Looe 2013 Review

Last year I came to Looe music festival out of curiosity, to see whether it would live up to the hype, this year I came back because, having had such a good time in 2012, I wanted to experience this unique festival again. One of the most obviously unique things about the festival being that it offers big name bands and artists, but takes place through out the town, from the beach to the quay and most of the pubs, social clubs and street corners in between with almost no nook or alley way left off the radar.  

 Held well outside the brief summer period we are coming to expect in Britain, at a time when people are traditionally battening down the hatches and getting the coal fires lit, this is for many a welcome chance to be going out for a final blast of excitement before starting to think about the inevitable “C” word that’s coming like it or not, and lets face it, its as likely to rain whatever month you hold a festival in this country, so September is as good as any, its out of season, you don’t have to pay top dollar for a room in the town, although with the increasing public awareness of this event it is advisable to book well in advance to get a decent room, and the roads to Cornwall are as clear as you’ll ever see them.   

Back in May I booked a room at the Ship inn which was bang in the centre, a great venue with real quality bands every night, decent ale, great food and social gathering outside that challenges the festival itself at times. 

Friday was a bit of warm up day musically and a good opportunity to scout round the town to see what had changed since last year, check into the room, get a wrist band and be calm before the storm, in fact, things became so relaxed watching the Johnny Cash band that I almost forgot about the music schedule and missed half of Missing Andy’s set, this was a shame, because from what I saw of them, they were as described in the guide, “a breath of fresh air”. 

Dizraeli and the small gods were the final band of the evening on the main stage, following a few technical issues causing quite a late start, they seemed to get into their stride and kept a moderate crowd moderately happy, they didn’t set the place alight, and would probably only be hailed small gods at best.  

 One of the many noticeable improvements to the festival this year was the inclusion of independent entrance and exits at the main stage, this helped avoid lengthy waiting times, and enabled the security to check bags without too many fraying tempers.

Saturday and things really started to get going, following Zumba on the beach (not sure how I missed this one!), was Purple Mafia, a really tight young band from Yorkshire, who pulled an impressive crowd from all the little crevices around the cove, even through one of the few rain filled moments of the festival they managed to keep people out on the beach, they sounded great and just looked excited to be there on the main stage.

The Harbour marquee, or Blue banana stage had great line up of bands later on Saturday that would give the main stage a run for its money, with Cornish legends the Crowns, closely followed by four acts on the bounce that I would pay to see anytime. Caned and able, an electro, techno, hip hop type band very cleverly fusing acoustic instruments, guitars and vocal beat boxing all presented by one of the most energetic and charismatic front men of the weekend, there are times when even old folk like me have to tip our hats to the modern way… 

One of the strengths of this marquee is the immediate change over between bands, having a stage set up at either end, one act sets up while one plays, the crowd at the back becomes the crowd at the front, it all works very well and with a bar down the side you don’t have to move far to refresh parts the music doesn’t reach. 

Next up were the Simmertones, with a genuinely authentic Ska sound, a mix of original songs and classic covers and great audience interaction, this was beginning to look like the perfect Saturday afternoon at the seaside. 

    Back at the other end and its Secret affair, late 70s Mod inspired band who’s hits include “my world” and “time for action”. It seemed likely that it was going to be a case of wade through some drudgery, a few old album tracks, possibly a couple of covers and wait for the hit singles before skipping off to the bar for a pint of Betty Stogs. However, that for me would be the biggest misconception of the weekend. Yes, they still dressed in the sharp 60s inspired style of Mod Britain, with Harrington jackets and Fred Perry jumpers, and no, they hadn’t completely managed to physically dodge the last 30 years, but they still had IT, not only that, but they had a great new album to promote, heavier on the guitar, with a grungy Hammond organ and a sound more in line with Booker T and the MGs than the clean, prissy sound I remember. To be honest, after 20 minutes I was hoping they wouldn’t play the hits!  

London rockers The Show finished the evening at the Harbour, I was going to see main stage headliners Reef, but having chanced across the Shows drummer and asked him what sort of thing we could expect, he smiled and said “we play high energy Rock and Roll”, so I stayed where I was and loved every minute of it. It just goes to show, you can’t plan a good party! 

  The dressing up theme for Sunday was Glam rock pirates, which I thought was a great idea, fancy dress always brings an extra element of fun to an event and helps people interact with strangers, which is part of what makes festivals more enjoyable than most other gatherings, but this didn’t seem to be overly well advertised and as a result I thought the turn out was disappointing compared to other festivals I’ve been to. 

Luckily, as was the case throughout the weekend, the music on Sunday didn’t disappoint though with some great bands and household names on both main stages as well as the continuous stream of talent available at the various other stages around town, from ladies choir on the Trewithen dairy stage, to a name that’s fast becoming common place at festivals, Ruarri Joseph on the Alive studios stage and not forgetting the likes of the hugely entertaining buskers Phat Bollard, street drummers, steel bands, marching bands, jugglers, you name it, it was probably happening.

Following Punk legends Sham 69, the Damned were on top form, they just seem to get better with the years, playing through a 45 minute set that was jam packed with Damned classics. Starting off with “Love song” “Neat, Neat, Neat” “just can’t be happy today” as well as the crowd pleasers “ Eloise” and “Alone again or” (with the Captain giving a nod of respect to Arthur Lee) and ending on “Smash it up”, I was in my element.

By now the beach was packed with punters eagerly awaiting The Darkness, this band really do have rock n roll form as they say, starting out in 2000 featuring brothers Justin and Dan Hawkins, and promoting an ironic take on rock music, I seem to remember Justin saying “this is rock, but with the benefit of hindsight”, ironically the “benefit of hindsight” didn’t help as the bands path seemed to end in spinal tap-esque fashion with drug and alcohol addictions and ultimately the band splitting 2 years after their quadruple platinum selling debut album was released.

  Personally I was dead excited to see them on the line up for Looe festival, arriving on stage kitted out in the fabulous Looe Festival T shirts, moustaches and lycra trousers, it did look a bit like and advert for 118 118, but it didn’t take long before the shirts were off and the Darkness got down to business. Most of the set comprised of songs from “permission to Land” which went down well with all who had gathered and with that trademark retro 70s rock sound the beach was quite literally shaking with the force! 

With just about half an hour left of the festival music, I dashed off back to the Marquee to catch the majority of cheeky Cockney herberts Chas and Dave. So under rated as musicians by the general public, these two have served their time like no others in the business, having played and toured with everyone from Gene Vincent, Eric Clapton and Albert Lee, they really do know how to conduct a good old fashioned knees up. Joined for the last few songs by Oompah brass, the crowd was swaying, jumping and dosey doe-ing in imperfect harmony, but it was an emotional rendition of “aint no pleasing you” that really nailed this as one of the finest finishing moments of any festival. With a marquee packed and bound together with condensation, the smell of beer and the sound of a crowd baying for one more…or someone’s blood, you had to feel for the compere as he tried to explain that there was nothing left.   

Hats off to Looe for this year’s festival, it was well organised, with improved security, good natured crowds and great fun, and with even more brilliant entertainment around this picture postcard Cornish fishing port than last year, all for a staggeringly reasonable 55 quid, could any one really ask for more from a weekend?