3/7/2011 East Barnet Festival

Subject	East Barnet Festival 2011.
DateCreated	7/11/2011 1:09:00 PM
	So it's the East Barnet Festival weekend again.  I've got to say I found the 2011 event a bit of an anti-climax and not as good as the past few years.  The weather was OK though, not much sun but at least it was warm and dry. I gave the Saturday a miss this year - I can't remember the last time I did that. There were various reasons: The bill wasn't as strong as usual for my personal tastes and most of the acts were also on last year... The fact that I didn't get up as early as I should due to being in the Alexandra pub the previous night watching a popular local band who normally play at the festival but were left off the bill this year also had something to do with it. I heard Tyburn were good on the Saturday, and I'd have liked to see Roadhouse Dogs again. I particularly would have liked to see 'Alike Cooper' headlining on the Saturday night, but I'll be seeing the real Alice Cooper performing locally at Alexandra Palace in October and obviously nothing can compare to that! I have heard since that Alike Cooper was pretty good in Barnet though. The main reason for me missing that was that one of my favourite bands The Quireboys were playing an unusually intimate show at the legendary 100 Club and there was no way I was going to miss that! See my previous blog for more on that gig.  So on Sunday I walk down to the park - I love having a FREE festival that's only a few minutes walk from home and has a load of bands plus a beer tent - where I rather randomly met soul singer Paul Young in the queue! Shame the real ale ran out though.  I had intended to get down there early enough to see the local version of Steel Panther playing a set of mostly 1980's covers, but a combination of me still recovering from last night and the fact that I've seen Absolute Rock loads of times in local pubs over the past year or so killed off any sense of urgency I had. I would have genuinely liked to have seen them, but reports from various different people said they were not at their best to put it mildly... Like yesterday, the bill didn't seem as good as previous years. The festival has been promoted in the past as featuring local bands, but this year there seems to be less emphasis on that and some local bands have been passed over.  The organisers say they are sorry that they couldn't put on all the bands they wanted to to as there weren't enough slots on the bill - yet McGoozer is playing on both days, and Gill Sandell gets two slots on Sunday's bill - leaving many people thinking there are some credibility issues here?  I enjoyed Sandra Grant's set although her jazz/soul stylings are not my normal cup of tea. She has become a regular at the festival playing for several years running, although coming from Hitchin is not exactly 'local'. She is certainly one of the best quality acts at the festival, although I preferred her set in previous years that featured her singing more and playing more of her own material. I would have taken more pictures at the festival normally, but this year I didn't bother taking my camera, and the memory card on my phone was too full to take more than a couple of pictures.  The Faith Stealers are a band who I think have improved greatly since I first saw them locally a few years ago. I particularly enjoyed their Who medley at the festival, although I'm less keen on their Paul Weller stuff. They are another band who I've seen so many times in local pubs as well as at this festival over the past few years that I'm not that bothered about seeing them yet again today. Raw Azz is a rejigged version of popular local covers outfit and festilval regulars 'Schweet Azz' featuring some of the old band and a couple of girl singers. Faux acoustic and with more of a country feel they fail to float my boat although they seem to appeal to a section of the crowd. Slam were much heavier in a Free/Bad Company kind of style playing their own songs and I wouldn't mind seeing them again.  Then It was McGoozer yet again so we all headed for the pub to round the day off.  Not a bad day out although definitely not as good as previous years - you can't complain for free though!