Blakey Fest
This was my 1st Blakey Ridge Festival and I was impressed, the
space was good for chillin in! Any smaller would be a squeeze.
Top sounds and a decent crowd who were up for a laugh. 
Paul
Blakey Fest.
Thought that everything about the day was better than last year
(apart from 4DH set being short),Far more atmospheric yet retaining
the intimacy which makes Blakey so special, I mean where else
can you sit next to Four Day Hombre and have Heather and Angie
from Mostly Autumn a couple of yards behind,along with Josh supping
near the Barbeque. Also thought It was great that so many families
with kids turned up, probably do the same myself next year.
I do get the feeling that it's going to get bigger though, last year I was practically the only one from my neck of the woods but this year there were at least 30 or so I could place, word of mouth goes a long way!! I don't know whether or not this would be a good thing mainly due to the aforementioned Intimacy thing, safety and the fact that Paul would need to spend more time sorting the Bogs out.
Personally I can't wait for next year, long may it continue.
Jim Beach
Thank you Blakey Paul
I would just like to offer my thanks for a fantastic day which
culminated with the best show that I have seen from Mostly Autumn
yet. I will be back next summer to see an even better show. Thank
you to all at The Lion.
Ian Bell
Ditto! Thanks to all who were involved with putting on this fantastic event. The weather held out too, general standard of the bands was very high, finishing with one of the best performances I have seen from Mostly Autumn. The new songs from 'Passengers' sounding excellent, up against the older songs which we already love. What a tremendous performance: the band appeared not to tire ending with a spectacular firework finale. Can't wait to see them again in September!
Kurt Hitchen
just like to say Thanks Paul for a great gig and thanks also to the bands especially Mostly Autumn.
Roll on York.
Great to meet mates off the Mostly Autumn forum and Robin I didn't get to look under your kilt! perhaps next time!
See you all soon
Bev
Blakey was fantastic...I think it must be the spiritual home of
many!
Thanks Paul for organising the event..I
look forward to coming back!!!
Rachael
Blakey was fantastic!!!
Paul thanks a lot, for the wonderful and magical festival you've created this year!!
Too bad the stage was a little bit too high... but hey... that's the only "bad" thing about the fest... So 2 Thumbs UP, man!!!!
if MA is playing next year... Count me already
in then...
It was also cool, to meet some people from the Mostly Autumn forum board
Thijs
Holland
What a brilliant festival yet again Paul.
Well done! I didn't think last year's could be topped but it was.
Have to agree with Thijs though, the stage was a little too high...
Nice to meet some of the people who appear on the Mostly Autumn
website a lot too
Cheers
Rach
Blakey Festival - Bring on 2004
Thank you Paul for organising what must be one of the best festivals ever, and one that will certainly go down in the history books. You worked so hard along with your staff in putting together a gigantic stage, a well organised festival site set up, some incredible bands (Prendo - and Wednesday night was awesone too), Audiogasm (Sweet Child o' Mine no less!!), Stone Coda and an interesting performance from Gina Dootson. I was particuarly impressed by the availability of good sound to all the bands and not just the headliners
But the Mostly Autumn headline spot was absoutely incredible. The first 10 mins sound was a little loud, but then was balanced out for a blistering 2.5 hour performance from one of the greatest bands ever. For encores we were treated to smoke on the water and comfortably numb no less. Does it get better than this - yes, fireworks and mother nature.
Thank you Paul and Thank you Mostly Autumn.
Can i book my tickets for next year now - and i would dearly love
a room with a bath..and a shower...that's where i'm heading now
after a 200 mile journey home
Nick and the infamous "Josh Bryon"
Festival of Doom...!
Hi Paul
Amazing gig the other night, still can't wipe the stupid grin off me face!! I don't think the stage was big enough though...(ha ha). More gigs like that required!
I don't know how far in advance you can book B&B, but if you've got next years diary already could you book a room for me and our lass for the festival next year (whenever it may be) - I drew the short straw again and had to go to work so I wanna get in early this time!!
Cheers, will speak to ya soon
Dud
Audiogasm
2003 Blakey Festival
Paul,
Another great gig , they keep on getting better i only managed to stay up till 2am ( i just flew in from holiday then came straight to the gig so feeling knackard) thanks for putting on the show it must be hard organising such a gig i hope you continue to do so and enjoy it as much as the 'other fans' we do appreciate it.
Cheers and thanks again all the best
Lee
Blakey Festival - Thankyou
To all at the Lion Inn
I have to say to all who worked on or at
the festival what a fantastic job you all did. The work that goes
in to making an event like the festival is huge and I can't have
any idea how much work it was for you all.
You were all brilliant and you played your part in what was a
tremendous time for all who came.
I had a superb couple of days with you and I just have to say
that you should all be very proud of the job you did.
THANK YOU
Paul Turner
Hi Paul,
We had a great time and I think Paul Turner's entry mirrors my thoughts exactly.
Trust you are now having a well deserved rest.
See you in Sept and thank you for a great few days.
Steve Bird
Blakey Thoughts
Hi Paul
Thanks for a great festival and for all the hard work you and your team put in to make the occasion a great success. There was obviously a lot of thought put into it and it all seemed to work perfectly.
I liked the stage being elevated to that height. It wasn't so high that the bands got divorced from the audience and it wasn't so low that people at the back couldn't see and a crush caused by people trying to get to the front. It also meant that some space was created at the front for people to dance in or for kids to play in.
The enclosure itself was just the right size for the number of people and nowhere seemed crowded or claustrophobic. The beer tent was a good idea and I was glad to see that the prices weren't silly. The BBQ was good although the chilli ran out too quickly. The staff were friendly and there was not too much queuing. The portaloos were well - portaloos, what more can you say. My wife Dorothy was glad to see that you labelled the loos to separate the Ladies from the Gents for reasons I will not go in to here. Security was good but just handing a wristband out to allow people to leave and re-enter was a bit trusting.
The quality of the acts was amazing and
the quick fire sets were great to watch. The order of the bands
was good, giving a quality mix of solo artists and bands. I would
single out Four day Hombre as the band that really impressed me
most of the acts I hadn't seen before. I would love to hear more
of their music and will be making enquiries shortly. From their
set onwards the festival really worked up a head of steam. Prendo
kept things going and then Audiogasm took things on. It wasn't
that I would particularly rave about their brand of music but
the fact that the band were obviously revelling in their performance,
especially their frontman, crossed over to the audience. Where
it particularly worked well was at the end of their set when they
played "Sweet Child o' Mine" which got the crowd dancing.
Once people were on their feet and wanting to dance, Banoffi were
perfect for continuing the mood during their set.
I would estimate that 50% of the crowd were die-hard MA fans and the rest made up of curious locals and not so locals. I based this assumption on the fact that during the MA set a lot of the crowd from half way back were continuing to talk during the songs, drink at the bar etc, and quite a few left before the end. I class myself as a member of the die-hard brigade and was more than happy with their set. If I stand back and look at things objectively I would have to say that a festival audience needs to be kept engaged whereas a 100% MA audience would be automatically in raptures. To this end I think a smattering of cover versions would have helped throughout MA's set. This was backed up by the comments I could hear when the band played "Smoke on the Water" and "Comfortably Numb" towards the end. I've seen the band play "The Chain" and a few tracks like this would maybe have helped keep the uninitiated more interested.
The campsite was OK and it didn't appear that it was necessary to keep the cars and the tents separate; there was adequate room for both. There were lots of families with kids of all ages attracted to the festival, which was good to see.
On behalf of myself, my wife Dorothy and
our kids Stuart (15) and Mat (12), I would like to again thank
you for a memorable occasion. We met some fantastic people and
the whole festival atmosphere was friendly and exciting. Thank
God we have people like you who are willing to give bands a platform
from which to perform and rest assured that we will continue to
come for as many years as you have the enthusiasm for. I hope
it was a profitable and rewarding venture for you all.
Cheers
Simon Haskins
Blakey Festival
We would like to thank Paul and all his
staff for their hospitality on Thursday, we had a great time,
we met some people that we had not seen for years so all the great
memories of Blakey Ridge in the 70s came flooding back, so thanks
again and best wishes for the future festivals.
Steve,Dave,Mick and Adrian.(Stork Club).
Reelin` back
the years
I agree - what a great job you all did,no mean feat I doff my
hat to you all.The music was a treat, a great sellection.It was
great to catch The Stork Club, seeing Steve and Mick on stage
brought back memories of Feed, but I am an old fart, from Marske.
We travelled from the Fylde, mob handed,
all the kids loved the experience, and can't wait to go back.
We had a hoot, nice to see Mike back there cooking, the last time
i saw him was 1980.
Well done you`s guys, we're looking forward to the next one, or
the next Back Door gig. Rock and Roll heaven on the Moors...
Clive Russell.
Cheers Paul
Hi Paul,
Thanks once again for a wonderful festival. All of the performances were 100% as was the warm welcome received from all of your staff. Please thank them and all of the performers.
See you at York in Sept.
Bob & Philippa
2003 Festival
Paul
May I take this opportunity to congratulate you on the success of last week's Blakey Festival.
The organisation was excellent and the day just flew by. Mostly Autumn were awesome as usual.
Luckily the weather didn't break until the Friday.
It has always been our intention to visit the Lion Inn at some point (hopefully to see Mostly Autumn) and the place most certainly did not let us down. We will be hopefully visiting the pub again later in the year.
Best regards
Phil Hooton
PS Loved the burgers!!!
Mostly Autumn & the Blakey Festival
BLAKEY RIDGE! WHAT CAN WE SAY! WE WERE BLOWN AWAY (PUTTING OUR TENT UP ON WEDNESDAY!) WE WERE BLOWN AWAY WITH THE FANASTIC FESTIVAL - A COMPLETE SUCCESS! GREAT FOOD, GREAT BEER, GREAT PERFORMANCES BY ALL ARTISTS! TOTALLY BLOWN AWAY BY MOSTLY AUTUMNS WONDERFUL PERFORMANCE. CHEERS FOR SMOKE ON THE WATER AND COMFORTABLY NUMB! WHAT A LOVELY SURPRISE. WE HAVE SUNG ALONG WITH DEEP PURPLE AND PINK FLOYD TO THESE NUMBERS AT THIER CONCERTS. NEVER EXPECTED TO HEAR THESE FROM M.A. WHAT A CRACKING JOB YOU MADE OF THEM! ONCE AGAIN WE WERE BLOWN AWAY AND DRENCHED TO THE SKIN DISMANTLING OUR TENT. WE WERE VIRGIN CAMPERS, NEVER EVEN BEEN TO A PROPER CAMPSITE NEVER MIND SOMEWHERE IN THE BACK OF BEYOND. 'BLAKEY RIDGE', 'CAMPING', NASTY WEATHER', DO IT ALL AGAIN? YES PLEASE! NEXT YEAR HOPEFULLY. ME AND THE FAMILY - WIFE JANE, KIDS LEE AND AMY( AMY IS THE ONE WHO WALKED ROUND BLAKEY RIDGE SMILING AT HEATHER ALL DAY, THANK YOU HEATHER FOR SMILING BACK! AMYS A BIG FAN) LOOK FORWARD TO SEEING YOU AT YORK IN SEPTEMBER, SHOULD BE ANOTHER CRACKING EVENT WITH TROY AND CO. JOINING M.A. FOR THE EVENING.
SEE YOU SOON! - THE HARRISONS.
To say MA were splendid is a bit of an understatement! This was an awesome performance by an awesome band. All the tracks from the recent tour (minus 'Another Life'), plus the return of 4 of the old jigs (working Angela hard tonight). Not forgetting the two cover versions thrown in for good measure - 'Smoke On The Water' and 'Comfortably Numb'.
All the band were completely 'up for it', and Bryan was particularly enjoying himself it seemed - his exuberance gave his guitar tech a bit of extra work replacing broken strings on a couple of occasions Even Liam strode to the front of stage, grabbed a mike, and enthused... "Let's go mental" during the 50 minute encore.
Full marks to all of them (especially Heather) for sticking it out on stage for nearly 3 hours in very un-summer weather. A special night for all those there!!
Ian
Mostly Autumn were brilliant!
Despite sound problems (feedback plus Heather's lead vocal being undermixed in the first part of the set), Mostly Autumn went from strength to strength and at the end of it I was overwhelmed. The atmosphere was terrific, and you could tell that the band were delighted with the response they received from the audience, which they thoroughly deserved. What a fantastic set. A good helping of jigs (one I didn't even recognise - was I drunk!), including my favourite, 'Out Of The Inn', plus 'Which Wood?'. These really fired the audience up, and I hope the band noticed how well they went down. They would be very well received at Cropredy, and I have heard hints that they may just be doing this festival in 2004.
The icing on the cake had to be the encore, which must have lasted about half an hour! Starting off was 'Winter Mountain' (one of my favourites) and finishing with an excellent rendition of 'Mother Nature', which was rounded off with Jonathan's fantastic and brilliant drum work. Sandwiched between these we had two superb cover versions: 'Smoke On The Water' and 'Comfortably Numb'. The latter is one of my all-time favourite songs, and this was an excellent rendition, it thrilled me. Amazingly, Heather sang lead on both of these, with Bryan coming in on the chorus for 'Comfortably Numb'.
The whole thing was well organised, and I was highly impressed with the Lion Inn, which had also provided the lunch stop on the previous day during the Lyke Wake Walk (bloody hard!!). This is a great pub, with quality food and beer and an excellent atmosphere. Well done Paul, I will be back! As a result of logistic problems getting back from Ravenscar to Osmotherley (a £45 taxi-fee!), then driving to the site and putting up the tents, we only saw two other acts! Four Day Hombre were very impressive: a bit like Coldplay with balls! Banoffi were also a great warm-up act. We actually missed an entire act when we went in to the Lion for a drink and ended up staying for a meal!
I might post more on this at a later date, but I have only recently returned from a hectic few days, and it's rather late!
Graham
Thanks for a Great Day!
Just a quick thankyou to all the staff at Blakey. We had a wonderful time at the Festival and a nice hot bar meal as well! It was great to see The Stork Club, although what happened to the temprature around 2pm?
Top tip for a good nights sleep, camp at the bottom of the field, down the hill, the noise carries above the tents, we all managed a good 6 hours sleep! Hope to come to the next event,
Thanks from, Fiona, Dicky and Pam Maclachlan.
Cheers!!
To all at the Lion Inn, cheers for a wonderful
2 days in a wonderful location and I'm sure that goes for everyone
else I met from Hartlepool.
Once again CHEERS!!
Ship
Blakey Fest Four Day Hombre
After seeing half a set on Thursday at Blakey adding another half at the Empire on Saturday completed an excellent week, along with the April Blakey gig I've had the pleasure (Oo-er!) 3 times now.
4DH are without doubt one of the best live bands I've seen in 26 years of live gigs and at the ripe age of 41 (though you wouldn't guess!!...Har bloody Har!) I think I know what I'm on about. In fact I would place them along with The Clash (77-80 version) and The Jam as one of those bands that grab you by the nuts for their full set,they are also ahead of both Oasis and Travis (for you Young uns benefit) in this respect.
Way back (approx 1978) I saw U2 supporting the Stranglers at Newcastle City Hall, they (U2) had that passion and energy, though not the talent that FDH have at this early stage so who knows eh?
If there is any justice FDH will get what they deserve, and I won't be able to get a F*&^&*g ticket for love nor money!!.....Bastards.
See you In September.
Jim Beach
Blakey Ridge Festival
I have been to many open air rock concerts.
The list of bands I have seen includes:
Led Zeppelin
Rolling Stones
Genesis
Rainbow and lots lots more - As a fan of good music - I will happily
recommend anyone to the Blakey Fest.
Kindest regards
Dave Roberts
Pickering Online
Great Gig (in the sky)
Thank you all for a great day out I leapt
about for most of the fest and came home totally rejuvenated and
am still breathless from the stunning last set ashamed to say
I was a MA virgin, (I know I dont get out enough) looking forward
to seeing the various bands who played around locally and also
next years fest...
Thanks again to all who put this on KEEP IT UP!
PS If the girl who joined me on a journey thru the tent rope maze
sees this please reply!! (We spent most of our meeting on our
backs laughing and rolling about after falling over the tent ropes)
Hope you made it safely back:)
Tone
Blakey Festival
Just want to say thanks to the organizers
of Blakey for a fantastic weekend.
I've seen Mostly Autumn a few times now but to see them in such
an incredible setting was just amazing. Proper beer as well!!.
Even the hideous 10 hour drive down the M6/5 the next day was
worth it. Will definitely be there next year.
Vivienne
Blakey Festival
Amazing. Absolutely amazing. Absolutely f**kin' amazing! Anyone who hasn't been to the Blakey Music Festival has issues with themselves that need sorting out! One hell of a stage, one hell of a P.A., one hell of a crowd - this gig must go down as one of the best we've ever done.
Over 1100 trawled up to Blakey Ridge - miles away from everything but sheep, and chilled out to the sounds of 9 bands over the period of the day. Unfortunately (due to mucky 'work') we missed a lot of the bands during the day, but the night do was fun-mungous. Nobody ever found out where Rich the Bass Player disappeared to though......
As mentioned earlier, for numerous reasons this gig was simply amazing. The PA (which I'd estimate at about 15-20k) sounded awesome, which obviously led to amps being turned up very loud indeed. The crowd were well up for it, and the beer was damn cold. And it was smart weather. We could go on forever...
Audiogasm
Cheers!
Thanks Paul for a majestic 2 days!!..we
originally heard from the station at stokesley that Spike were
going to be on but something happened with them!, so it was always
going to be on the cards that we were up for it ....but when you
announced the Stork Club!! well that topped it off!!!..brought
back many old memories!!..the quality of the acts was first rate..you
got them in the right musical order as well!!
Audiogasm impressed me..but so did all the bands & singers..nice
to see a top class PA system as well,so many thanks to the crew!...great
food & real beer,great bands & singers..god we were in
heaven!!...thanks once again!!...Steve,Fiona & young Ben!
Blakey Festival 2003
Hiya Paul
Just like to say a huge HUGE thanks for inviting us to play it. We had a simply fantastic time. The audience were just great.
Hope to see you in September.
Jason
Four Day Hombre
Fab Festy
Dear All,
Thanks for a fantastically organised,fabulous, friendly,festy! An' all for a tenner! And everything at pub prices! I was blown away by the whole occasion.(not just by the gusting winds and lashing rain on Friday!)
Bestest band......4 Day Hombre, Fantabulous stuff
Hope they don't get too famous to play next year...(although I would love it if they do too! They deserve it.)
Camping was fab apart from there being no toilets open for girlies on the Wednesday night after the pub closed. Some of us need to......
Missed out on the Chilli too , none left....
We took some ok photos, check them out on his website..0tter.com (with a zero not an oh)
Can I just say a heartfelt, warm thanks to all involved....including Paul and all the staff......thankyou, thankyou, thankyou. Hope to see you again.
Greetings from the USA
Paul,
It's hard to believe we're back home.
So much happened in such a short time, that we've spent the past four days digesting it all. We're a long way from done. I'm trying to write it all down while it's still fresh enough, but now that I've returned to work, that'll happen more slowly. Our first day back, I wrote just an overview and that's over 3 pages long!
I wish we could have stayed after the show
for longer. We did get to say goodbye to Bryan, but I wish we
could have had a drink with Heather as she'd offered. As it was,
we got back to The White Horse at 2 am and were up for breakfast
by 8:30! We actually drove by The Lion Inn the next morning, in
the fog, but we needed to be in Edinburgh by that evening, so
we couldn't stop in.
Of everything we saw and did, your inn, the moors, the concert, and the Lake District are clearly at the top of our favourites list! Please tell Bryan we followed his advice and drove from Keswick to Buttermere. That road was one of the most wonderful places I've ever driven. We could easily spend lots of holidays there.
My heart wants to book a week at your inn around next year's festival right now. My wallet and my schedule say that I have to wait.
The fellow who announced the bands, and who found you for me (sorry, but I didn't get his name), described you as being "gobsmacked" at meeting us. That's actually a new term on us Yanks, but we got the meaning well enough. And we really got the meaning when we felt the same by the entire concert experience!
Suffice it to say that we're still wistful about all our experiences and the concert in particular.
Talk to you soon.
Your American friend,
Paul
Festival Thanks
Hi Paul
Finally got down to putting down a thank you note to you for the
festival. Had a week in Yorkshire (firstly at a camp site near
Helmsley then at Blakey). Then a week in Devon with some work
in between. Came up in the caravan for both days and had a nice
meal in the pub on the Wednesday Night. Wife stopped and watched
the band in the bar whilst I put the kids to bed (hard to believe
I know)
Where else could you go and sit near the lead singer of the band sorting the next nights set list!.
Both my boys enjoyed the bands especially our eldest who managed to stay awake till midnight. Left early Friday in case I could not get the van out (due in Newark at 12.00)
We all really enjoyed the experience, but no van next year B&B definitely.
Biggest problem now is keeping the kids away from my CD's.
Thanks once again
Regards Paul Mayes
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