Blistering afternoon at The Colony music festival
“If you book them, they will come” said a great philosopher* and WOW did they come. With the sun shining and the crowds building, DJ Jamie Mac provided the tunes until the bands started.
Happy crowd at the Colony. Image: Wobbly Fingers
Talk of crowd size soon turned to an absence who wouldn’t go unremembered: Mark “Shakey” Dixon. The stage will be forever known as “Shakey’s stage” after all, there was no bigger stage for Shakey to dance than at the Colony festival.
Rick and Yiota, newcomers to the festival, were the first band up and soon had the crowd singing along to a range of songs across the genres. Jonathan May then treated us to a range of rock classics in his unique acoustic style, and as always had the crowd foot tapping and joining in. As the temperature rose, the tempo rose and he finished his set with the crowd wanting more.
Dancing at the Colony. Image: Wobbly Fingers
Deadbeat seamlessly slotted in next, belting out the rock classics with a ferocity even Joe Strummer would have been proud of. The crowds were nearing their peak and the dance floor was christened.
A change in style, but certainly not a change in action. Corporal Bones took us back to the 50s and gave the crowd a lesson in rockabilly. Their remastering of modern songs into this classic style was a pleasure to listen to and their energetic performance defied the searing heat.
The historic tour didn’t stop there, as the Britpop Union took the crowd forward to the 90s. Memorable tunes from a magical era in music had the dancefloor pumping, and singing levels rose through the roof, well they would have had there been a roof.
The Range. Image: Wobbly Fingers
The crowd barely had time to rehydrate, before “Amble’s Entertainers” The Range burst onto the stage at full throttle to blast out their tunes to their ever-adoring public. It was almost as if the man at the back said everyone attack, as there was a blitz to the dancefloor. The heat was dismissed, and dancing moves and effervescence not seen since David Brent.
Six Card Trick were chosen to close the festival, but they missed the memo as they played the crowd like puppet masters, and extracted every last kilojoule of energy from the crowd.
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- Image: Wobbly Fingers
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- Image: Sarah Weightman
Unfortunately, the day had to come to an end and the festival closed for another year. The fact that it was able to be held again is down to the work of a dedicated committee, but more importantly to local businesses and groups that sponsored the event.
The festival’s main sponsor Castle North Plumbing, Coquet Island Shellfish, Amble Town Council, Amble WI, Amble Crochet Club, FC Amble, and Kayleigh’s Kitchen deserve as much applause, and support as the bands who performed. Without them there couldn’t be a “free” festival to enjoy.
All that left to be aid is onwards and upwards to 2023, if anyone has any ideas to help fund this
event, please get in contact via the Festivals Facebook page.
Aaron Armstrong
*Wayne Campbell, Illinois 1993
