Saturday 19th July we headed down to the slightly unknown quantity of Chiddfest, in Sussex, somewhere near Eastbourne (I think!)
This was the first gig for LaVendore Rogue booked through our agent, Mike Hellier, of Movin’ Music, so we knew it was going to be a good one.
We set off early, after several coffees on the doorstep with JoJo and our better halves, and arrived in good time. No traffic issues this time, and no “short cuts” through Guildford, which happened the last time we were down in Sussex.
Having assessed the situation (beer tent/burger van/stage/back stage area), introduced ourselves to Mark Prentice, the organizer, then settled down for a cold beer with Rosco Levee and Sara Ransom. Having seen Rosco Levee & The Southern Slide at Broadstairs Blues Bash earlier in the year, it was great to catch up with them and share our love of good music, and vinyl. We’ll touch upon vinyl at a later date, but all of a sudden, it seems to be the future!
We were due on stage at 5:45pm, but after a few problems with Warren’s keyboard monitor (mainly that it didn’t work), we finally opened the cage at 5:55pm. It was HOT. In more ways than one. It was noted that I wasn’t having the best time up there due to some on-stage mix problems, but after a couple of songs of trying to get the sound man’s attention, I just though “it’s only rock n roll”, and just played.
We went down well, played great, and sold plenty of CDs.
After clearing our gear away, we hit the beer tent, checked out Rosco Levee & The Southern Slide (who were fantastic – raw, groovy and great songs), then had our dinner. Cooked while we waited by a great chef (his name unfortunately escapes me). I had soup, salmon and Eton mess. Lovely stuff.
We hit the road at 10pm, discussing the show on the way back, and arrived home at approximately 1am.
For me, Chiddfest has the potential to be a fantastic festival. Considering this was the first one, I’d say it’s already there.
Mark Prentice – we look forward to seeing you again sometime!
Photos by Sarah Reeve here
