Time to be Thinking About CrownFest!

It’s time to be thinking about that nearby little village with a big punch and a spire. CrownFest at The Crown in Bishops Cannings is occurring next weekend, Saturday 8th July, and if last year’s inaugural festival is anything to go by you’re in for a treat…..

Because the whole term “festival” has become somewhat ambiguous during these trending times, some pubs seem to take the wonky assumption that you can grab a man with a guitar off the street, put him in a marquee, flog undercooked hotdogs and call it a festival! Crownfest, you should note now, does it proper and gurt lush, and last year was hard to imagine it was their first time. It was professionally put together and catered for all; real stage, side stalls, children’s entertainment and rides and plenty of food options. And most importantly of all, it was simply a stupendously friendly and buzzing event.

There was never a point where something was a hassle, like free car-parking, camping is reduced to £15 per (6m x 4m) pitch this year, pets are welcome, toilets and showers are available and it was exceptionally well presented with friendly but effective security; personally I couldn’t fault it other than the fact I fell off the bus too late to catch Pete Lamb’s Heartbeats, as they were running ahead of schedule! What festival have you ever been to which runs on time, let alone ahead of schedule?! It must say something about the dedication gone into CrowFest numero uno, and it showed.

Being punctual isn’t something I’d usually need to enforce at any festie, but perhaps here, as here is the lineup and (apparent) times! Headline amidst a further couple of tributes, from 9:30 till the close, Bob Marley & The Wailers tribute The Marley Experience is surely something you’d be looking forward to? Only ever witnessing one Marley tribute before called Legends, I have to say that one will be a hard act to follow, but in checking out The Marley Experience online, take it from a reggae aficionado himself, these guys sound equally “top ranking.”

If May brought us the terrible news of the queen of rock ‘n’ roll’s passing, Tina Turner was perhaps the most misunderstood icon of the eighties. The controversial Ike & Tina Turner Revue of the seventies which put her in the spotlight, equally was her trauma. Unlike Marley tributes, Tina Turner ones are plentiful, and this could go either way. Being honest, with tribute acts I find there’s no inbetween, they’re either astoundingly great, and pay a homage to the act they’re attributing, or are a shocking embarrassment! Thing you need to do when deciding on a tribute act is research, and I assume Eddie music coordinator has done his homework, as Kinisha Morgan-Williams, the Tina Turner tribute act booked, sounds “simply the best” on this here YouTube vid, and she is on at 7:45.

Prior to the private dancer, there’s an Abba tribute, Abba Allstars from 6pm. Again, I find myself contemplating my “no in between” theory of tribute acts, and the Chiquitita video shows, even for someone like me who’s not the biggest Abba fan, these Allstars are proficient and sound sublime….they might make an Abba fan out of me yet!

Though I’m a 100% fan of those Junkyard Dogs, on at 4:15pm; a local band of the fiery blues variety and never to be missed. Cap’n Rasty’s Skiffle City Rockers, on at 2:30, is a new one on me, but the name alone is enough to entice. Then, along with Fantasy DJ Marc Anthony, and Guinness Book of Records holder for freestyle football skills Dan Magness, who did keep-me-ups for twenty-four hours, and causing me to wonder how he went to the loo during it, (I will ask him and report back) we also have Gloucester’s fantastic and energetic alt-rock collective, the Leon Daye Band, who kick off proceedings at 1pm.

With all that in mind, I suggest you head on down to the Crown at Bishops Canning and grab a ticket, or online here, but if you go in person no chatting up the infamous gorilla statue, though; I saw her first!