What a difference 12 months make.
This time last year I was considering going home due to the pouring rain and quagmire conditions underfoot and here I am today basking in glorious sunshine and loving every minute of the 2022 Wickham Festival.
The site also has a much better layout from last year with the two main stages being closer together which makes it much easier to move between acts whilst still maintaining that noise separation with little or no bleed over of sound from one stage to the other.
The line-up is superb with a bit of something for everyone.
I personally prefer the livelier acts such as The Levellers, Ferocious Dog, Skinny Lister and The Celtic Social Club but who can resist taking in Gilbert O’Sullivan’s set and sticking your head in to see what The Bar Steward Sons of Val Doonican are all about.
Arriving after work on Friday we set up camp between the two Big Tops and had a quick wander around the site to see what was on offer before we headed to main stage one to catch a great set from The Celtic Social Club before moving to the second big top to catch the last 15 minutes of Slim Chance who were also great.
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From there it was straight over for Skinny Lister who I had heard so much about and who lived up to the hype.
Time for some food from one of the plentiful vendors and it was off for three songs from Rumer before rounding off the night with an hour of rousing songs from The Saw Doctors.
A great night with plenty more to come over the weekend.
Saturday dawned and promised to be even warmer than Friday, so it was suntan lotion and fluids all around before we set off to catch another great line-up.
Going to so many festivals every year I tend to see the same bands on many of the line-ups, so it was lovely to catch so many bands I had not seen before.
The Undertones and The Bar Steward Sons of Val Doonican were both great sets by all accounts, as was the riot of colour and sound generated by The Dhol Foundation.
Ferocious Dog were brilliant as were The Levellers who closed the night with a set that was everything you would want from a headline band.
As I sit in the Sunday afternoon sunshine and write this, I am looking forward to an evening that will include The Slambovian Circus of Dreams, The Men They Couldn’t Hang, Gilbert O’Sullivan and The Waterboys who I have wanted to see for years so the festival should really end on a high note for me.
All in all it's been a fabulous weekend of wonderful music and thanks must go to the organisers and crew who have persevered through a difficult couple of years and come out the other side to put on such a great festival.
Roll on Wickham 2023.
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