(no subject)
So, Indietracks happened, it made me very happy, I didn't want it to end. I don't know where to begin to describe all the things which made it so awesome, but here goes.
First of all, it was lovely to catch up with old friends from Sheffield- Correen, Sarah, Chris and Gill. I got to meet Chris and Gill's incredibly cute new son Matthew and was over the moon to be asked to be his godmother. I also got to dance with some of my favourite people at Offbeat in the engine shed on the Friday and that was enormous fun. I also got to catch up with Dunc, Marianthi, Katey, Pete, Chris, Lynsey and Colin and lots of other Bowlie people. I saw Tom who gave me an awesome mix CD he had made for me two years ago and I had forgotten all about, which was a pleasant surprise. It was also lovely to see Nathan and Sarah, who we are going to be sharing a chalet with at ATP in December. I first met Nathan and Sarah on the Bearsuit bouncy castle at Indietracks in 2007 and it is always really good to see them back there every year. It is such a friendly festival and I seem to meet new friends there every year. This year someone came up to me during Allo Darlin' and told me that he had first heard her music via a mixtape we had given away at Unpop and that was really nice too. I also bumped into a girl I had volunteered with for Oxfam at Glastonbury in 2004 and all in all, the festival still feels like it is attended solely by friends, acquaintances and Bowlie people, even though it has expanded so much and is so much bigger than it was four years ago.
The bands were great. Highlights for me were Veronica Falls, Allo Darlin', This Many Boyfriends, Slow Club, Ballboy, The Just Joans, The Pains of Being Pure At Heart, The Primitives, The Pooh Sticks, MJ Hibbett and Betty and The Werewolves. What's so sweet about the festival as well is that bands wander around the site with everyone else and the bands who've played in previous years come along as punters even when they're not playing. This year Darren Hayman was eating curry beside me on the grass during Standard Fare and I was dancing with the bloke from the Bobby McGees in the campsite disco marquee. I did a lot of dancing in general. Offbeat was obviously the best, but the HDIF sixties and soul marquee was pretty good and the disco in the shed on the Sunday night was lots of fun too, with lots of people dancing on the stage to Belle and Sebastian at the end.
So many little things that make it such a lovely place though; walking past the adventure playground at 4am on the way to the loo and hearing the sound of a uke being softly strummed from inside the top of the fort, the Ballboy wedding on the Sunday morning, the jolliness of the Midland Railway Staff, the excitement of grown men and women about riding on steam trains, the friendliness of everyone, the sense of DIY can-do achievement about it all, the general love that pervades everything there. Aw. Waxing lyrical, but it really is just the best festival.
Yesterday I drove back up to Edinburgh with Adam, Nicola, Amreet and Frances, stopping in Castleton for a lovely pub lunch on the way. I was so tired and was extremely envious of everyone asleep in the back whilst I struggled to keep my eyes open on the boring bit of the motorway. I slept for 12 hours last night though and feel like a new woman today. I hate doing all the post-festival stuff like the mountain of laundry and airing out the tent in the back garden though. I wish I didn't have to wait a whole another year for Indietracks to happen again!
Still, only 4-ish months to go 'til the Bowlie Weekender :-)