Christchurch Festival 2013

Christchurch Quay

Featuring
Lady Winwood’s Maggot, Sirpico, The Mother Ukers, Fish Out Of Water & Lee Rasdall Dove

The annual Christchurch Festival this year was blessed with masses of sunshine and a host of local music to entertain and delight the large audiences that the festival always draws. As the weather was so unusually great, the people arrived armed with their picnic blankets and deck chairs getting set up inside and outside the huge marquee on the green ready for a great Sunday afternoon of music. The 1st act to take to the stage was the young Lee Rasdall Dove who with just an acoustic guitar delivered some really great laid back music to get the entertainment started. Lee’s set included a number of his own well written original songs as well as a couple of covers including The Lumineers “Ho Hey” and Bastille’s “Pompeii”, which gave the audience their 1st chance to sing-a-long with Lee’s impressive vocal skills.

Lee Rasdall

The pace was upped just a bit with a local 6 piece Christchurch folk band “Fish Out Of Water” who provided some delightful music to the ever growing crowd. The band’s influences come from groups such as Fairport Convention and Fleetwood Mac and by the looks of their ages they have most certainly been rifling through their parents record collections for inspiration. The combination of Jenny and Adam’s very different vocals combined with Ashley’s expertly delivered electric guitar work is a joy to behold. The band’s confidence has come on in leaps and bounds since their 1st slightly nervous appearance in this full band format, it is always a pleasure to see young talent like this flourish.

Fish Out Of Water 1

The Mother Ukers are definitely doing their best this summer to play at virtually every Dorset festival there is, and who can blame the organisers for inviting them along as their music just puts smiles on everyone’s faces. Armed with just three Ukulele’s and no backing music Paul, Jonti and Jason perform a whole host of stolen material from popular artists and rework it in their own very original style. Kicking off with “Step On” by the Happy Mondays they trawl through the decades with further tunes such as “Been Caught Stealing” by Jane’s Addiction and the hilarious “Cars” by Gary Numan, which gets a huge round of applause from the sun drenched audience. The band’s crowning glory was a totally epic version of The Prodigy’s “Fire Starter” which even saw a few local pensioners up bopping away. A great set by a truly entertaining band that delivers every time.

Mother Ukers 1

Things turned very hectic when one of Christchurch’s finest bands “Sirpico” hit the stage. Fronted by Al on piano and vocals, the band delivered a truly amazing set full of rocking highlights that got virtually everybody in the marquee up on their feet and moving. The band’s own material such as songs like “Human Wreckage” and “Everything She Had” are really in a class of their own, delivering in all areas. The huge guitar riffs coupled with the piano and Al’s powerful vocals, by audience reaction alone make them band of the day by a country mile. They end on a crowd pleasing high with a cover of the Foo Fighter’s “The Pretender” which sent the heat in the marquee to bursting point, leaving everyone with massive smiles on their faces.

Sirpico 1–2–3

The last band of the day are no strangers to anyone here as they have performed this festival virtually every year since their formation. Even before arriving on stage the crowd in the marquee swelled in numbers with plenty of “Maggot” T-shirts on display, and of course they arrive onstage and nail it!! With their two new members Ged Putt (guitar) and Mike Sidey (Drums) the band continue with their traditional end of festival set. The hour long set is full of audience pleasing highlights such as “Bulldozer”, “Rise Of Karaoke & The Death Of Rock N Roll” and “Buffalohead”, as well as a few well chosen covers done in the band’s very own Death Western style. Frontman Mark Baynes gets the opportunity to bring his rather startled 1st granddaughter “Bee” onstage and bassist Tony shouts “that’s nothing, I already have 6 of the buggers” – there are laughs all round! The set ends after an hour with shouts for encores, but due to the strict curfew times it ends there for another year. If two Grandfather’s can perform on stage with this much energy there is hope for everyone. Roll on 2014!!