Chris Gravett

Yesterday was my first ROTW since the festival moved to The Priory from being held in numerous venues around the town. Considering the weather it was something of a small miracle the festival went ahead this year. A hell of a lot of hard work by organisers and a multitude of volunteers meant the gates were about to open, an hour or so late, until this fella gort stuck in the mud..

Until the vehicle was moved the crowd could not be let in and the music on the seven stages could not begin. A couple of tractors finally made light work of recovering the, ahem! four wheel drive!

So the festival kicked off about two hours late but that, nor the rain, would deter Hitchin's festival goers. A couple of bands appearing on Saturday were big influences on me going.. 

The Boxettes were on the main stage mid afternoon - and as ever they did not disappoint.

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Before The Boxettes, on the main stage, was Skip 'Lttle Axe' McDonald

Skip actualy did two sets on Saturday - I wouldn't have complained if he had done six!

There were some legends appearing on Saturday. The Dammed had a massive following for the final set on the Nettlebed Stage

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Captain Sensible as introverted as ever!

And talking of legends...

Edgar Broughton appeared on the Arcadeclectic Stage.The last time I saw Edgar was circa 1971 at The Astoria Finsbury Park. How time flies!

Dizraeli

Dizraeli and the Small Gods were another reason I braved the rain and mud. No surprise to regular viewers of my photoblog.

There was also some real local interest. Mrs Clark, music teacher from Offley School had some following when she appeared with Genie & the Jivebombers

Genie & the Jivebombers, Mrs Clark is on the left in the photo below - give it Mrs Clark

 

Also on the Nettlebed stage was Miss 600, along with Genie above and the Dammed you can see The Nettlebed offered an eclectic mix.

Miss 600 was certainly not camera shy.

I met a host of artists new to me yesterday, Coda, below being just one of them. I'll post some more shortly but for now I'm back off for day two of ROTW 2012. And the sun is shining!

Coda