Joe and Jo of said foodandbiscuits blog kindly picked me up at 9am and off we went, my guitar and some CD's to sell in tow. We arrived about 10:15, picked up our freebee tickets/passes (which included 2 free drinks and free meal for me - result) and set off through the mud to find the Green Man Stage. Joe was prepared with wellies, Jo was half prepared with little [leaky] boots and I had my trainers and jeans on as if I were going for a coffee in town. Fail! Here's my trainers a mere 2 minutes in. They (and my jeans) got alot worse throughout the day..
None of us had been to Limetree before so had no idea what to expect with regards to size, layout, amount of people etc. It was lovely really. Relatively small, very chilled, nice atmosphere, well organised and with good weather! As it was so early, and we had an hour and a half until I was on, we had a little mooch around the grounds and stalls and took in our surroundings.
Slightly off topic.. When I'm not writing my own tunes and whatnot I collaborate with hiphop production duo PNT World Wyde. We have been working together for a couple of years now and they have just released their first album, which is awesome (as expected). I am lucky enough to have 3 of our songs on the album and there are plenty of top singers, rappers and musicians from all over the country (and across the seas) to feast your ears on. As an ode to them I said I'd wear one of their new promo T-shirt's on stage - here's me sporting it in front of the main stage (where I played at midday)..
You can hear PNT here and can follow them on facebook here and twitter here. Also their official website is coming soon www.pntworldwyde.co.uk Check them out..
So back to the festival...
By now, having seen where I was playing and had time to relax, all nerves had disappeared and I was keen to get the show on the road. Nerves were made even easier by the fact that it was pretty quiet, for a festival. This was partly to do with the weather which on Friday and Saturday had been torrential downpour (which would explain some of the people leaving as we were arriving) and I imagine partly to do with it being so early on the last day. Still, we were happy as pigs in poo. Jo bought some fresh coffees and Joe had an obligatory butchers at the local Pork Pie stall, more prep for next years wedding goodies.
We also met up with leg-end James 'piggy' Hunter who played a big hand on getting us all to the festival in the first place. Nice one J! He and his company also designed the promo artwork for Limetree. Check him out at Coyote Creative, they're ace - www.coyotecreative.co.uk
So then it was on to sound check and the gig. I loved all of it! It was great to be on a big stage rather than my usual small gaffs in Leeds and alike. I played for half an hour and did 8 songs. As I said it was pretty quiet at first but by the second half of the set people had settled themselves and focused on the stage, encouraged by the beaming sunshine (and hopefully some nice tunes!). Special mention for a small group who danced all the way through the set, whether it was coordinated swaying to 'Queen Of The Bar' or jiving to 'Keep on Walkin'. Good skills. Here's some pics of getting ready and performing..
Afterward people bought a load of CD's (which will keep me going until payday!) and took some of my contact cards so with a bit of luck I'll see them again at a gig sometime soon. Happy with that.
I was straight to the beer tent to down a much needed pint with a ciggy and we headed over to one of the food tents. Our choice: A Tibetan stall selling a type of dumplings called 'momos'. They were awesome, came with a homemade chilli sauce dip and just a quid each. A quid! This was followed by more mooching, a bit of reggae (with superbly dressed dancers - see below), a sit down in the Jazz tent, and another beer.
Joe and Jo in the Jazz Tent
Final Word:
Thanks to everyone who sent encouraging texts and messages, they were much appreciated! If you click here you can see a few songs from the day.
Cheers!
DP
