Avebury Rocks 2 - Saturday 7 July 2012

[dotjay]

Originally Posted by aspwatterson

What's your Just Giving addy Jon? Think you were the photographer I met last year? Have eventually found Paulabears.. http://www.justgiving.com/paularocksavebury2

Aww, thank you, Andi! Very kind of you to sponsor me.

I don't think we managed to meet last year, unfortunately. Hopefully you'll decide you're able to come along again this year? I'm only an amateur photographer, so I don't think I'd qualify myself with a "the" before it.

Thinking of bringing along my acoustic guitar to strum along the way this time. What do we reckon? Good idea or bad idea?

Jon

[scotpaulabear]

Originally Posted by dotjay

Aww, thank you, Andi! Very kind of you to sponsor me.

I don't think we managed to meet last year, unfortunately. Hopefully you'll decide you're able to come along again this year? I'm only an amateur photographer, so I don't think I'd qualify myself with a "the" before it.

Thinking of bringing along my acoustic guitar to strum along the way this time. What do we reckon? Good idea or bad idea?

Jon

I'm for it, but you gotta carry it for 20 miles

Gotta get my head (and suitcase) together ASAP! I leave Tuesday straight from work cos I have a meeting in London first

[dotjay]

Originally Posted by scotpaulabear

I'm for it, but you gotta carry it for 20 miles

Piece of cake! *whimpers* /:-|

[Colin L]

got back home about an hour ago. Need to keep moving so we don't seize up. Great day, the weather could have been better. Not sure what my pics will be like. looking forward to Simon's and the official LHS ones.

[aspwatterson]

Thanks to Colin and Joy for wonderful pics of Avebury charitython!


https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?f...type=1&theater

Andi

[scotpaulabear]

My photos of the day (sadly lacking one of me falling on my arse in the mud right in front of 4 musicians I really admire ) can be found here (almost done with the tagging)!
https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?...3&l=89f2ef0d46

[scotpaulabear]

A bit of press and a review about the day

http://www.thisiswiltshire.co.uk/new...it_at_Avebury/

http://festivalchronicle.wordpress.c...avebury-rocks/

[scotpaulabear]

And the LHS review, with the words of our own Harpic reproduced below

http://www.lovehopestrengthfoundatio...bury-rocks-ii/

“Thank you to Ian and Mike for organising the route which was harder, but more enjoyable, breathtaking in more ways than one!

Thank you to all the Rotarians from Marlborough and District, Chippenham and Swindon Thamesdown throughout the walk, with some morale sapping mickey taking at the road crossings (or was I the only target for that?!) Seriously, thanks guys you were brilliant.

And that beef bap was the best I’ve ever had.

Jenny and her team from the Avebury Field Assocation for letting us grubby musician types muddy up the pavilion whist they provided much needed sustainance for all.

Tony Farthing and family for all their help with the Glebe Field, gates, straw and large vehicles, to Duncan Haines for pulling out stuck vehicles, transporting equipment, flattening the ruts in the field and providing water to the walkers, to Alan Blake at Avebury Club for sterling work at the bar and for making the Club available on the night.

Thanks also to Love Hope Strength Foundation for organising the sponsorship side and the team: Dave for endless ingenuity in setting up and taking down; Stuart for doing about 30 miles on the walk by running ahead of us and taking pics, watching us go by and then running ahead again – how did he do that??! Sarah and Justin for running the LHSF stall and Jackie for ending up running the Levs merch stall. All this despite the danger of low flying party tents threatening to wipe out the team.

Outside the event we had great help from Roger at Sound Knowledge and all at Holmes music with tireless promotion and support – proper people in proper shops, not faceless mail order companies with no interest in you as a person – please buy your CDs and/or your musical instruments from them. Drum kit Mr Frampton?

Speaking of whom thank you Dave for doing such a great job steering the meetings in the Red Lion and being our first port of call (and dealing with all my endless requests and suggestions leading up to and on the day).

Also to all on the committee for their dedication, unfailing enthusiasm and practical knowledge and ideas, not to mention the humour and bonhomie that prevailed throughout.

I thought the music was superb and everything I hoped for (apart from that solo guy).

Special mention to Cy Curnin for driving up from the Loire to walk 20 miles and play for 30mins; Jon Leveller who embraced the event by raising over £700 (and counting), in doing the walk because he was unable to play because of his finger injury. Mike Peters for driving down from a flooded Manchester via a flooded Wales immediately after landing from a transatlantic flight to turn Avebury sports field into a stadium rock gig! And of course the Levellers who travelled overnight from Belgium at considerable financial cost to themselves to put on a fantastic show and help our local community, sending home the sodden revellers with smiles on their faces and then sticking around to help take down the PA in the rain – not what they were (not) paid to do!

Love, Hope and Strength to all..not least David Uttley.”

Nick Harper

[scotpaulabear]

A lovely review of the day
http://www.greenmanmusic.biz/?p=5266

Avebury Rocks in the Rain, but what a beautiful day!
by Joy Hanley

The last gig I went to that was this wet was a washed out Glastonbury in another decade. That time I lost two shoes in the mud and my ride home on the back of a Triumph Bonneville in bare feet was freezing cold and stupidly reckless. I now have a car, umbrella, collapsible chair, picnic and a bottle of Pinot – and am sensible enough to let someone else drive home!

This is the second year of Avebury Rocks which is a day time sponsored walk and an evening concert rolled into one to raise money for local cancer charities. In this case The Prospect Hospice and CALM. Given that I was dressed as Banana Woman for much of the day at a soggy Wroughton Carnival I gave the 20 mile walk a miss but arrived in good time to be greeted by The Levellers going through their pre performance sound check. Thoughts of trench foot, frizzy hair and pneumonia quickly evaporated…unlike the rain.

Wiltshire is not only the epicentre for Corn Circle phenomenon in England it’s fast becoming a music festival magnet, with Summer Breeze, the Marlborough Jazz Festival, Womad, the Big Arts Day and the Swindon Shuffle providing something for every musical taste. Avebury Rocks is a welcome addition.

Starting as a laid back evening with jovial banter abounding, it developed into a crazy straw under your wellies pogo with tattooed half naked new age types scraping wet hair out of their eyes, a beer tent doubling as a giant umbrella with a bar, a mood that became a bumping, jumping joy fest and absolutely cracking music! In other words – it was right up my street – or muddy playing field in this case!

The darkening skies welcomed the talented Jess Hall band. Jess’s beautiful voice, pitch perfect and emotionally connected to her indie girl-charm lyrics was accompanied by her competent band and a little light drizzle. They played an accomplished set including ‘Play Shy’ which was put on the Radio 1 playlist and a skin tingling version of Gnarls Barclay’s ‘Crazy’, which Jess made her own.

Swans in Flight gave us a creative session incorporating various styles. Yes as a band The Swans deliver some loaded rock sounds, but here performing a two man acoustic set their music brimmed with warm melodies and some colourful flirty jazz vibes too, – I almost expected to see a rainbow, but by then the sky was looking moodier than a Bangkok Rolex.

Cy Curnin and Jamie West-Oram of The Fixx had both completed the 20 mile walk, providing musical entertainment along the way, but still managed a solid performance including some new songs from their latest album ‘Beautiful Friction’. Here is music promoting social responsibility played with the intuitive synergy of a long-time working friendship. They are both passionate about raising money for the Strength, Love, Hope Foundation that supports Avebury Rocks and clearly wanted to entertain us, wet and bedraggled as we were. Other enthusiastic performers included Nick Harper, the Marlborough singer/songwriter. Nick does with his guitar on the stage what Robson Greene does with his fishing rod on Extreme Fishing. Bends it to his will – a musical contortionist! He’s a comic with uber optimism and pertinent lyrics…I’ll definitely catch him again.

Another man with more fire in his belly than a tandoori oven was Mike Peters, ex Big Country, ex The Alarm. The irony was not lost on the audience when he sang ‘Rain in the Summer Time’, while a rousing ‘Sixty Eight Guns’, saw us all shouting the chorus to the leaden sky in a refrain of defiance.

As the rain began to ease and The Levellers walked on stage an excited ripple of anticipation moved through the throng. Young children were lifted onto shoulders, people struggled to light limp, damp roll-ups, and bodies began to crush nearer to the front in a steamy mash of Gortex, brollies and backpacks.

My curiosity was roused by the fact that the band all sat on chairs, not one of the gang stood. But that was soon forgotten when they began singing ‘Beautiful Day’ and the rain stopped altogether. ‘Boatman’ and ‘One Way’ – with a didgeridoo accompaniment were like old friends and the heavy, black clouds stretching across the ink blue skies acted like a natural amplifier, folding the feel good folksy rhythms around the field.

They also treated us to some exciting tracks from their new album ‘Static on the Airwaves’ released on the 25th June; from the wonderful story telling lyricism in the chillingly crafted ‘Raft of the Medusa’, the tale of the ship Medusa running aground in 1816 to the dancing fiddle and enlivening pace of ‘Truth is’. They ended with the very passionate, Pogue-ish ‘The Recruiting Sergeant’ which took them nearly 20 minutes over time, finishing around 10:20pm.

Avebury Rocks 2012 was a gem of a gig I couldn’t fault the organisation or entertainment, but here’s something for the suggestion box. What about making it a little bigger? Maybe incorporate some local musical talent on another stage earlier in the day to boost the charity takings, as well as promote hard working gigging bands holding down day jobs! The folky balladry of ‘Good Things Happen in Bad Towns’, the performance perfection that is Ska outfit ‘The Erin Bardwell Collective’ that rocked out The Ocelot 6th Birthday party to a packed dance floor last month, the jaunty musical vehicle driven by Marlborough’s ‘The Vooz’, or the Southern sizzle of the ‘Pignose’ blues would easily fit into this pastoral panoply of talent. Wiltshire has a lot to offer.

Avebury Rocks was a rainy sensation that will hopefully become a staple of Wiltshire’s summer Festival scene. And with headliners like The Levellers, (who I hear on good authority helped take down the PA in the rain after everyone went home), at the heart of this one day event – the theme will always be about helping others.

Congratulations to everyone involved!

[katrina]

That is a nice review xxx

Going for a meeting next week to discuss how much we have raised at Avebury Rocks 2 - thanks as always for your support.

www.lovehopestrength.co.uk