Trifter

So Walk The Line festival has come to an end. It was two days of sounds, sites and great venues. Unfortunately I only got to witness Saturdays extravaganza, but with performances from Sam Isaac, Thrill Collins and Jim Lockey and the Solemn Sun’s after party, I certainly soon forgot about missing out on the first half to a brilliant festival.

It is excellent to see Cheltenham carrying on with its character of being the town holding the most festivals per year in England. Especially seeing venues pull together to give us 2 days of great music from local talent.

I was lucky enough to posses a VIP wristband which entitled me to entry to all the venues and events. Pretty handy I would say. Means no phaffing about with money and tickets, just walk straight in and enjoy the sounds.

The Echoes are one of the bands that stick in my mind. They are young but extremely talented. With sounds similar to You Me At Six, they have that bright youthful feel to their music with alluring harmonies that make it impossible to walk away from their performance.

And after the mad rush back to D-Fly from the Frog and Fiddle (two great venues), only to find out that Sam Isaac had been moved to the Frog and Fiddle (where I had just come from) I managed to rush back again just in time to experience a great set from Mr Isaac. Shame about the lack of people due to the confusion however. But the crowd still loved him and his great music. He is the guy everyone wants to take home to their parents and invite to their parties, just because he is so lovely.

Jim Lockey and the Solemn Sun’s After Party was buzzing with energy, not only from the band but also from the audience. They were boozed up, ears buzzing with music and ready to party. The band were brilliant at entertaining the audience. Their songs were upbeat, vibrant, energetic and great to get people dancing. The band really interacted with the audience, unplugging their instruments and moving into the middle of the crowd for the last 2 songs. Which they ended with Luxembourg a true crowd pleaser.

The one problem I did have with the festival is that it was only during the evening. Would have been nice to have more bands during the day maybe. However I guess this was purely for the fact that people work during the day and on Saturday there was a Music panel to attend, so the bands would be playing to the walls. Which let’s face it, is never an uplifting moment in a musicians career.

So all that is left to say is, Walk The Line was an excellent two day festival. I was one of those small, up close and personal events, where it was easy to bump into one of the band members or get talking to other festival-goers and filled with brilliant music. Cheltenham should definitely hold more events like it, and maybe this will become and annual thing. It is a brilliant way to hear local talent and learn about new bands and musicians.