tent!

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RichardH Newbie

RichardH

Posted
Posted (edited)
i have nerver attended the big session but i was tempted last year without doing it, much the same this year, the difference being there is at least one other definitely maybe.

i assume it is a laid back affair so i may even take one of my children?

how many people attend?

i assume the camping is located on vic park?

i reckon that many people have attended every ss (including myself) but i cannot imagine many have attended every ss and every big session, for those i suggest a free day in the real ale tent!

Edited by RichardH
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andyblack Newbie

andyblack

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the big session : an outsiders view.........

im not really a folk/world music person, although i'll happily admit to loving the levellers / asian dub foundation / chumbawamba indie kind of things.

so the first time i went in 2006, was only at the insistance of someone else.

the big session is smaller than ssw but based on the same concept. the hall is used as a stage, the orange tree bar is sat in a larger marquee with a stage at one end (and those loveable mcs dr dyer and sean t), and then a giant circus style big top tent is somehow squeezed into the area occupied by the musician tent at ssw.

originally set up as the oysterbands version of croperdy, they pick some of the bands, and bring their friends alone. and the rest is programmed by DMH / CODA

then it's more of the same (though if anything a little more fun because its different and not just another indie band festival with athlete and supegrass playing). bands play between the stages, the orange tree bar sells old rosie scrumpy. theres a few odd people to see, the occasional surprisingly really unusual yet very intriguing act (chumbawamba acoustic, trans global underground, tuung etc). the highlight of the weekend being the oysterbands ceilidh on the sat night.

this will be my 4th year. and oddly, i seem to attend each year with the same set of non folk music loving people. we've settled into a formula of drinking old rosie scrumpy all saturday afternoon, then making a hell for leather fool of ourselves in the ceilidh, till we can laugh no more and then retire to the bar for the evening. a different weekend i guess. even in 2007 when the site got rained on so heavily it became a mini glastonbury.

http://www.efestivals.co.uk/festivals/bigs...TheSite16.shtml

oh, and theres now a little session fringe thing run by the beautiful south's gaz birtles in the donkey pub the night before (imitation is the greatest form of flattery.......... :P ).

ps : being leicester, interestingly, the big session gets far better food vans than ssw. the sea cow is replaced by shimla pinks curry van. which is highly recommended, the levellers, onion bhajis and scrumpy all round, you can really go wrong for £60

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  • 2 weeks later...
Kaybee Newbie

Kaybee

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I'm not sure I can technically be classed as an "outsider" as the person who was despatched to buy RichardH some new trousers on the afternoon of the biblical downpour in 2007 (on grounds of weather, I might add, rather than any other trouser-ruining event that he may have experienced as he watched the site turn into a mudbath following two hours of Glastonbury-shaming rain....)

Genuinely, as a festival-goer, I absolutely LOVE the Big Session. It's like Cambridge Folk Fest without the folk puritanism (and don't get me wrong, I really like Cambridge too). Last year the poetry (no, wait, come back!) was a real eye-opener and I even ended up dancing my little socks off at the Ceilidh (and normally no amount of alcohol can persuade me to dance). The Oysterband always play a great set and this year the line-up is better than ever.

My brother and his partner come down from Lancashire, and we all camp, despite my living in Leicester. The campsite is the friendliest I've ever known (and regular readers will be aware of my whinges about the SSW (Victoria) site). And if real ale is your thing, my bro (who knows more about real ale than I do, and delighted in the fact that the ale tasting notes are published on the website in advance) said to me the first time he came "so, I understand there's some music on at this beer festival".

And if anyone thinks this is a disguised plug for sales, I understand that it is expected to sell out (as it has in previous years) so don't leave it until the last minute. I'll buy anyone who is disappointed a pint. No doubt of some insane bowel-shattering cider.

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alfie672 Newbie

alfie672

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cheers ....the job's a good'un

tickets to be purchased next week

negotiations have take place and it will be a family holiday, at a festival. perfect!

i will have to curb my behaviour slightly, but as they are all attending a wedding in germany during both the fringe and the ss i will live with being 'curbed' at the big session.

have a listen to a track called 'house' by jezz hall (myspace), he works as a barman in my local. i think it is a grand tune and possibly just right for the big session.

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  • 4 weeks later...
RichardH Newbie

RichardH

Posted
Posted (edited)

Third stage has been announced for this now www.bigsessionfestival. com.

Anyway, going back to an earlier post. Technically, Ker Plunk has not only attended every Summer Sundae and every Big Session, (and even the post festival bash called the Little Session down the road at the Hind, though he can't remember being there) he has also attended a virtual Big Session as well, on the grounds that he once turned up for it on the wrong weekend!

Needless to say, he has never lived that down. Which is why about now is the right time for the story to be dragged out again for it's annual airing. Those with long memories will recall that this is widely regarded as karma for the time he accidentally deleted the ENTIRE Summer Sundae forum on this very site. :lol:

Edited by RichardH
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kerplunk Collaborator

kerplunk

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So here I find my best efforts ridiculed and history being chronically misrepresented.

1. I didn't delete a whole 'forum' - it was just one likkle 24 page thread.

2. I have a clear memory of falling out the door of the Hind and twisting my ankle.

3. I did NOT attend the first two Big Sesh's cos I was at download (which incidentally is a far superior festival imo) nor was I at the first summer sundae.

So there.

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RichardH Newbie

RichardH

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Posted
So here I find my best efforts ridiculed and history being chronically misrepresented.

1. I didn't delete a whole 'forum' - it was just one likkle 24 page thread.

2. I have a clear memory of falling out the door of the Hind and twisting my ankle.

3. I did NOT attend the first two Big Sesh's cos I was at download (which incidentally is a far superior festival imo) nor was I at the first summer sundae.

So there.

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  • 2 weeks later...
  • 4 weeks later...
andyblack Newbie

andyblack

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quite possibly no ceiliedh for me sadly, i'll be joining festivities late. im taking my old man to the curve to see an inspector calls. he's not been very well, and really wanted to go, and thus i'm being a dutiful son for a few hours.

so i'll be back for beers by 10.30 then..........

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seantizz Newbie

seantizz

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Pretty sure that the website has approximate times..

Levellers 9.30 if I remember correctly.. which I might not have... and can't check at work...

Weather looking good in the east Midlands today.... can't wait for that real ale later...

Sean

xx

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kerplunk Collaborator

kerplunk

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Pretty sure that the website has approximate times..

Levellers 9.30 if I remember correctly.. which I might not have... and can't check at work...

Weather looking good in the east Midlands today.... can't wait for that real ale later...

Sean

xx

Found the way, cheers

(yeah levellers = 9.30)

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