Last Friday my sister, myself and our friend Charlie drove into Delamont Country Park, Killyleagh with glorious sunshine beating down, the perfect start for Willowstone Festival 2011. Here we greated our aunties Clare and Ngeo with their children Rohan, Ngeo and Eva, and their partners Tony and Leo. It was expected that we would had to troop for miles to pitch our tents at the camp site, in fact it was less than a five minutes walk from the car park, which our legs much appreciated. The setting for the campsite was stunning, with spectacular panoramic views over Strangford Lough.
After enjoying a BBQ and a few beverages the festival was kicked of with by Beat N Drum around the campsite which put everyone into the spirit, Inishowen Gospel Choir then followed singing traditional songs at the Strangford Stone which was a magnificent site. The festivities continued at the new Acoustic Stage on the edge of the camp site, here the children (and adults alike) were treated to a puppet show. When the sun was setting David G Preston, one half of local band Scorpion Jack, gave us a glorious solo set with a mixture of his own music and covers.
The headliners of the Acoustic Stages were definitely the highlight of the night. An acoustic set with front man of Ash and local hero Tim Wheeler, he was occupied by singer-songwriter Emma-Lee Moss under her stage name Emmy The Great. Emma has recently released her superb second album ‘Virtue’ and she give us some beautiful versions of it notability her latest single ‘Iris.’ In between she provided vocals to Tim Wheelers acoustic versions of Ash’s hit singles, with the likes of ‘Oh Yeah’ and ‘Shining Light’ getting the crowd going. The duo also gave the crowd an excellent cover of the Pixies classic ‘Where Is My Mind,’ the set ended by Tim doing a personal favourite ‘Girl from Mars,’ though it didn’t sound right without electric guitars. The set brought back good memories of growing up in Co Down when Ash were the soundtrack of my teenage years, and the intimacy of the stage only made it more special.
Friday night ended with everyone going along to the camp fire heating themselves up in the cool summer evening, making the festival that bit more friendly and intimate.
Saturday morning we had to excavate our tents due to the sweltering heat, which can only be a good thing when you are camping! I was only too happy to continue enjoying the beautiful views of Strangford Lough whilst savoring a cooked breakfast. At midday the walled garden was opened and the second day of Willowstone 2011 had begun. The site consisted of the main stage which had fantastic local bands on all day, the beautiful Hilden Beer Tent which was selling delicious beers from Irelands Oldest Independent Brewery. This was very refreshing for a music festival and a place where I frequented regularly with pleasure! There were little stalls which was a shame, one was Belfast Puncture an enterprise which transforms inner tubes of tires into every day useful water-proof fashion accessories such as bags, wallets and key rings. The products are very useful, extremely hard wearing, sustainable and most importantly extremely cool! I came away with a very smart new wallet. The food stalls also offered beautiful delights, none of the suspicious fast food greasy looking stalls that you come to expect at a music festival, I had a fantastic burger and a hog roast with apple sauce which I happily ate with the Hilden Beer.
Around the site the children were always kept busy and occupied with the ingenious Allotment Olympics, circus workshops and the Scarecrow making competition (which I was desperate to do but never got round to it!) There wasn’t a crying child in sight!
For me the music highlights of the day came from The Minutes with their retro Rock and Roll sound, the Inishowen Gospel Choir came back and gave us a set full of modern classics such as Primal Screams ‘Movin’ On Up’ and the Source’s ‘You’ve Got The Love.’ My only criticism is that throughout the day there was a real disconnection between the acts and the audience. This is probably due to the fact there wasn’t enough people present to provide the atmosphere which was needed. Maybe the lineup was missing a better known headliner which would have attracted more people. Although I am not dismissing the two headliners, Shlomo as a beat boxer is technically brilliant and Not Squares with their sophisticated indie dance are going to be huge in the forthcoming year. Not Squares had me dancing with a big smile on my face with songs from their eagerly anticipated debut ‘Yeah OK.’
After Not Squares finished their superb set it was of to the campfire, which is becoming the festival tradition continuing into the wee small hours of Sunday morning.
On Sunday we yet again woke to glorious sunshine and we felt no rush to leave, after breakfast the family and I went around for a walk in Delamont and cooled down in the shores of Strangford Lough. I had a brilliant experience in the festival and the weather was absolutely perfect throughout the weekend, I cannot wait for Willowstone 2012 and it hopefully it continues to develop its independent roots!
Ryan McMullan
After enjoying a BBQ and a few beverages the festival was kicked of with by Beat N Drum around the campsite which put everyone into the spirit, Inishowen Gospel Choir then followed singing traditional songs at the Strangford Stone which was a magnificent site. The festivities continued at the new Acoustic Stage on the edge of the camp site, here the children (and adults alike) were treated to a puppet show. When the sun was setting David G Preston, one half of local band Scorpion Jack, gave us a glorious solo set with a mixture of his own music and covers.
The headliners of the Acoustic Stages were definitely the highlight of the night. An acoustic set with front man of Ash and local hero Tim Wheeler, he was occupied by singer-songwriter Emma-Lee Moss under her stage name Emmy The Great. Emma has recently released her superb second album ‘Virtue’ and she give us some beautiful versions of it notability her latest single ‘Iris.’ In between she provided vocals to Tim Wheelers acoustic versions of Ash’s hit singles, with the likes of ‘Oh Yeah’ and ‘Shining Light’ getting the crowd going. The duo also gave the crowd an excellent cover of the Pixies classic ‘Where Is My Mind,’ the set ended by Tim doing a personal favourite ‘Girl from Mars,’ though it didn’t sound right without electric guitars. The set brought back good memories of growing up in Co Down when Ash were the soundtrack of my teenage years, and the intimacy of the stage only made it more special.
Friday night ended with everyone going along to the camp fire heating themselves up in the cool summer evening, making the festival that bit more friendly and intimate.
Saturday morning we had to excavate our tents due to the sweltering heat, which can only be a good thing when you are camping! I was only too happy to continue enjoying the beautiful views of Strangford Lough whilst savoring a cooked breakfast. At midday the walled garden was opened and the second day of Willowstone 2011 had begun. The site consisted of the main stage which had fantastic local bands on all day, the beautiful Hilden Beer Tent which was selling delicious beers from Irelands Oldest Independent Brewery. This was very refreshing for a music festival and a place where I frequented regularly with pleasure! There were little stalls which was a shame, one was Belfast Puncture an enterprise which transforms inner tubes of tires into every day useful water-proof fashion accessories such as bags, wallets and key rings. The products are very useful, extremely hard wearing, sustainable and most importantly extremely cool! I came away with a very smart new wallet. The food stalls also offered beautiful delights, none of the suspicious fast food greasy looking stalls that you come to expect at a music festival, I had a fantastic burger and a hog roast with apple sauce which I happily ate with the Hilden Beer.
Around the site the children were always kept busy and occupied with the ingenious Allotment Olympics, circus workshops and the Scarecrow making competition (which I was desperate to do but never got round to it!) There wasn’t a crying child in sight!
For me the music highlights of the day came from The Minutes with their retro Rock and Roll sound, the Inishowen Gospel Choir came back and gave us a set full of modern classics such as Primal Screams ‘Movin’ On Up’ and the Source’s ‘You’ve Got The Love.’ My only criticism is that throughout the day there was a real disconnection between the acts and the audience. This is probably due to the fact there wasn’t enough people present to provide the atmosphere which was needed. Maybe the lineup was missing a better known headliner which would have attracted more people. Although I am not dismissing the two headliners, Shlomo as a beat boxer is technically brilliant and Not Squares with their sophisticated indie dance are going to be huge in the forthcoming year. Not Squares had me dancing with a big smile on my face with songs from their eagerly anticipated debut ‘Yeah OK.’
After Not Squares finished their superb set it was of to the campfire, which is becoming the festival tradition continuing into the wee small hours of Sunday morning.
On Sunday we yet again woke to glorious sunshine and we felt no rush to leave, after breakfast the family and I went around for a walk in Delamont and cooled down in the shores of Strangford Lough. I had a brilliant experience in the festival and the weather was absolutely perfect throughout the weekend, I cannot wait for Willowstone 2012 and it hopefully it continues to develop its independent roots!
Ryan McMullan
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