The Shropshire OsFest 2010 saw 40 acts across 3 stages at the Oswestry Showground on Saturday 29th May and Sunday May 30th.

The line-up included an eclectic mix of internationally renowned artists, top DJ’s and a selection of the best up and coming local talent. shropshirelive’s Dawn Pearce, from Shrewsbury went along to the newest festival in town.

40 bands 3 stages 2 days

Saturday:
I took my daughter whose eight to osfest; we arrived at 10.30 Saturday morning in torrential rain! Pitched our tent and got absolutely soaked! Thinking we’d be stuck in a field with a load of drunken teenagers, I must admit I was feeling a bit apprehensive to what the weekend had in store. But we were welcomed by everyone, child was on her best behaviour and we concentrated on having as much fun as possible!

After wandering around the site we went to see a couple of bands. The first band on the main stage were ‘No Flash’, which were the battle of the bands winners, who played a very good set, we danced in the rain! No Flash also played a second set later on in the afternoon due to the Fillers (a Killers’ tribute act) not making it on the Saturday. Two sets in one day and they still had the energy to perform again.

Ged Hawes of No Flash says “Thank you to all the OsFestians! We loved OSFEST!!” he also says “we had a crush on Oswestry the first time we went to ‘The Ironworks’. On Saturday we fell in love! Great start to the festival season, we loved it and looks like it might be where we were “discovered”.

Next up on the ‘Beacon’ stage was ‘Andy O’Brien’, who opened his set with a fantastic cover of Travis’ Why Does it Always Rain on Me’, bit of a lyric change here making light of the wet weather “Why does it always rain on me, is it because I live in Oswestry!”

Andy says, “I arrived at the site early, looked at the weather and then I realised I had one of the hardest jobs going on 1st, but as soon as I started I thought to myself, I needed to get everyone buzzin, so I put as much energy into my set as possible, everyone was amazing even though it was hammering down, the crowd were singing along and dancing.

“I couldn’t feel my hands…..but somehow no matter how cold they were they still wanted to move and that’s down to the good people of Shrewsbury and Oswestry who stood at the front and spurred me on, I hold my hand out to them as I was under shelter and they were literally singing in the rain.

“I want to thank a good friend of mine Carly Jackson for letting me play to such an appreciative audience, I stopped the weekend and it was amazing one of the best weekends of my life.”

Next up on the main stage were ‘Skinny White And The Goods’, they fuse rock and blues in way that it just gets under your skin, Skinny White and The Goods mix soulful melodies into intricate rock riffs with passionate vocals, raw guitar sounds and a brilliant funky rhythm section driving their memorable songs. Absolutely fantastic anthems of a whole new genre of great British music. With Skinny White and the Goods, you know up and coming local music is on its way up again!

‘Twisted Wheel’ were up next on the main stage, from a distance they sounded good, but my daughter was hungry, so off we went for some food in our tent and a little rest of our ears; after being at the front for two hours! After some noodles and a drink (staple diet for the weekend) we had a little break from the main stage and went back to the festival from the camping area and looked around the traders areas, which were fairly busy.

The next band we saw on the main stage were ‘The Kayas’ whose set was amazing, I’m a big fan of The Kayas and first heard them a while ago on the ‘Friday Night Gerbil’, a BBC introducing show, on Radio Shropshire, and been trying to get to a gig ever since. The Kayas are local Oswestry lads, Ad Edwards from The Kayas says “Osfest was ‘avin it large, we were buzzin all weekend, all the acts were great and the festival layout was superb.”

The Kayas set list included: Saturday Night, Two Steps, Gary Abblet, Brit Pop (Punk Rock), Jekyll and Hyde, Gotta Get Out, Wouldn’t it be Nice, Anarchist, Chavtastic and Traffic Lights.

Next up, on the main stage, were ‘Kid British’, Having drawn on the street smart sound of pop heavyweights ‘Blur’ and ‘Madness’, the four piece – who were recently polled above ‘Oasis’ in a survey of Manchester’s best bands. Kid British have previously supported the specials on a recent tour and they played an excellent set at Osfest.

Kid British say “Everyone’s going on about there being a depression. People are talking about the climate like there’s an apocalypse coming, but you don’t wanna hear that when you go out to see a band or put on some music as well! We want to write about what we’ve experienced and what we understand. We think everyone needs to have bit of an escape.”

Kid British on Osfest “It was a nice little intimate festival. Mint vibe/crowd. It was bad weather but the people didn’t care, they were still up for getting right on it.”

Next up on the main stage were the ‘Holloways’, the Holloways have risen up from the ashes after a brief success in 2007 which saw the band perform sold out shows across the U.K. with singles Dance Floor, Generator and Two Left Feet going out over the radio airwaves. Now, the energy and the bond in the band has seen the boys relight fires after of the release of their latest album – ‘No Smoke, No Mirrors’ the boys are finally back gigging. The set at Osfest was mind-blowing, old favourites and new songs, made sure they went down a storm.

Next up the ‘Beacon’ stage were ‘Colour Sunday’, Colour Sunday were formed by cousin’s Rob and Ben Picken in late 2007, inviting lifelong friends Tom and Aled to complete the line up. Taking diverse influences from many genres and drawing comparisons of such artists as “3 Doors Down” and the “Foo Fighters”. Colour Sunday play simple, melody driven heartfelt songs that will warm your soul and stick in your head! And boy do their songs stick in your head, favourite song from their set is Create The Space.

Benny Picken, bassist from ‘Colour Sunday’ on Osfest “We had a blast! We were thrilled with our set, the fans, and the organisation. Osfest can be massive for the area and we can’t wait to see it develop…roll on next year!”

Next on the main stage was Reverend and the Makers, one of the main acts of the weekend, their set included much-loved songs such as Heavyweight Champion of the World, He said he loved me, and The state of Things. The energy and pure passion portrayed by Jon McClure was outstanding, pure adrenaline, displayed throughout the set. Jon McClure (Reverend and the Makers) says “Osfest was amazing. The whole field jumped as one. Bring on next year…”

The next and final act of Saturday night on the main stage was ‘Jaguar Skills’, Jaguar Skills is a British DJ who has gained notoriety since 2002 for his eclectic ‘mash-up’ style mix tapes. Jaguar Skills has released a number of mix tapes through various outlets, including BBC Radio 1 and BBC Radio 1Xtra and now has a weekly 10 minute mix on ‘The Trevor Nelson Show’. His true identity is a closely guarded secret.

He built his profile and learnt his craft in clubs across London. What can I say about Jaguar Skills that hasn’t been said; his set was amazing, anyone who can mix Blurs song2 and Bob Marley tracks in the same set definitely wins as far as I’m concerned! My daughter is also the only person I know that can fall asleep next to a speaker at a festival!

Sunday:
After a lie in, and a late breakfast/lunch on Sunday, and general hanging out, we didn’t really get to see many bands before 4pm.

The first band we saw on the main stage were ‘Shameless Faith’, Shameless Faith have well written, mature songs. They have a respectable following including Mark Morris of the Bluetones and one of their songs has recently been covered by Aziz Ibrahim (Stone Roses guitarist) at his solo shows. Shameless faith are a heady mix of adrenaline and obvious indie anthems for the future…

Alfie Edwards (Bass Guitar, Shameless Faith) says “We used Osfest as a springboard to launch our new EP called Shine On, (http://shamelessfaith.com/music.php ) – It was a well organized and very professional attempt to create a big festival in a little town. It’s always great to play for your own fans and we really enjoyed it. Thanks for having us Osfest and we will see you next year!”

Next up on the main stage were The Answering Machine, The Answering Machine are an art rock band based in Manchester. The band consists of: Martin Colclough: Vocals, Guitar. Pat Fogarty: Guitar, Backing Vocals, Gemma Evans: Bass, Backing Vocals, Ben Perry: Drums, Glockenspiel. The band formed in October 2005 at the University of Manchester. My favourite tracks of The Answering Machine from their energetic set include, Lightbulbs and Oh, Christina.

Next on the main stage were Girls Can’t Catch, I’d be nice about them, but they were just another girl group, that looked and sounded like they’d been thrown out of the nineties. They recently supported ‘Girls Aloud’ on tour, but they do not have the abilities of Girls Aloud, these girls wouldn’t have looked out of place in any nightclub on a Saturday night.

Girls Can’t Catch were unfortunately followed by ‘Vice’, which seemed to be a poor man’s JLS; typical boy band, signature moves a’la mid nineties 911 and others, although their website says “The music, name and iconic style of VICE instantly conjure up dramatic images, males will want to be them and females will want to be with them. All in all, a heady cocktail of top-drawer music and sexual chemistry. I didn’t feel any of this, perhaps at 20 something but I’m not their target audience, but neither did my 8 year old daughter, who is a JLS fan.

‘ Booty Luv’ took to the main stage next, Booty Luv is a British dance music group formed in June 2006 via the Hed Kandi label. It is fronted by two R&B vocalists, Cherise Roberts and Nadia Shepherd, both of whom were in the original line-up of the successful hip-hop band ‘Big Brovaz’. Booty Luv’s ‘breakthrough’ came when their debut single stormed the charts, spending fifteen weeks inside the UK Top 20. Since then they have released three follow up singles and their debut album peaked at #11 on the UK Album Chart. After a slight technical glitch with a CD player, and a bad reaction from a few in the crowd, they were amazing girls who could have gone all diva-esque and walked but they carried on to perform popular tracks of theirs, which included shine and some kind of love.

The last but not least, act of the weekend, came in the form of the fantastically funny ‘GLC’ who’s set definitely pulled in the crowds at Osfest, belting out great anthems and firm favourites, such as, Guns Don’t Kill People (Rappers do), Your Mothers Got a Penis, Your Missus is a Nutter and Soapbar, as well as a incredible take on Lily Allen’s – It’s not fair; comedy rappers ‘Goldie Lookin Chain’ are proud to be lazy sods from Newport, Wales and never fail to entertain.

Johnny Eggs, of GLC, says “Osfest was a proper good full on party extravaganza, We had Dj’d at a club called The Ironworks a few months previously so we knew there was definitely a vibe in the area and it went right off. During the gig three birds got their boobs out which is always a good sign and there has been talk with the promoter about coming back again, which we would love, until then we are just preparing to release a new mix album on July 5th with another full on Album later in the year, so there should be plenty of new stuff to perform next time, stay in touch on facebook or at www.youknowsit.co.uk . We love you Osfest.”

So the overall review of the first Osfest, a brilliant atmosphere for a festival in its first year, Osfest can only grow and grow with its equal mix of local music, up and coming artists and big acts, I think it’s got the formula just right and can only get better and mature like it deserves too.

Review by Dawn Pearce