Ramblin' Man Festival
Discussion
well this weekend was a cracker I had tickets for the inaugural "Ramblin' Man" rock festival. The line-up was one to be savoured although (IMO) it was a little 'unbalanced' with saturday the 'must see' day for me whereas sunday was very much a 'take it or leave it' day (though I am soooo glad I ended up taking it, so to speak!)
For me saturday consisted of Toseland, you may think that you recognise the name - and you'd be right! It's the disgustingly talented former World Superbikes rider James Toseland proving that he can not only sing very well but is a cracking pianist too! As a group they were a real surprise to me, not knowing what they would be like - they turned out to be very good and certainly worth watching out for in future!
After Toseland were the older rockers of FM reeled out a solid and entertaining set of good old rock, again really enjoyable
Next up were a set of old (some may, unkindly, say ancient!) rockers who were just out of this world - Blue Oyster Cult. Now I suspect that many will have heard their seminal song "Don't Fear the Reaper" but they are about so much more than that and were a gnat's away from being the best group of the day. Impeccable musicianship and some cracking tunes (Godzilla was a particular crowd pleaser after the obvious one mentioned earlier) well worth revisiting their back-catalgue
I last saw the next group up about 20 years ago at the Brentwood centre, the (formerly) mighty Saxon. Still delivered a rocking set but compared to the previous 3 were (IMHO) found wanting - dare I say 'in it for the money' (not that there's owt wrong wi' that per se)
The strangest group for me were next up - Dream Theatre. Musically they were good and entertaining (one song, The Spirit Carries On, in particular was amazing) but the vocals were drowned out (so a poor mix) but the bits of vocals I could hear left me unimpressed unfortunately.
Then came the highlight of the day (and for me personally the highlight, musically speaking, of the last 30 years). I finally got the see the Scorpions and despite their buffoon of a drummer I loved it! I've wanted to see them since the mid-80's and their album World Wide Live and this really was a cracking performance and made me a more than happy-chappy!
caught a snap of this young lady photographing the crowd... kinda watching you watching us
rainy sunday (:|
the contrast was pretty drastic given that saturday was just so gorgeous but I guess that's the chance you take with festivals... anywho on to part 2 of the brief gig review \
/
Turned up at 13.30ish and saw Blue Pills, another complete unknown for me but from the few songs I heard I suspect Grace Slick is her vocal inspiration - which is no bad thing IMO.
Next up were the Quireboys, I have to say that I didn't expect a whole lot but I was pleasantly surprised - lead singer would appear to be a bit of a pisshead but non-the-less a very enjoyable set
The biggest disappointment for me however were the next two groups - I'd heard good things about them and was really looking forward to seeing them. In fairness I guess they weren't bad but they just weren't 'me'
Temperance Movement
Rival Sons
Instead I found 2 new groups on the prog stage
1st were Riverside (a Polish band) who were quite good
and then Alcest who were musically good but quite weird in places - overall I'd not buy their music but I'd not turn them off if they were playing on the radio
The second very pleasant surprise of the weekend was Ian Anderson (another on I'd really been looking forward to seeing) - mad as a box of frogs and I loved him. Cracking flutist and entertaining I'll be looking up his back catalogue
Finishing the weekend off were Marillion - all I'd heard from them were the records done when Fish was their vocalist so I was coming in blind (or deaf I guess!) but again they did a good entertaining set
For me saturday consisted of Toseland, you may think that you recognise the name - and you'd be right! It's the disgustingly talented former World Superbikes rider James Toseland proving that he can not only sing very well but is a cracking pianist too! As a group they were a real surprise to me, not knowing what they would be like - they turned out to be very good and certainly worth watching out for in future!
After Toseland were the older rockers of FM reeled out a solid and entertaining set of good old rock, again really enjoyable
Next up were a set of old (some may, unkindly, say ancient!) rockers who were just out of this world - Blue Oyster Cult. Now I suspect that many will have heard their seminal song "Don't Fear the Reaper" but they are about so much more than that and were a gnat's away from being the best group of the day. Impeccable musicianship and some cracking tunes (Godzilla was a particular crowd pleaser after the obvious one mentioned earlier) well worth revisiting their back-catalgue
I last saw the next group up about 20 years ago at the Brentwood centre, the (formerly) mighty Saxon. Still delivered a rocking set but compared to the previous 3 were (IMHO) found wanting - dare I say 'in it for the money' (not that there's owt wrong wi' that per se)
The strangest group for me were next up - Dream Theatre. Musically they were good and entertaining (one song, The Spirit Carries On, in particular was amazing) but the vocals were drowned out (so a poor mix) but the bits of vocals I could hear left me unimpressed unfortunately.
Then came the highlight of the day (and for me personally the highlight, musically speaking, of the last 30 years). I finally got the see the Scorpions and despite their buffoon of a drummer I loved it! I've wanted to see them since the mid-80's and their album World Wide Live and this really was a cracking performance and made me a more than happy-chappy!
caught a snap of this young lady photographing the crowd... kinda watching you watching us
rainy sunday (:|
the contrast was pretty drastic given that saturday was just so gorgeous but I guess that's the chance you take with festivals... anywho on to part 2 of the brief gig review \
/Turned up at 13.30ish and saw Blue Pills, another complete unknown for me but from the few songs I heard I suspect Grace Slick is her vocal inspiration - which is no bad thing IMO.
Next up were the Quireboys, I have to say that I didn't expect a whole lot but I was pleasantly surprised - lead singer would appear to be a bit of a pisshead but non-the-less a very enjoyable set
The biggest disappointment for me however were the next two groups - I'd heard good things about them and was really looking forward to seeing them. In fairness I guess they weren't bad but they just weren't 'me'
Temperance Movement
Rival Sons
Instead I found 2 new groups on the prog stage
1st were Riverside (a Polish band) who were quite good
and then Alcest who were musically good but quite weird in places - overall I'd not buy their music but I'd not turn them off if they were playing on the radio
The second very pleasant surprise of the weekend was Ian Anderson (another on I'd really been looking forward to seeing) - mad as a box of frogs and I loved him. Cracking flutist and entertaining I'll be looking up his back catalogue
Finishing the weekend off were Marillion - all I'd heard from them were the records done when Fish was their vocalist so I was coming in blind (or deaf I guess!) but again they did a good entertaining set
so you have to make a choice. I did want to see GA but Marillion were on at the same time so I missed out 
You should have checked out Joanne Shaw Taylor. Seen her live twice (borderline in London when she recorded the live dvd/cd and The Globe in Cardiff) and she's brilliant.
Dream Theater used to be fantastic (also seen them twice Newport and High Voltage festival which had the same idea as Rambling Man). However I find LaBrie to be disappointing live as you found. Also Petrucci and Ruddess have lost their creativity and just seem to do scales now.
I highly recommend going back in DT discography and listen to the Images and Words album (in particular Take The Time, Metropolis pt1 The Miracle and the Sleeper, Learning To Live). It is one of the greatest prog records IMO.
If I wasn't going on holiday I would have done Rambling Man. Maybe next year.
Dream Theater used to be fantastic (also seen them twice Newport and High Voltage festival which had the same idea as Rambling Man). However I find LaBrie to be disappointing live as you found. Also Petrucci and Ruddess have lost their creativity and just seem to do scales now.
I highly recommend going back in DT discography and listen to the Images and Words album (in particular Take The Time, Metropolis pt1 The Miracle and the Sleeper, Learning To Live). It is one of the greatest prog records IMO.
If I wasn't going on holiday I would have done Rambling Man. Maybe next year.
Great summary irocfan. Had a great day out with my lads. Highlights were Toseland (discovery), Saxon (always consistent) & BOC (total icons and professionals, plus hilarious to boot!). Scorpions won it for me by a country mile....even before I got Rudolph's pick and a drum stick! Hope it's not 25 years before I see them again for the third time!
As a Maidstone lad I was totally thrown by the venue. Never ever thought I'd here my German heroes saying "danke Maidstone, ve love you".... Insane. Looks like next year may be on too as presale tickets are out. Think I'll wait for the line up first as deliberately only thought Saturday worth showing up for, which, rather ironically, did the sunshine!
As a Maidstone lad I was totally thrown by the venue. Never ever thought I'd here my German heroes saying "danke Maidstone, ve love you".... Insane. Looks like next year may be on too as presale tickets are out. Think I'll wait for the line up first as deliberately only thought Saturday worth showing up for, which, rather ironically, did the sunshine!
Gassing Station | Music | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff