Yesterday was finally the day that my band @theriverkicks played at Goatfest. This is a small festival in the village of Codicote that is not too far from where I live. It started at The Goat pub and has been running for fifteen years, but this was my first visit and we just went for the day although it was on all weekend with people camping.
They had four stages. We were on the Goat Stage in a small circus tent. The main stage was outside with plenty of room for a big crowd. Near that were a range of food wagons and some stalls selling various items. People like to dress up at festivals, so there were lots of interesting and strange outfits. Many people had flower headdresses, some of which lit up. One guy I noticed was wearing a Union Jack mini-dress that went nicely with his tattoos and bald head.
This was only our second gig and our first at a public event. It was all well organised and we just had to turn up at the tent about half an hour before our set. As soon as the previous band finished they moved their kit out and we could set up. I only needed to bring a snare drum and cymbals as they had the rest of the kit set up. This was my first time playing with microphones all over the kit and I had to attach one to the snare. The sound guy did a pretty good job in a short time as our band needs lots of microphones and instrument channels. We actually started right on time and played for 45 minutes. The time went quick and there were a couple of songs we did not have time for.
I had no idea what audience we would get as we have not built up a following yet. We brought along some friends though. People wandered in as we set up and more came as we were playing. I reckon there were 40-60 people there. Many were singing along with some of the songs and some were dancing. We have flutes and clarinet as well as the standard pop instruments of drums, guitar, bass and piano. The lineup is:
- Bob on flute and piccolo.
- @purplesinger on piano and vocals.
- @daniellemurray on clarinet and recorder.
- Myself on drums and vocals.
- Anne-Marie on guitar, flute and vocals. She flew in from Ireland for the gig.
- Paul on bass.
- Ray on guitar and vocals.
@anna-newkey would have been with us, but is recovering from a broken arm so would not be able to play guitar. She has been doing some other performing, so check her posts.
I sang one song and three of the others sang too. Our material is a mix of early folk tunes, traditional songs and a few more modern songs. You will get a flavour from the video thanks to my other half. She only took short clips, but there may be other video later from other people.
I do not have a photo of the crowd, but it did fill up a bit.
We do not get paid for the gig, but we got something for travel expenses and could make use of the backstage 'bar'. There were drinks and some snacks where we swapped verdicts on how it went before people left. The consensus was that it was a success. We were between a young rock band and a country band, so there was plenty of variety. We may offer something different.
My other half and I stayed on to check out the other music. Some of the acts we enjoyed were:
- Dreamwalks doing some nice acoustic songs.
- Two Headed Horse Band who mixed pop attitude with some traditional instruments.
- Germein Sisters from Australia who were very good. They have done some big tours.
- Tunde Baiyewu who hit it big as singer with The Lighthouse Family. He gave us the hits and went down well with the crowd.
- The South that features original members of The Beautiful South. They also did their hits along with some interesting covers.
- Keala Settle has performed in many Broadway musicals and was the bearded lady in The Greatest Showman movie. There were several people dressed as ringmasters in the crowd. She did some classic songs that showed off her amazing voice and finished with her hit from Showman.
There was lots more that we did not have time to see. I have to say that the sound from the main stage was pretty good. We were lucky with the weather as Friday was really windy and Saturday was wet.
I had to buy a shirt as our band is on it (down the bottom).
It was a really fun experience and I would happily play there again. Our only other pending gig for now is at a private event next month, but I think we are all up for doing more. We do this for the love of music.
Rock on!
▶️ 3Speak
It was a lot of fun... and I think we sounded pretty good.Thank goodness it wasn't raining. We'd have got pretty wet.
We were really lucky with the weather. It was a nice day out overall and I might go again even if we are not playing. It's less intimidating than some of the huge festivals.
Sounding great!
Well done guys and girls!
Nothing better than to play for an audience. That is what music is all about. That the event is called Goatfest just heightens the joy. I would have likes to be the one inventing that name.
I expect you would have enjoyed some of the characters I saw there. One guy was carrying a staff with a goat head (possibly not real) on it. I think festival life is a real escape for some.
Our next gig is at the druid event we played at last year. More interesting characters, but then two of the band are druids.
Sounds wonderful. A druid band! Have to go to a druid concert when possible. Not sure that there are any druid bands here as we are Germanic and not Celtic.
A great sound, and it looks like you guys enjoyed it. Congratulations and have a !BEER
Cheers. We do this for fun and it's good to see an audience enjoy it.
I bet, and all of the best for the future of the band.
Felicitaciones a esa banda lucen geniales
Wow looks like fun. Decades from now, maybe in 2074, some one somewhere is going to discover your "retro 2024 obscure" band and be a cult listener.😅
I'll be dead by then! At least a few more people know about us, but we're not really doing much marketing as it's just for fun.
Oh wow, that is really cool. It sounds like a really great festival with a nice mix of local bands and some bigger names too. I'm glad you had a good time and things went well!
It was fun. I've not actually been to many festivals, but it's a good day out if the weather is nice.
I used to attend a folk and bluegrass festival every year in my younger days. It was always a good time.
From the event looks to organised from the video and photos.
I wished the crowed enjoying the performance was shown in the video, I would love to see
If I were there, I will only be after those crazy dressings😅😅
Well done you all. I'm sure you will be improving in the coming events as you get more experience on live performing. There are a lot of things to take into account and it's not easy at all...
I didn't like that post breaking the stage view, to be honest... well guess that they didn't thought too much about that.
My best wishes for the next shows, keep on!
The post was holding up the tent, so there wasn't much to be done about it. We're fairly experienced as a group having played other types of music, but the drumming is still new to me. I'm enjoying it anyway.
Hello friends, greetings to us. How are you today?
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