By the time we got to Woodstock…

Or Bowness-on-Windermere even. Last night we played on "The Glebe" at the edge of Lake Windermere for the Windermere Festival, nothing like Woodstock at all in fact, much more of a family affair, though for some reason there were a group of people there in hippie fancy dress, 60’s London fashionable type hippies though, not the crusty Woodstock variety. "By the time we got to Woodstock we were half a million strong", well ok, there weren’t quite that many people there, but several hundred, maybe a thousand or more, and a great atmosphere, a lovely setting for a gig. Most importantly the weather was fine, it wasn’t glorious sunshine but it was warm and dry, a very pleasant evening. In the Lake District that’s pretty good going if you’re tempting fate by playing an open-air festival. The last intended open-air gig, you may recall, ended up with us playing in a garage, with most of the audience huddled under a canopy, and the more drunken ones dancing in the rain. So this was just super, standing onstage looking out across the lake and the mountains, long skirt flowing in the warm, gentle breeze, playing to a great crowd. Apparently we could be heard all across the village so people were flocking down from the pubs in excited anticipation of something actually happening in this quaint little tourist spot.

These are the sort of gigs we will look back on, the ones we will tell our grandchildren about, those of us who have any, the ones that make us feel privileged to be in a band and make us realise how lucky we are to live in such a beautiful area. On a typical Saturday night my last band would have been playing in a smoky working men’s club somewhere near Liverpool, bingo in the break, grumpy concert secretaries grumbling that we don’t play any "proper" music, you know, the stuff people played when electric guitars had only just been invented. Microcosms of people stuck in the past, safe in their local club environment, drinking numerous pints of bitter and smoking Woodbines, week in, week out…

But whatever makes you happy. As a band we were at our happiest last night, we played well and all really enjoyed it. I’ll post a photo at the end of this blog that I took while we were setting up, you don’t really get the full effect of the scenery from a photograph, especially one of mine, but you’ll get the idea I hope. Everyone, it seems, carries a digital camera around with them these days, so there was clicking and flashing going on all night. The organisers had a photographer there and we had friends and family taking close-ups for us, at one point there were 3 of them milling around the stage snapping away, even lying under the singer’s feet to get that "midst of the action" shot, We felt like rock stars!

We finished at 10 and were followed by a rather impressive firework display, I love fireworks, especially big ones! To make the evening perfect we were able to drive right up to the stage and load our gear into our cars without having to take more than 2 steps, wonderful. After such a rare early finish 4 out of 5 of us, the ones without families, decided to go out for a drink in Kendal, so I nipped home and changed into my new sexy bustiere, it was still very warm, and fixed my make up, which doesn’t look its best after a gig. It was nice for a change to be able to wind down after the gig by having a quiet drink and a chat together, instead of all driving off in different directions. Gives you a certain feeling of camaraderie. I could have got a taxi home, but it was such a lovely warm evening I decided to walk it, only about 3 miles and I didn’t have heels on… My shoes weren’t the most comfortable for walking though so my feet were hurting by the time I got home. My legs ache a bit today, I really must get fitter.

I’d say that was the best gig we’ve done yet, but I have a strong feeling that there will be even better in the future. This band is just right for me. The role I now live in is also just right for me. It’s a great combination.

xx