Photos from Saffle, by David Hill:
More at:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/david_nottingham/tags/ripitup/
Yes, it’s Fosca, who put out a single called ‘Supine On The Astroturf’, pictured here almost supine on some actual astroturf. The backstage area was a huge indoor football pitch, with the stage at one end, looking out onto the festival camping site, like a kind of mini-Glastonbury. The rain was only mini-rain, too.
We were second from last of a two-day festival bill, our day ending with Dan Treacy and his Television Personalities. We also met and became travel mates with Richard Preece, who records as Lovejoy and who performed a lovely acoustic set earlier in the evening. I also enjoyed the solo lady plus laptop that was Action Biker, and the pristinely jangly guitar groups Kissing Mirrors and Cats on Fire.
Fosca went onstage after dark, though typically the acts beforehand overran, and our set was much later than scheduled. We also took an aeon to soundcheck due to some technical problem or other, and hope the crowd forgave us. They danced and sang along, and I was asked for my autograph afterwards.
My voice fell apart two-thirds into the set, and I now realise it was because I couldn’t hear my vocals loudly enough on stage, and sang too loudly as a result. But after the extended sonic tweaking that had already taken place, I couldn’t bear to trouble the engineers any further, and plumped to persevere. Still, if one can’t replicate the recordings properly, one has a duty to provide more of a visual element and generally have fun. So I shouted and screamed and danced about and generally put on what I hoped was something vaguely classifiable as a performance. I had fun, and I hoped it would rub off.
The band themselves were fantastic: Tom especially, on lead guitar. No mean feat considering Ryan Air had managed to lose his suitcase containing all his guitar effects pedals, and worse than that, his stage clothes and shoes. I forgave him his trainers given such mitigating circumstances, and we are indebted to the people at Saffle who found Tom a whole new set of pedals to borrow at the last minute.
Set list:
1. Letter To St Christopher
2. Universal Gatecrasher
3. Head Boy
4. Come Down From The Cross
5. We See The World As Our Stunt Doubles
6. Secret Crush On Third Trombone
7. It Only Matters To Those To Whom It Matters
8. I’ve Agreed To Something I Shouldn’t Have
9. The Millionaire Of Your Own Hair
10. It’s Going To End In Tears
11. The Agony Without The Ecstasy
***
Landing back at Stansted on the Sunday, the plane tannoy plays a tinny, banal fanfare with a sugary pre-recorded message reminding the passengers the flight has arrived on time, and that we must all be truly grateful to Ryan Air for existing.
I’d rather they spent less time and energy producing such smug little recordings, and more on ensuring valuable luggage ends up at the same airport as its owners, but there you go.
Tom seems less bothered than me about his loss, having done the sensible thing and taken out insurance. It happens. Could have been worse. When Spearmint played somewhere – Japan, I think – I remember a guitar or similar piece of important equipment ended up in the wrong hemisphere, though it got back to the band eventually, having been around the world a few times.
If travel broadens the mind, there must be a few toothbrushes and pairs of knickers out there entirely qualified to sit on liberal think-tanks.
Rachel Stevenson’s account of the trip is here:
 http://millionreasons.livejournal.com/173056.html
