Reading has the Reading festival. Leeds has the Leeds Festival (although to be fair that is just the Reading Festival on tour). Guildford has Guilfest and so it would be logical to assume that Weyfest is held in Weybridge. It’s not, it’s held in Tilford just outside of Farnham in Surrey and I have no idea why it is called Weyfest. Nevertheless I was in Tilford this weekend for my second Weyfest which I thoroughly enjoyed.
This years lineup wasn’t as strong (for me) as last year’s as the headliners (Echo and the Bunnymen and UB40) aren’t my cup of tea at all but going is more about discovery of new acts and just like last year there were some really great bands. Weyfest also has a wonderful relax feel to it and, as you will see from the pictures below, it is really easy to get right up close and personal with the bands – you certainly can’t do that at Reading unless you are willing to have your ribs crushed.
Top of the pile of new bands this year were King King a blues band from north of the border who played some really infectious tunes that had the crowd dancing (even me!). Next up were Tiny Dragons who reminded me a little of Florence and the Machine, although that simply could have been due to the female lead. Finally was the Vixen of the Violin, Anna Phoebe, who’s middle Eastern influenced music you can hear in the video below.
However, that act that stole the show for me was Roachford. Andrew Roachford has been around for years but this is the first time that I have seen him live and wow, he was just amazing, such energy and he really knew how to work the crowd. He was also backed by some superb musicians did a great job of filling for Roachford while he dicked around sortout his keyboard!
Ironically I am seeing Roachford again early next year as part of Mike and the Mechanics and I had been concerned about how he would fill the shoes of Carrack and Young but on the evidence of yesterday he will be awesome and I will definitely be looking out for him playing locally.
So it was a great weekend, aided by lovely weather, and I would certainly go again next year. If you like live music and want a relaxed atmosphere then this is the place for you.
do you happen to know any of the organisers contact details we operate a mobile bar and wish to attend the event
I would have thought that with a week to go they would have already made those sort of arrangements but you can contact them via their website here:
http://weyfest.co.uk/contact.html