The Somerset Arms Festival 3/9/06 

 

The morning was fine but overcast as the curtain sider lorry which was to be the stage was parked on the road at the rear of the Somerset Arms car park in Huddersfield. As the PA and lights were set up on the stage the sun was shining all be it in between the odd light shower of rain.

 

Just after lunch the first band on were EEVOLUTION. These young lads from Queensbury are always up for playing at these outdoor charity events and they get better every time they play. Because they usually play an early slot at these events they are used to playing to fewer punters than the bands who play later but it does not affect their performance one little bit. They show some of the more experienced bands on the scene how to get on with it as they play their set unperturbed by the small audiences. They played their usual rocky set with gusto and enthusiasm and they certainly deserve the plaudits they are receiving. As a result of their hard work they have been given a paid gig by Bradford Council Parks at the Saltaire Festival in two weeks time. Well Done lads! You Deserve It!

 

 

 

Gypsy brave the showers at The Somerset Arms

Another quick shower of rain and the sun came out again in time for the hardworking unsigned band GYPSY to open their set with the Blink 182 song ‘All The Small Things’ followed by one of Gypsy’s own songs, more classic rock numbers from Guns N Roses, Free, The Cult, and Queen were intermingled with several other Gypsy compositions as well as Thin Lizzy, Bon Jovi and Metalica numbers, even with the poor weather and the low turn out of punters these guys certainly look like they enjoy what they are doing on stage, New front man Andy did a great job as did all of the band , with the amount of jumping about that the bass player does during the spot I am surprised he has any energy left to sing any of the backing vocals.

 

Taff says Heavy....We say....Showers!

The showers had now stopped and we were treated to odd bursts of sunshine peeping from behind the cloudy sky as the next band HEAVY LOAD started their se, they delivered their rock numbers in the quality and style which has become a trademark for them in their hometown. With front man Taff belting out his quality vocals and the rest of the band backing him up with quality musicianship, HEAVY LOAD certainly ‘DELIVERED THE GOODS’ to the small crowd gathered in the car park and on the raised decking patio area,   Unforgiven, Emerald, Don’t Believe a Word, Whiskey in The Jar and other classic rock numbers were delivered in a quality style from the stage on the back of the heavy goods vehicle by quality band HEAVY LOAD.

The Tourettes say "F*&Kin' Weather!"

 Now it was the turn of the TOURETTES to treat the small but appreciative audience to some of the more modern rock music numbers. They delivered stuff from Arctic Monkeys to Van Halen  (well its almost A to Z).  and  I never heard Ady swear once. They certainly gave it everything and the applause at the end of each number was proof of the quality these guys have. They cracked the numbers out word and note perfect. And I did hear one person say “ F**King good band the Tourettes!” and I was quite annoyed about that because I wanted to say it first as they are “ a  very F**King good band".

Splash Alley...say no more!

As darkness fell and after a few words of thanks from the management of the pub and the draw for the raffle,  it was time for SPLASH ALLEY to round the show off with their set of classic rock covers numbers and light show, they started with AC DCs  Hell Aint a Bad Place, followed by numbers from Z Z Top,  Whitesnake, Thin Lizzy Free, Bon Jovi number Livin on a Prayer had the audience straining their vocal chords as they joined in with the words as did the penultimate song, Guns N Roses Sweet Child O Mine. The final song was AC DCs Whole Lotta Rosie which has become a bit of a Splash Alley anthem and always goes down well at any rock venue, this venue was no exception and as the last note faded away and the lights were dimmed it was nice to reflect that the hard work that everyone had put in had raised over seven hundred quid to help the local hospital baby care unit,  How much better it would have been if more people had attended this outdoor event and how much more could have been raised for the charity?

Brian Glover (words and pictures)