Main stage bands are festival hit

Photo: Tracy Harris @ Expressive Exposure

Waiting for the bands to start

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Of course the biggest attraction to any festival is the bands and it is safe to say that this year’s Feel Good Festival did not disappoint when it came to the music.

The acts on the main stage began at 4pm this afternoon (Saturday 14 August 2010) which gave everybody a chance to see some of the other music on offer at venues across the town and enjoy a whole host of food available from tents on the butts.

Crowds gathered to the area on the town hall car park, armed with their sunglasses, sun cream and plastic beer cups to get them through the night.

The first band on stage this afternoon was the winner of the Feel Good Festival’s Battle of the Bands competition, Dead Kestrels.

The band only formed six months ago but from the set they performed you would think they had been together a lot longer.

Being the first act on stage can be tough but what better way to start the Rochdale Feel Good Festival than with a band from Rochdale.

Needless to say the boys had nothing to worry about as visitors to the town from near and far certainly enjoyed their set.

Following the performance, the bands front man, Kenny Beverage, said: “We were nervous to start with as this is the biggest gig we have ever done but we managed to cover come the nerves and I think it went well.

“The Feel Good Festival is what the town needs, we get lots of bad press, sometimes rightly so, but it is nice to have something positive going on.

“This is the best thing to happen in Rochdale for ages and it certainly felt good!”

Next up was Leeds band Ellen and the Escapades, the group as the name suggests is based around lead singer Ellen and the remaining male band members make up her ‘Escapades’  - the name the band informed Rochdale Online reporter Laura Wild is based solely on ellipsis.

This second band to the stage received a huge applause for their combined folk and pop set. The group who have performed at Glastonbury this year as well as various other festivals seem like a name to watch out for.

The band have been highly influenced by  legendary folk acts such as Bob Dylan, Neil Young and Carole King, as well as more contemporary acts such as Ryan Adams, and Ray LaMontagne- to name but a few.

It seems Ellen and the Escapades have found a happy medium with their down to earth sound.

Following the performance the band’s drummer James Warrender said: “It went pretty good, the crowd seemed like friendly, nice people and they all seemed to be enjoying themselves. We hope to stick around to see the Herbaliser later on.”

Lead singer Ellen Smith added: “We didn’t really know what to expect but it was pretty cool – it was great to be involved, we are going off to explore now.”

Next to take to the stage was Middleton singer Kirsty Almeida and her band made up of saxophone, trumpet, drum and guitar players.

Kirsty and her band really got the crowd going. The group’s energy was felt throughout with cheers and participation from the crowd. If you didn’t know it you’d think you were somewhere other than Rochdale.

The band has played at a different festival every weekend since May – however they said this was the first one on a Saturday that was in the sunshine.

The crowd was certainly bouncy to the unusual yet fresh sounds of the group and their mailing list, list also proved popular with the crowd.

After the set, Kirsty described the performance and the crowd’s reaction as beautiful, brilliant and amazing.

Kirsty said: “People go to festivals all the time but when you get there there is so much on you are spoilt for choice and they are often not thought out very well, however, that isn’t the case here the organisers have done a great job.”

When asked to sum up the Feel Good Festival Kirsty said: “Good music with a really good community.”

Of course the festival is still going on right now, but speaking about these three bands festival organiser Howard Monk said: “I am delighted. I started welling up when the first sounds of music started. It has been brilliant so far and I am incredibly proud to be involved.”

Speaking about the triumph of the festival and Rochdale AFC’s win Mr Monk concluded: “Today is a good day for Rochdale.”