East Barnet Festival 2019

The East Barnet Festival is always one of the highlights of the year for me. It's only a few minutes walk from home, it's free and has a wide variety of bands playing - and there is a beer tent! However, I found the bill on Saturday this year somewhat underwhelming compared to usual. Some lacklustre cover and tribute bands, plus some 'Americana' - a word that tells me boredom is imminent....  Rock & roll is in short supply. However, Country Joe Renegade livens things up with some less than politically correct songs and ramblings - probably the most entertaining act of the day as far as I'm concerned.

Things pick up a bit with the final couple of bands of the day: Ray C. and The Game - more soul/pop and not really my cup of tea but with some stage presence and polished performance. Saturday's headliners are Vigilante who rock things up a bit and are worth seeing.

Back for more on Sunday I arrive in time to see The Barnet Stormers. This is a band made up from musicians from the jam nights at various local pubs and features many well known local musos. Lead guitarist Keith Haggis gets a chance to really shine and rock out far more than he normally does in the local cover band he regularly plays in - it's great to see him cutting loose and playing the music he really wants to play. Radio Rising are next - female fronted with a competently played set of familiar rock covers and a drummer who thinks he's on stage at Donington. The Runner Brothers and Cactus take things down in intensity with more of an Americana feel, although Cactus throw in some UK indie classics as well - including a particularly good (and suiting the surroundings) 'Parklife'!

The next act is billed simply as 'A surprise act' - which is a new band fronted by well known local musician Astra - who has very probably also served you a pint in one or more of Barnet's pubs over the years.... Next up is From The Outside, who turn out to be the excellent rock act called Band Of King who have played here once or twice in past years.

Marina and The Fraud Squad are next - a very polished but more middle of the road pop cover band - Marina herself is quite entertaining. The Familly Dogg follow - a rocking band of brothers leaning a a funk and soul direction but very good at what they do. However, they don't manage to hold my attention for the whole hour they are booked to play and I find myself wandering off in the direction of the pub... Sunday's headliners are Spirit of Springsteen - a tribute act. I don't doubt they will be good at what they do, but even if they play all of the handful of Bruce Springsteen songs I actually like I suspect I will spend most of the one and a half hours they are booked to play standing about being bored waiting for them to play a song I like. And the beer tent is shutting - so the pub it is then....

The second day of this year's festival is noticeably better than the first, but even then it won't go down in history as one of the best or most memorable East Barnet Festivals. Maybe next year then?

PS: I'm not sure why I don't seem to have any more pictures - if I didn't take any more I can't remember why. Maybe I've managed to lose them somewhere on my hard drive....