High Voltage-Sunday

I’d bought a couple of tickets, for Sunday, so Billie came along.

The first band that we saw was Curved Air, a band that both of us remember from our youth. What a bloody disaster, they were just shit! Big style! Self indulgent, old-fashioned up-their-own-arse bollox-no I didn’t like them!

This crap performance was soon forgotten as we watched a “Border Morris” dance.

Morris dancing is quintessentially English, and has traditions that go back to at least the 16th century and probably before.
Most people who have seen Morris Dancers have seen the "Cotswold" type-typified by white shirts and trousers and flowers in their hats
These are "Border Morris" dancers. The border in question being the one between England and Wales.
They wear black and always disguise their faces with masks or makeup. According to the troupe leader, this was so that employers couldn't tell if their staff were making a few extra pennies in a part time job
Originally, the face paint was similar to the "Black and White Minstrel" look, but this has now been changed, as people misinterpreted the makeup as being racist-which it wasn't
Of course at a festival where everyone wears black t-shirts, this style is much more in keeping with the environment.

However the next band, Thunder were just stunning! I didn’t know that they had made so many good songs!(i.e. I knew lots of the tracks, but didn’t know that they were by Thunder.

Now, there was a large Ferris Wheel quite close to the stage, so I took the opportunity to see them and many other things from on high…

Thunder from the Ferris wheel

 

And , of course after a few beers, you need to go to the loo!

But the highlight was, of course Jo Bonamassa-my guitar hero!

He was playing in Black Country Communion, a band with Glenn Hughes, Jason Bonham, Derek Sherinian, joining him.

They are really good, and whilst I have to say that I prefer Joe when he is doing his solo, more bluesy stuff more, they are very, very good!

Even in the slightly upmarket, safe environment of High Voltage folk like to strut their funky stuff. Rockers/metalheads-call 'em what you will, may look fearsome, but they aren't.Fights rarely break out at Rock Festivals.One of the reasons for this is that they are all broadly into the same music, so there is a point of commonality that instantly breaks down barriers.
It's really common to start up a conversation with a complete stranger because you notice that they are wearing a t-shirt from an event that you went to, or that, they like the same band.
So, in this case DO judge a book by it's cover, it's there to be read!

It was a really hot day and whilst Billie and I enjoyed every minute(almost), we thought that we would leave early, but it was a really good day.