23rd May 2009 - Sandall Park, Doncaster

And so our first Fake Festival of the year and our first time headlining too! We did five of these last year, everyone one of them superb, despite the rain that plagued the summer and, unfortunately, every Fake Festival. As such, we've been looking forward to these gigs from the moment they were booked and boy were we not disappointed.

A two hour sunny saunter up the A1 for me and an even shorter amble along the 180 for the rest, we arrived on a glorious late-spring afternoon to a pumping tent packed out with punters. The signs were good. I arrived a bit later than the rest of the band and caught the end of The Ram Raid's set. Only saw them do one song - Whole Lotta Rosie - but I was impressed, they were excellent. Just a three piece - guitar, bass and drums but they really did rock the place hard. Very good. The Antarctic Monkeys followed and went down very well, as always, and New2 followed to an equally receptive and lively crowd. Oh yeah, I just remembered - Tom Jones was sandwiched in between them - not physically of course, but on stage doing a set of his own. Nice to see him again! Been a while.

By the time we took to the stage, the sun was just disappearing over the horizon and dusk was taking a firm grip, coaxing the festival-goers indoors and providing some darkness for the lights to come into their own. Having watched the superb bands that had come before us and having seen how large and responsive were, we were well psyched up for the gig and knocked out a great performance. The crowd were awesome, shouting, cheering, singing, clapping, dancing all through the gig. It really inspired us, Shane in particular as he went flying off his stool after hitting the last note of Clocks and landing on his knees on the stage. It was captured on video too .

This was by the best gig of the year for us and by far the best crowd, it really was an awesome night and it's great to back into Fake Festival season. Special mention to the lighting guy(s) - loads of new lights have been added and they're even better before and a top job was done during the gigs, they followed the music a treat. Sound was fantastic as always, really nice out front and perfect on stage monitor mix.

We can't praise Fake Festivals high enough for the entertainment they provide for the crowd, the bands and everyone else involved. They really are top drawer. Well organised, well catered for and cheap to boot.

A final mention goes to the legendary Sami Hyypia ...

... who made his final appearance for Liverpool FC today. 464 appearances, 35 goals, the guy has been a stalwart for the club in his 10 years there. He shall be missed.

Wayne, 2nd June 2009

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