Celebrity Welly Auction!

Ross Purdie - 18 November 2004

Anyone who braved the muddy swamps of the Reading Festival this summer will remember how important the humble Wellington boot became ... celebrities no exception.

So BBC Berkshire came up with the idea of asking bands and artists playing at the event to pay homage to their rubbery saviours from trench foot by signing a pair - all for the sake of charity.

And now they could be yours!

Possibly the most valuable pair of wellies ever, featuring the signatures of Mike Skinner, Peaches, Har Mar Superstar among many more, will be the prize of an online auction, currently taking place. The highest bidder will also win prints of all these photos and many more. Just CLICK HERE to enter your bid!

Catherine Turner, from BBC Berkshire, told VF: "We had the brainwave of getting loads of bands and artists to sign our spare wellies and then auction them off to raise lots of cash for Children In Need. Everyone we approached readily signed the wellies and, as a result, they've become a valuable item of Reading Festival history and music memorabilia."

Everyone that is except Morrissey, who was asked for his signature by an intermediatory but failed to supply his scribble - perhaps due to his sulk with the BBC about Radio 1 not play-listing his songs?

More up for it were those nice lads from Supergrass, who the backstage Beebers tracked down in their dressing room and proved only too happy to sign - even lavishing their guests with champagne. The Darkness also added all their names to the boots, after Catherine slipped them under the band's dressing room door and they were duly returned five minutes later.

Franz Ferdinand signed up, adding a juicy love heart with a pink marker pen they had on them for some reason, Graham Coxon obliged after ambling over to see what all the fuss was about, and The Kills' autographs were secured after Catherine asked one of their roadies for a lighter and recognised their crew passes.

Even Pete Doherty couldn't escape the travelling footwear and he wasn't even playing! The Berkshire boot-bearers tracked the estranged Libertine down backstage at Reading's Fez Club on the Friday night, where he was playing. They found Pete lying bare chested, arms spread on the floor, but fortunately he was 'welly' enough to sign his name.  
  
The full line-up of celebrity welly signers is as follows:

*All members of The Darkness
*All members of Franz Ferdinand
*All members of Supergrass    
*All members of Super Furry Animals
*Lostprophets (signature of band name)
*VV and Hotel of The Kills
*Graham Coxon
*Mike Skinner of The Streets
*Pete Doherty of Baby Shambles
*Peaches
*Har Mar Superstar
*Craig Macintosh and Lee Worrall of Dogs Die In Hot Cars
*Ebbot Lundberg of Soundtrack Of Our Lives 
*Steve Lamacq

Bidding for the boots started at 1pm on Friday, 19th November. There is a reserve bid of £50 and bids should be at least £5 more than the current highest bid. The lot also includes pictures of some of the artists with the wellies, including the ones featured above. It all happens at www.bbc.co.uk/berkshire. Read the terms and conditions first. Good luck!

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