The Blast Off Festival Nottingham 2011

THE BLAST OFF FESTIVAL 2011, NOTTINGHAM 

  It was with great anticipation that Trish and I attended on the Sunday, after struggling to get hold of a baby sitter and only just managing to secure one at the last minute. The odds had seemed piled up against us and the gods had seemed to be looking down on us in an unfavourable light. We had missed the last one and I didn't wish to repeat that regrettable mistake again. We met our psychedelic friend Kristian Wow Man Groovy Jurgensen in Spanky Van Dykes to fill up on chips and a pint of rather strong and equally as expensive scrumpy cider, which I managed to convince my friend was orange cordial because of it's colour, which made Trish and I giggle to ourselves. Our next move was to nip next door to the Rescue Rooms with the hope that Cherry Fuzz was there with our reserved tickets.

  Cherry was there with our tickets and it wasn't long before the first band started playing, apparently the bands were running a little late. We quickly got a drink, said hi to some of the Nottingham mods who were discussing the times of when they were to DJ, it seemed there was quite a number of bands and only 15 minutes between each one, which kind of added to the excitement for me as this is what I personally had come for. The Sunday with it's larger number of bands would prove to be perfect for me.

  First off was the Go Go Cult a UK band from the garage lands of Reading. Apparently hatched from eggs and discovered in the wastelands of Mongolia. Raised by a mad scientist who had the evil intentions of destroying our planet. Thankfully they had escaped and we the lucky folk of Nottingham were able to enjoy a bone crunching set of surf and garage. Instantly recognising the tune of wipe out from their infectious "Go Go Stomp" alongside their the image of masks and striped tops added to the warping of minds, leaving us helpless to avoid enjoying every second of it, well me anyway. Kris suggested they may be slightly out of time so I reminded him we were at a garage gig and not a jazz concert.

  El Toro from Liverpool UK were up next. At first sight I assumed the lead singer "Jimmy O" to be a little too clean cut to be in a band of this type and he reminded me of a slimmer version of the lead singer of the Kaiser Chiefs. However his posturing, voice and devils harp playing would soon convince me I was wrong.

  The music is garage yet drenched in surf. The guitar player Chris Luna was superb. Spanish guitar sounds being plucked from his guitar and then blasted in your face in pure garage style. In their words "El Toro, a loveless gathering of miscreants out to spread their garage disease". It was great stuff, Trish slipped off to purchase the album and a large badge.  The Smoggers from Seville Spain. We was looking forward to this monster of a band and their "Set Me Free" gets a regular blast in our house. The look was garage, pointy shoes , the haircut, bones tied around the neck, a cave woman on drums. They played a mean set of R&B in a lively way only a garage punk band can churn it out and every tune seemed to get more lively and slightly more wild as they went on. The singing was shared between two who were equally designed for the purpose of growling in a garage band. Trish was pleased to see they had a female drummer who could easily maintain a stomping sixties beat throughout. She decided to go tell her after the set.

  The Exploding Rubber Band from the capital of Norway. By the appearance of the band I could see they had drawn their inspiration from the bands of the seventies. They played a confident set of classic rock fuelled R&B with enthusiasm and an element of fun. They were having a good time on stage which was infectious for all. I didn't think they would be my cup of tea (or even pint of scrumpy)  but I found myself impressed with the hints of Deep Purple and honky tonk boogie rock. One of the mod crowd that attended told me  of the bands he saw he thought these and "The Electric Sixties" were his favourites of the day. The lead singer had a look of Jesus about him and actually sang a song called "If Jesus Came back". Well maybe if he did come back he would form a band, "The Exploding Rubber band", maybe it was him!

  The Electric Sixties were an incredibly authentic looking and sounding band from Argentina. They were out to have plenty of fun with their blend of sixties beat and garage. It seemed we had suddenly travelled in a time machine back to the days of the sixties with their stage antics and obvious inspiration taken from The Yardbirds, Searchers, Dave Clark Five, Paul Revere & The Raiders etc... 

  Cherry Fuzz joined them on stage to go go dance and folk were plucked from the crowd like apples from a tree to dance on the stage to a fantastic set. These guys were crowd pleasers.

  Trish had to retire to pick our little ones up so she missed these and the opportunity to dance on the stage. I made sure I picked the album up for her  complete with  free sticker.

  Unfortunately my camera phone was now refusing to take any more pictures which was a shame, If only I had remembered to put it on charge before we came out . The next band I saw was DC Fontana of which I had heard a little about from friends on the mod scene who had seen them before but I had not yet had the pleasure of seeing them myself. I was quite pleased to know we was going to have a mod band on stage but wasn't expecting a whole stage full of them. Eight I believe with all kinds of instruments, including brass, flute, organ etc.. 

  Their singer karla Milton has a great voice. The music is groovy with a blend of soul, psych, jazz, r&b and pop. It is very mod!  they drove you to the dance floor. I think if the audience had consisted of a few more from the mod scene the floor would have been packed. However people were starting to move. 

  As I write this I must add that there was a couple of bands I missed whilst having a chat with friends old and new and of course with a festival as diverse as this with it's music ,there were certain bands I missed for various reasons, so this is really my account of the day and not every ones.

  Now one of my reasons for choosing the Sunday apart from problems getting sitters is my passion for surf instrumental music and furthermore my like of "The Bambi Molesters" , not that I agree with the molestation of poor little Bambi it's the fact they are one of my favourite surf bands. 

  They are an instrumental surf band from Sisak, Croatia who record on the "Glitterhouse Records" label. I had told Kris about this band and by the end of the set my psychedelic pal had been converted to a surf creature from hell. Not that the Bambi Molesters are from hell their tunes are heavenly. It was fab to hear the tunes I play at home on a regular basis being played live in front of me. It is not everyday I get to watch live garage and surf acts in Nottingham so I was very pleased to have been at a festival such as this and The Bambi Molesters certainly hit a crescendo concluding the event in style for me me. We were singing in the taxi and all the way home.

  Blast Off Festival, I'll be sure to be back for more!