Voodoo Trombone Quartet at Chagstock

I've just returned from Chagstock 2011, a music festival held at the foot of Dartmoor. A festival for hardy folk.

It doesn't rain so much as the clouds get so low you're stood in them, and the wind is bracing to say the least. But the selection of music is varied, supporting local artists as well as getting a few big names along.


The headline act on Friday night was the ever impressive Show of Handshttp://www.showofhands.co.uk/ whose cover of Don Henley's 'Boys of Summer' went down a storm. Saturday's music highlights included a fantastic Brazilian reggae band called Aluminio Roots, and an astounding set by John Otway. Despite his forward rolls and theremin antics, Otway was in danger of being out-charisma'd by his guitarist, Murray Torkildsen, whose asides, geezer demeanour and stylophone solo just about stole the show.

The big draw for Saturday night were The Magic Numbers. Now, I quite like their albums, but as a live act they were just so-so, a bit tame. But then without lead guitarists hanging off ladders and babies dangling from the stage, I suppose it would.

And so to Sunday. Gig day. Show time. And the cloud descended, a drizzly chilly day and we wondered if we were going to have anyone to play to at all. But whoever coined the term 'Southern Fairies' clearly hadn't met the hardy folk who live on Dartmoor. They turned out for us and bounced like mad things, despite it raining sideways for most of the set. Our special guest trumpeter (Paul VTQ's son Oscar) proved popular with the crowd during 'Edgar', earning an encore! They bounced,  cheered, and apart from a few wristband jobsworths, Chagstock made us feel very welcome. The Voodoo Trombone Quartet hope to return to Chagstock for 2012, and we'll bring better weather with us next time!