End Of The Road

Sofia, a crazy gig-going chick (as crazy as us anyway) who we met at some shows put on her own festival with a mate this year and we went along to support and indulge. The End of the Road was held down near Salisbury in Dorset/Wiltshire and was almost a non-festival, in terms of extravagance. We couldn't have asked for a more chilled out weekend and while the weather didn't treat us kindly, the music and environs were ample succour.

The main stage was set up in the Larmer Tree Gardens which were as lush as you'd expect from a quintessentially English country garden, also having peacocks and macaws flitting about. The big top was on a human scale and the cosy tipi tent was filled with beanbags and quaint lighting. The music was virtually all emerging artists including 2 Mercury nominees with two established headliners in Badly Drawn Boy & Ryan Adams and the intimate nature of the festival meant everyone was interacting together. Ash fell in love with Brakes, a mad band from Brighton who sound a bit like Fugazi and we also enjoyed My Latest Novel, Semifinalists and Guillemots on Saturday.

We missed I'm from Barcelona on Sunday because Ash went for a refreshing swim down in Poole but when we got back we got straight into the Mobile Circus, trying to get the hang of a unicycle which just wasn't happening. Spent a while reading the paper and hanging in the tipi tent. Tilly & the Wall were a bit strange, featuring a amplified tapdancer, but they had solid americana tunes. Jolie Holland and Richard Hawley were both interesting acts, particularly Richard's great songwriting and arrangements but Sunday's highlight was Ryan Adams. Although he brushed virtually everything more than a year old from the set, the new songs are all crackers and the band was really tight. He closed the festival in great style and really summed up the general country, folk feel of the weekend. Bring on next year!