What a great weekend I had with very little in hiccups but sadly our Reviewer, Fiona McMurdo, not long after the festival finished ended up in Hospital so I am going to plaster my pics on here with a few words inbetween. I wish her a speedy recovery and we will post her review and pics later in the year.
This years Headliners were always going to be crowd pleasers with South of Salem, Reef and Eclipse.
But as usual at Festivals the gems are always the bands that you didn’t really know about but blew you away. For me there was a few.
The Lazys drew a big crowd at the Bludsucker stage. The Australian rock band are very popular at the moment and to see them at such an intimate festival was a pleasure.
After being nagged endlessly by Sarah Furbey ( Manager ) I eventually checked out Shape of Water on the Grand Central stage. They were really good, very different from the rock music I’m used to listening to. If any musicians want to tell me what the attachment is on the body of the singers guitar it would be great.
I’m just going to be really commenting on the Festival itself. It’s easily my favourite local one, so much so that I payed a lot of money to kit myself out with a giant tent I only use once a year. I like my comforts so I have an 8 man octagon tent with full standing room throughout and for comfort I have bought a king size inflatable bed. I just need a drinks cabinet now.
My only flaw this year was getting my bed to my tent after inflating it at a socket. Rachel and Fiona were asked to make the walk of shame with me, carrying the bed on our heads. I’m eternally grateful to them both but next year I’m buying one inflated by USB and a power bank.
The festival itself is in a picturesque valley in Compstall but trust me, however warm it is in the day it’s cold at night. Such a mellow location.
This year the layout was reorganised with the Bludsucker Stage to the back of the site, the Grand Central Stage near the entrance and the Trooper Stage in the middle with a massive bar.
Booze was between 5-6 English Pounds with a great selection of Pale, IPA, Lager and Cider.
Each night after the Headliners there was an afterparty in the Barn with a band on which was great for a winddown and a chance to chat with some of the musicians from the festival.
I only really ate once from one of the Van’s, I had dirty fries and they were plentiful and delicious. There was always somewhere to sit and chow down which I have found to be a big problem at Festivals because if I have to sit on the floor I really struggle to get back on my feet.
I’m not sure about the location of the Grand Central Stage, seemed quite far away from the other two and there tended to be little crowds which maybe is related to this.
As with every year I’ve attended it seems to get a little more finely tuned each time. Because I live nearby and it’s so well run, to me Firevolt is the perfect Rock Festival.
To make up for my dire writing skills I’ve added way more pics to the below gallery to hopefully make up for it.
See you next year….
