Guilfest 2007

United Kingdom | by Peter Freeman | 17 July 2007

The sun shines down on Stoke Park, giving the people of Guildford a chance to fend of the epidemic of rickets that will inevitably engulf the rest of England unless summer arrives soon. Blue sky is visible between the stubborn grey clouds that refuse give in to the season and just clear off. Many young children gaze upwards in astonishment, whilst their grandparents point excitedly, “See I told you it wasn’t a myth, back in my day you could see the sun nearly every day in summer!” Maybe I’m exaggerating slightly, but you can hardly blame me. Thanks to recent experiences I’ve got enough water proofs and jumpers packed in my rucksack to kit out a North Sea trawler man, yet it is positively barmy as we walk in through the main entrance.

Living in South London, it's quite surprising that I have not been to GuilFest before, which is less than forty minutes from Waterloo. This is probably because of the event’s close proximity to Glastonbury on the festival calendar. Yet GuilFest has always boasted a good line up with many old favourites providing headline acts.  This year is no exception with the likes of Supergrass, Squeeze and Madness topping the bill, and it was the news that the Nutty Boys would be closing the festival that convinced me to pay GuilFest a visit.

The festival’s website boasts that many visitors feel like it’s a mini-Glastonbury and I can certainly see where they're coming from. The banners and flags give out the same kind of feel you get in and around the Jazzworld field, although this may have something to do with the fact that they also sell Brothers Pear Cider! The festival is not big, taking us about 20 minutes to complete a full circuit at mooch pace. However, what the festival lacks in size, it certainly makes up for in content with two open air stages, three live band tents, a dance tent, an acoustic lounge and a comedy club.

We wander about the smaller stages for a bit, sampling some of the local talent which is given a lot of precedence at this festival. My first port of call is Ents24 Stage and Charlotte Hatherley, who has embarked on a solo career since parting ways with Ash. I’ve not heard much from Charlotte before and she gives a pretty good performance, although I’m a little disappointed that her solo tracks don’t have the same loudness and intensity as her work with her former band. To be fair though, the audience loves it and she's rewarded with much applause.

Next, it’s back to the main stage to catch Rodrigo Y Gabriela, the Mexican duo who headlined Jazzworld at Glastonbury to much fanfare and you can see why. When it comes to playing the guitar this pair have more talent than you can rapidly shake a plectrum at. Anybody else would struggle to make a Spanish acoustic guitar cover of ‘Stairway to Heaven’ anything other than a gimmick, but Rodrigo Y Gabriela lend a stunning new angle to the rock classic sending the crowd into a whooping frenzy.

The Ordinary Boys provide the evening’s penultimate set. It's easy to be over critical of the boys from Worthing, what with their generic sound and Preston's celebrity lifestyle, but this time they prove me wrong with a set that's brimming with energy and brilliantly delivered. The band give the impression that they love what they do and really set the crowd up for the evening with rousing performances of ‘Boys will be Boys’ and ‘Lonely at the Top’. 

It can be said that I’m a little bias when it comes down to Supergrass as this is the eighth time I’ve seen the band play live. But I can be excused, as along with many other Britpop classics they were the sound of my teenage years. That’s why I’m slightly annoyed when some spotty git in front of me takes the piss when I don’t sing along to one of the newer tracks. Then, to my amazement, he doesn’t know the words to ‘Sun Hits the Sky’! He certainly will from now on, because I bellow them into the back of his skull at point blank range. That’s right pal, I was listening to Supergrass before you were old enough to even spell it. Maybe I’ve had too much pear cider!.

Saturday is just as sunny, yet the gloom mongers are predicting that Sunday will be a washout and so I better make the most of it. For me today is all about one man or maybe I should say one legend - Jimmy Cliff. Jimmy is occupying his usual afternoon spot to allow for the maximum possibility of sunshine for signature cover ‘I Can See Clearly Now’. He gets it and the sun continues to shine throughout his impressive back catalogue as the master dances around the stage with an ease that defies his 59 years of age. My favourite has to be ‘You Can Get It If You Really Want It’, which also gets the biggest cheer from the crowd who are all bouncing around like maniacs by the end of his set.

No one can possibly follow that set, but Ghosts give it a good try and woo the crowd with their songs ‘World is Outside’ and ‘Stay the Night’. After that we go for a bit of a wander to get some food, but return to the mainstage in time for to catch a solid performance from Captain. Morcheeba take to the stage around 8pm, albiet without Skye Edwards. Lead vocalist Daisy Martey is a decent replacement and the band pull off a suitably stylish set that lulls between the dreamy and the funky, closing with some of the latter on ‘Rome Wasn’t Built in a Day’ just as a beautiful sunset bathes Stoke Park. Squeeze round off the days events with, in my opinoun, a bit of a flat set. Still, when compared to Jimmy Cliff I would have said the same even if the had played levitating around Stoke Park on jet packs. ‘Up the Junction’ gets a good response from the crowd though.

Sunday is clearly the busiest day and you can really see why GuilFest won 'Best Family Festival' at last years UK Festival Awards. The grass in front of the main stage is awash with picnic baskets, Waitrose carrier bags and push chairs. The Dub Pistols take to the stage and wake every single baby in Stoke Park with their thumping electronc/dub sound. Ex-speciels Terry Hall joins them for the last three songs and to be honest they could have done without him. He stands at the front of the stage with little emotion and gives a lack lustre performance, finishing with Speciels hit ‘A Message To You Rudy’. I would have preferred ‘Ghost Town’.

There's not much else that's grabs the attention today, so we go for a bit for a wander dropping in on a few tents, acquring some margaritas and finally ending up down in the Funky End dance tent, which is packed and grooving to some classic house tunes. After a while, though, it gets too hot under canvas so we stroll back up to grab dinner and plant ourselves in front of the Ents 24 Stage for Duke Special, who delivers some descent folk and soul tunes perfect for sitting in the sun.

You can't help but feel that most people here today have been biding their time for the main event. You feel for any act performing on the smaller stages right now because when Madness take to the main stage it is to easily the biggest crowd of the weekend - and they give an almost deafening cheer as the opening chords of ‘One Step Beyond’ sound out. My advice for any upcoming band, put down your glow sticks and get your far too skinny jeans over to a Madness gig to see how the proffesionals do it. Suggs and the Nutty Boys prowl around the stage in fitted suits, delivering hit after hit without pausing for a breath. Suggs bangs out a few terrible jokes between tunes, demonstrating that a band can be massive without taking themselves the least bit seriously. The highlight of the evening is the closing encore, ‘Night Boat to Cairo’ when the stage is flooded with kids (apparently all belonging to the band) who proceed to Ska down like experts.

A fantastic song to finish a fantastic festival and I leave to run the gauntlet of South West Trains. Will I return to Stoke Park next year? If Guilfest can keep up this calibre of acts, you can count on it.