We missed the first few bands completely, since it was quite a nice day and we couldn’t resist a pint or several at The Hole in the Wall, a stroll along the beach, getting in some stone skimming practice, a few goes on the slotties etc. We were then slowed down on the steep climb up to the castle by the fact that I am tragically unfit. (No Adele it wasn’t just you, it was fcukin’ steep – Rob, Mark and Steve).

Seeing the English Heritage Tent and the organic fruit stall at a rock gig, was bizarre, and although it was a nice day we were on top of the cliffs so when the wind picked up it was bitterly cold. Well it was September after all. We queued for our first beers during Tokyo Dragons, they put on an enjoyable performance, I can’t say it was wildly memorable, but it was good enough for the beer queue. Fortunately you could see the main stage from anywhere on the site, which is just as well given the two hours Rob and Mark stood in the queue when the beer ran out. Having only 2 people serving didn’t help matters either. INME were disappointing, and I now associate them with being cold and wanting beer, in short, large amounts of misery.

Just a quick drink then

We expected a good performance out of the Glitterati and they did not let us down, they delivered quality sleazy rock. There had been high hopes too for Hanoi Rocks, one of the godfathers of this kind of music, but they were disappointing, the outfits were suitably glam, but they didn’t't seem all that enthusiastic and they were dampened by technical problems. The high winds played havoc with the sound equipment all through, but most bands delivered well regardless. Still if Goldie Hawn and Courtney Love ever produce offspring we know what they shall look like. And the bastards didn’t play ‘Taxi Driver’ either.

Sounds drifting from the tent between sets suggested some of the smaller bands were going down quite well, and I understand Planet of Women were worth a look, especially for the males. The surprise of the day was probably 80’s Matchbox B-line Disaster, who Rob strawberried (not before arousing the suspicions of a security guard who objected to getting smacked with fruit). It was possibly a case of being (ahem) creamed by a strawberry. The offending fruit caught the singer just as he opened his mouth to sing, so we had to wait a couple more bars to discover that actually they were good, and we liked them. It became a strawberry of respect.

Terrorvision, on their last ever gig before splitting, turned out a fantastic performance, romping through all the favorites including, to my joy, ‘My House’. I think Warro cleaned up on the £1 first and last track bets. The wind, drizzle and sound system traumas were all forgotten as people bounced and sang their way through Terrorvisions’s back catalogue. A fitting end to a great band.

Ginger gets down to it

The Wildhearts headlined, and again, gave us a fabulous set. I think here again Warro cleaned up on the first and last tracks, it was a nice mix of hits and fan favourites. Ginger destroyed several guitars in an inspiring display of wanton destruction that the crowd appreciated and they didn’t prat around with encores, which is probably a good thing as after the concert the organisers got involved in ‘discussions’ regarding their overrunning the licensed hours. Well it wouldn’t be very rock to pack up and go home at 11pm like good kids.