If Devizes’ celebrated FullTone Festival is to relocate to Whistley Road’s Park Farm for next summer’s extravaganza, what better way to give it the rustic feel than The Wurzels, who have just been announced on the line-up?!
If Somerset’s Scrumpy and Western genre has fermented longer than a cider press from folk roots, it’s surely The Wurzels who brought mass attention to it with their number one parody of Melanie’s Brand New Key, The Combine Harvester. The staggering thing about this is, it was in 1976, but what’s more staggering, is people are still singing it today, and likely will be at FullTone Festival on 11th & 12th July 2026!
Organiser of FullTone, Jemma Brown said of the booking, “there’s not much more we can say to that!” But you know me, I’ve always got something to say, and I’m saying that is a fantastic surprise which only remains to add to the already brilliant show the orchestra and guest acts will deliver.
What else we do know at this early stage, is the huge fifty-piece orchestra will play through sets of Holst’s The Planets & Star Wars, a Symphonic Queen with Ricardo Afonso, The Best of Motown, an eighties spectacular and Devizes-own BBC radio DJ James Threlfall will be on the dance anthems.
If I wonder what songs the Wurzels will play, top choice has to be I’ll Never Get a Scrumpy Here, which contains the line, “’Cos you never get surprises livin’ in Devizes,” and spurred my rant column of the same name, you might remember it. I did write to them to ask permission, they were too busy drinking cider to be in any way concerned. I asked if it was sly stab at our brewery, or that Devizes was as far eastward they favour to venture, but they explained it was used because it rhymed! Well, they’re venturing here in July, and if they give us the key, we can all have a brand new combine harvester.
The Fulltone Orchestra has confirmed today that their annual festival will take place on The Green in Devizes from 25th – 27th July 2025….
“It’s hard to believe that exactly one month ago, we were on The Green setting up for what we thought might be the last Fulltone Festival,” they said today.
“Fulltone is run by a small group of volunteers and is funded solely by ticket sales plus a few generous local sponsors. Ticket sales hadn’t been great leading up to this year’s festival, and we really thought that it might have run its course.”
Image Gail Foster
A last minute rush on ticket sales for the festival this July, the smooth running of the event, and overwhelmingly positive feedback have been the benefactors which caused the organisers to make a u-turn on not holding a Fulltone Festival next year.
I reasoned based on rumours about camping possibilities it may be relocated outside the central town, but organiser Jemma Brown confirmed it will remain on the Green due to popular demand, and the Rowdy Cow site could become a camping area with a shuttle bus operating to and fro.
Jemma also explained they’ve dropped the word “festival” from the title of the event, and from next summer it will be known more simply as Fulltone ‘25. I like this, it’s a unique event and on the reputation it has amassed over the years it needs no more explanation than this.
Image: Gail Foster
Acts are already being considered and booked, and Jemma also mentioned the possibility of fringe events happening in town venues. All exciting developments, and we wish them all the best with these early planning stages for what has become a jewel in the Devizes event calendar.
Fulltone ’25 will take place on The Green from 25th – 27th July 2025. Early bird tickets will go on sale at 9 am Saturday 24th August 2024.
Chief organiser of the Full-Tone Festival, Jemma Brown has always been high on my list of local folk of admiration, but went a notch higher Sunday upon delivering a sly quip on stage, in retaliation to a lone keyboard warrior inanely slating the festival on Facebook, while the majority of locals, and visitors from afar, basked in the sunshine and glory of what was the ultimate, (and possibly final of this kind,) showcase of our fantastic homegrown Full-Tone Orchestra, their momentous accomplishment, and all the gorgeous gubbings which went with it!
I was sunbathing on a Muck & Dunder deckchair at the time, enjoying one of their Piña Coladas, the like only they seem to know how to create this side of the Atlantic Ocean, and a hearty chuckle impulsively launched from my cake hole. Oh my, the audacity of the ranting warrior caused a desire in me to march that silly sausage down to the breath-taking stage, allowing them to observe, even if momentarily, a sixty-piece orchestra harmoniously labouring sublimely, while a local youth sings their heart out at the most memorable, prestigious, and significant opportunity of their lives so far, to the tears of joy from their mum in the audience, overwhelmed with pride, and the smiles from those enjoying it, then ask this ranting nobody to confirm their complaint was not driven solely by selfish jealousy!
A neighbour of mine has a tendency to rev his motorbike in his garden. I cannot fathom why he needs to do this, neither appreciate the noise, but to ramble on about it on social media isn’t going to achieve anything but further verbal conflict. All I know is when you’re within the range of that stage, the divine acoustics immerse you, and even if it’s not your cuppa, you cannot deny the magnitude of the moment, just one weekend of it was all that was ever asked, the musical might of something you rarely get in Devizes, or anywhere for that matter.
Then, you turn away at your own free will, and note though it may have appeared so, you are not trapped in the Royal Albert Hall, you’re still on the familiar Green in Devizes, and deckchairs surrounds you like a day in a park, teetering with locals, spellbound and appreciating said moment. That is the magic of the Full-Tone Festival; go grab yourself a G&T or a Rowdy Cow ice cream, maybe get your face painted, return whenever you feel like it. It’s neither a sitting concert because of the freedom to come and go, nor a day in the park, because there’s a mahoosive and effective seamless programme of wonderful and varied music waving across the site; it is unique, iconic, and symbolic of everything great about Devizes.
All comes at a price, though, is another I hear plenty. Comparatively not so. Look around you, it’s over the pound mark for a Crunchie bar in a petrol station, and your average festival or a two-hour pop star’s gig will triple the price tag of Full-Tone’s three day extravaganza, if not more. You can only reasonably complain if your ears and eyes are shut.
Look! Look at that extravagant stage, wonder how many lines the technicians are juggling, watch the procession of musicians coming and going from the stage akin to the precision and order of an ant’s nest, though in pretty frocks! Consider every sidestall and those relentlessly working to serve you, the security, the first aid, the unison of everything coming together as it did, is both costly and executed with such professionalism I cannot fault it neither reason why anyone else would complain; it would be insanity to do so. Even conductor Anthony Brown waving his baton around for two solid days is enough to sympathise with any repetitive strain injury he’s likely to have developed!
Though I must say again, it was a shame it clashed with the Devizes Scooter Rally, an event also dear to my heart. In such, there were large chunks of both I missed in a desperate attempt to attend the two. I missed the Friday night, when Jemma’s Devizes Dance Academy replayed their musical Six, accompanied by the fantastic Ruby Darbyshire and Devizes indie popsters Nothing Rhymes With Orange, but console myself safe in the knowledge based on past experience, this would be a guaranteed chicken dinner.
There were so many elements I sadly missed. I know our prodigy Jess Self knocked it out of the Green with Annie’s Tomorrow, but I was made up by catching Six performers Ruby Phipps and Lisa Grime’s sublime solos during the James Bond theme section. Amidst the pro singers, these local youths held their own, and walked nervously but magnificently through it like it was butter on hot toast. There was the jazz big band on Sunday to make up for missing a Beatles tribute duo, and again, Talk in Code I know would’ve smashed it.
There’s simply too much to put every detail into words, but as an overall assessment based on what I witnessed or was gutted to be told how great what I missed was, The Full-Tone Festival again was a spectacular community event on a scale Devizes arguably hasn’t seen since the Boto-X, and the Green looked once again as full as the first paid Full-Tone Festival was three years ago. It will be a shame to see the Green fallow next year, but we look forward to the prospect of it returning in whatever different shape it’ll be.
Notwithstanding the financial gain from visitors to the town and local businesses this attracts, alone for it’s sheer capacity for not only providing a showcase for the orchestra, which will again venture out to the cities to perform at their prestigious venues, and attract the big names within the theatrical, classical and opera to grace our town, but also for showcasing upcoming local talent, Full-Tone receives no complaint from me, (the headline was just a sneaky clickbait trap, ha-ha!) Neither could I justify writing a single negative word about it. If I had to, it would be that we cannot do it bimonthly!
It was, as it has been each time, a fantastic event, and is loved by so many. Look again at dancers dancing, somehow, to the Chariots of Fire theme, kids in fairy wings, the old fellow napping in a deck chair with a bucket hat over his face…look and take heed of everyone, enjoying themselves ….my hat would come off to everyone involved, if it didn’t risk a sunburned bald patch!
Oh, go on then, everyone involved deserves a factor 50 sunblock, because you shine so bright!
See, I’m done and dusted with whinging; yep, that satirical rant column from many years ago, that I ask Jemma if she remembers, upon my request for more ammo, how she replied, rather I could highlight the positive things happening in town, and how that ended up with me meeting them at a rehearsal for a newly formed orchestra in Rowde school hall? Not that I’m blaming anyone for Devizine, I’ll take that rap(!!), more so thinking, wow, how far Full-Tone has come from that acorn, and how I’ve followed that inspirational progression.
Fantabulous and all and every synonym Microsoft Word will match it with, but what’s more to say? Please, if inclined, add your own thoughts to my waffle on the social media shares and I’ll transform them onto the bottom here. Help me create a fuller overview, tell me why you think Full-Tone Festival will be seriously missed from our event calendar next year and what you enjoyed about this one, thank you, and thank you Full-Tone and everyone who helped make this such a memorable occasion.
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Next weekend (26th-28th July) is a biggie in our humble town, there’s the FullTone Festival on the Green, and Devizes Scooter Club revs up for their fourth Scooter Rally too. Which one is for you? Are they so obviously such vastly different events, your mind is made up already, or is it a dilemma of which to attend?
We cannot ignore the elephant in the room; do I think it’s a shame there’s a date clash on two of our best events in Devizes this summer? Yes, of course I do, but that’s the way the cookie crumbled, and here I intend in the order of fairness, to reason on both the differences and similarities between them, such that they attract different crowds.
Though both events differ, both also attract people into town therefore are financial assets, and most importantly whichever you attend you’re guaranteed a great time.
Me? I’m covering both, the idea is, at best, to hover between them, it could fail. I’m not ruling that out, but I’m too spontaneous for silly things like planning! Besides, I continually toil with what makes large events such as these good, you know? What are the perimeters on my scorecard when they differ so? It’s not as easy as you may think!
A recent subsidiary of this thought process came via the Minety Music Festival a few weekends ago. I liked that, liked it a lot. It was a level above the “average” festival we hold here. Though neither the Rally nor FullTone can be described as average by any stretch of the imagination. Both punching above their weight and both are possibly the best time you’re likely to get in Devizes, until such a time Disney builds a theme park at Hopton!
Fulltone Festival 2023 Image Gail Foster
The premise was that Minety provided three stages and so many other things going on between them. I raced from stage to stage hoping to take in as much as possible, but to see it all was impossible.
I once argued that while FullTone is a monumentally awesome event, it didn’t meet my criteria of being a festival as such, on account it is a single stage hosted by the orchestra though allowing a few other acts in between. It was surely defined better as a conglomerate of concerts. I come from the Glasto school of thought, whereby a festival is multiple elements coming together in one big mesh. But, that’s a pedestal.
I’ve changed my mind on this, as FullTone have extended the ethos of different acts over the years, plus the orchestra and all its elements is a country mile above a set group like a rock band gig. Plus again, it seems these days putting a man with a guitar under a gazebo and flogging undercooked hotdogs constitutes a “festival,” and thus I must go along with that even if unwillingly!
You only need to look at the development of FullTone’s program over the past years to know this isn’t a true reflection. Look at the surprise Friday night add-on where Six will be re-enacted and popular youth acts like NRWO and Ruby Darbyshire play. And besides, the upside of the single stage format means you don’t miss any of what you’ve laid down your dollar for, and believe me, you’ll love Ruby, or Talk in Code equally as much as Kerry and Ricardo pulling out a Queen set, or dancing the night away to eighties reconstructions by a full orchestra; that diversity is something you’ll not find elsewhere, in Devizes if not internationally.
Fulltone Festival 2023 Image Gail Foster
Similarly the Scooter Rally is a single stage, but the class acts booked will see something of a rarity in town. You don’t find live reggae or ska acts on the pub circuit here, it’s costly. And being all the acts are tried and tested; All That Soul, for one example, will provide the ultimate tribute to the Motown sound on a level high above others locally, as they did at a Scooter Club night of yore. Overall The Rally is a godsend on our event calendar. Making it a given that both these events, while different, share success because they book the very best entertainers within their separate niches.
It can be the little touches which maketh the occasion. The Scooter Rally providing free transportation to and from the site to Devizes is something other event organisers should take heed of.
Both examples of the assurance quality acts is not something which has been skipped on, serves as mahoosive pros to the single stage format, because you’ll not want to miss any of it trudging from stage to stage. It’s an opinion, rather like a GCSE RE question; there’s no wrong answer.
Last weekend I was in the green room tent at Picnic in the Park, and it’s there which changed my mind on this opinion-based query. I met festival maker Sam, who looked exhausted, dropping off fire extinguishers at various locations, and I pointed out the fact that rarely do organisers get the opportunity to enjoy the event like a punter as there’s always something to be lugged around, moved, and catered for.
I had a taste of this when volunteering for a Street Festival of yore, constantly running wheelie bins to and fro like a videogame character, while being asked the bleeding obvious by attendees!
Fulltone Festival 2023 Image: Gail Foster
At Picnic in the Park I also spoke to Simon the sound engineer, chatting about the last Scooter Rally he expressed the work involved in accommodating a ska band compared to the average four-piece rock band. There were so many more lines to collate, what with the usual brass section. This made me ponder the technical requirements of a full orchestra at FullTone, and singers and, crickey, I can’t imagine what else!
The reason I involve myself in events is partially because I’m in communication with the organisers and if they need a hand I’m willing to muck in. The second reason is to understand exactly what, and how much goes into organising such events we promote on Devizine, so I can sympathise with the hard work they do to provide us with such grand entertainment.
So I find myself evaluating between all parts; the punter, the organisers and the acts, trying to find middle ground. Sometimes bands get frustrated with organisers, and visa versa, sometimes punters get annoyed if not everything is perfect, but the reasons for any frustration at events is because bringing all the elements together, ensuring every loop has been tied, and every regulation is accounted for, is a mammoth process taking incalculable hours, intricate planning, and manpower, which punters simply don’t take into consideration at the box office.
True, cost is paramount to the punter, now more than ever. You look at the price and think, what am I getting for my money? I agree, I do this too, it’s only natural. But more and more, as I witness the inner workings of such large events, what efforts are put into them, mostly behind the scenes, or often taken for granted, it never ceases to amaze me, especially being for all their efforts organisers rarely get to sit back and enjoy the day as a punter would.
For example, take FullTone‘s stage. Its shape has become iconic in Devizes. The acoustics are absolutely incredible and unlike any other outdoor event locally. The cost of this, the construction and the managing of it, to bring you an experience you’ll remember forever, is worthy of the ticket price alone, and we’ve not accounted for the numerous site jobs, from the erection of the fence, securing the event to insuring food and bar stalls are rightfully placed, and so much more.
Take the campsite at the Scooter Rally as another example, you’ve got revellers drinking, vehicles moving to and fro, punters enjoying themselves, and everything they’ll not consider has to be considered by organisers, fire safety, first aid, and again, so much more. It’s a headache for the most hardened skinhead!
Conclusion, there’s more than meets the eye in arranging any event or working them, none more than these big ones, and that’s why they cost. You either meet such a cost or lose the opportunity, and then what? Are we reduced to living on Facebook?!
I also accept the idea, as you are a paying customer that it is your right to override such considerations, but hey, as a customer you’ll be the first to complain if things don’t go precisely to plan! I know I will; jump to it, organisers, do my bidding!!
The bottom line is, though for slightly different reasons, both the Scooter Rally and FullTone Festival will be amazing events, among the very best Devizes has to offer, and whichever you choose, the weekend looks set to be a cracker.
Know that FullTone will be the last for a while, and if it does return it pledges to be something quite different. Know also, that, The Rally is highly enjoyable, a hospitable and solely unique event around these backwaters. It doesn’t even adopt the tagline festival, but compares to one in considering it’s way above your average scooter rally. You’ve got seven quality live acts over the two days, most other rallies struggle to provide one cheapest ska or Britpop cover band on their circuit.
But I’m not asking you to stand and stare, or shed a tear for the plight of the organisers, for they do it for the love of it, and if they didn’t they wouldn’t. All I’m saying is, the colossal labour, the attention to detail which goes into staging these occasions should be considered when deciding if you’re going, to either, or if you’re going to stay in with a bag of Lidl cheesy puffs, watching reruns of Come Dine with Me on the telebox, or another annoying show where other people, somewhere else, are enjoying themselves!
You don’t need to concern yourself in what’s in someone you don’t know, or never likely to know’s knicker draw, when you could be skanking up the Whistley Road like you’re Suggs on a day out in Camden, or lounging in your deckchair on the Green, immersed in the unmatchable acoustics of the FullTone Orchestra, like you’re King Charles in the royal box at The Albert Hall!
Fulltone Festival 2023 Image: Gail Foster
Furthermore, while this particular article concentrates on events within the castle on the dividing line, further options are available to you outside that boundary. Trowbridge Festival, Potterne Festival and even a little occasion called Womad are also set on the same weekend. May this also suit to assure you we report such impartially, and as a labour of love rather than for financial gain. Therefore there is no just reason for us to be dishonest or biassed. Organisers and artists we may oblige, but the priority in retaining said honesty is aimed foremost towards the sake of the customers. Ergo, whilst we’re respectful of all the hard work which goes into event management, we might not condone our analysis of it to be deliberately or unfairly critical, we more simply won’t report on it, we will tell you, the customer, fairly, however, if it rocks our world and would also rock yours.
And now you know where we stand, I hope you can take heed when I repeat myself, which while I accept is a symptom of middle-age, it stands affirmed whatever event we’ve mentioned you should choose to attend, based on previous year’s experience, it comes guaranteed you’ll have a fantastic time!
Phew, I’m glad I’ve got that off my chest. Now, pass me my tie-dye t-shirt and festival jester’s hat, and let’s party!
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Seeing as everything should be set up and ready to roll for Saturday morning, it seemed a shame not to make use of this iconic stage and tech, so an extension to the festival has been added, with live music from 6pm, and it supports local youth talent.
Six: Teen Edition by Devizes Music Academy
Though FullTone stresses it does all depend on advance ticket sales, for both events. Tickets for the Friday on its own are £20, or £10 for under 18. If you buy your festival tickets together with the Friday you will receive a discount code for 20%, if you have already bought tickets for The Fulltone Festival, email jemma@fto.org.uk who will send you the code. The cut off date for this additional Friday is the 30th June, so make sure you’ve booked it by then.
Fulltone Festival 2023 Day Two
You should note, this fifth year of the Fulltone Music Festival will be the last one in its current form. I’ve personally had this contemplation for a while; as the FullTone Orchestra branches out, playing the cities and big towns, as it has been, surely it’s inevitable that the magic will rub-off with audiences further afield and they’ll come to Devizes for the festival if there are to be ones in the future; fingers, toes crossed. Spending their cash here on hotels, restaurants and shops is a great thing for the town, and reason enough to support it.
Talk in Code
But if my humble reasoning, and two days already sussed with guests like opera legend Carly Paoli, We Will Rock You star Kerry Ellis and Ricardo Afonso, indie popsters Talk in Code, a Beatles tribute and more orchestral concerts than Anthony can shake his shaky baton at, isn’t enough to entice you, note the Friday has local punker heroes Nothing Rhymes With Orange from 7pm, followed by Devizes Music Academy’s inaugural showcase Six: Teen Edition, replayed from sell-out dates at the Corn Exchange back in April.
Nothing Rhymes With Orange
I’m told the historical Gen Z party play performance, of which you can read about HERE, will have the same young cast as last time, Ruby Phipps, Amelie Smith, Jess Self, Kelsey Husband, Mia Jepson and Lisa Grime. Alongside Southampton Youth Orchestra opening the festival on the Sunday, we love that FullTone are giving young people a massive platform to perform at this, what could sadly be, the final Fulltone as it currently stands.
Six: Teen Edition by Devizes Music Academy
Obviously I think they should give me the last encore of the Sunday so I can perform my interpretation of Nessun Dorma in the style of Luciano Pavarotti, as I regularly do in the shower. But as its competence and calibre is largely debatable, usually by my kids trying to study in the next room and the neighbour’s howling dog, I will understand if they decline the offer. Imagine, if you will, as I can see it now, me on that colossal stage….. “Tramontate, stelle! Tramontate, stelle! All’alba vincerò, vincerò, vincerò!” Then, mic-drop, bath towel drop, whatever you think the ticket price is worth…..maybe, or no, perhaps just leave it to the professionals and keep this exclusively as a shower performance? It will, after all, be an amazing weekend without it, really!
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It may be a wrap for another successful Full-Tone Festival in Devizes this bank holiday weekend, but talking to conductor Anthony Brown, seems like it’s full steam ahead for next year, with a few changes. With such a busy weekend in general, the one possibility I believe we can leak is it may not be on the same date, other than this you’ll have to wait to see!
And it was a busy weekend, alas I didn’t get the full-on Full-Tone experience I should’ve done and looking through Gail Foster’s awesome snaps today I see what I missed, including the wonderful Becky Lawrence who we absolutely love here at Devizine Towers. Fortunately, we do have some coverage, as our equally wonderful writer Helen Edwards dropped in on the Saturday, and then I made haste for the Green on Sunday, as soon as I washed the dishes, as is my part of the bargain with the very patient and understanding Mrs Devizine……
Day one at the festival was fantastic. When I arrived the magnificent Full-Tone Orchestra was in full swing with Jemma Brown (one of the key organisers of the festival) at the microphone – and what an incredible voice she has!
The vibes were chilled, and family focused, the food and drink options were varied and reasonably priced and the tunes were banging. Perhaps that’s the wrong word for the earlier afternoon classical proms and TV & movie music but by the end of the evening the dance anthems were pumping out. The crowd in front of the huge Glastonbury-esque stage was thronging, glow sticks in hand with face glitter and fairy-light flower headbands adorned. Those festival goers not dancing were sat in their camping chairs chilling with mates or queuing for food, all bopping their heads to the music. All except those of school age. They were hanging with their friends, the older ones walking laps around the site enjoying the freedom and festival atmosphere.
I left before the end and saw that the entertainment and enjoyment on The Green had spread past the impenetrable, black sheeted fencing. There were many set up on the opposite side of the road with their blankets laid and tents erected enjoying the music from afar.
I got talking to people in the food and drinks queues to ask their thoughts about Devizes’ only two-day bank holiday festival. I spoke to a couple who live locally and, also, a few who had travelled from neighbouring Calne, Trowbridge and Westbury to attend. Here’s a few of their comments:
‘I don’t enjoy the bigger festivals; there’s too many people and I feel overwhelmed. This is my second year here. It’s got such a safe atmosphere and amazing and varied music’.
‘It’s brilliant! I can’t wait to get to the front and dance!’
‘It’s such a welcoming festival, everyone’s so friendly.’
The sound engineers got the balance spot on; the orchestra was majestic throughout, yet the singers’ voices were clear (and brilliant). If you’ve never heard a 50-piece orchestra playing modern music from the movies and TV through to dance anthems, then you’ve got to get to get yourself a ticket to Full-Tone’s next festival.
The people who put their efforts and passion into its success have given Devizes an annual festival to be proud of. It’s become an event that brings our community together, gives a phenomenal orchestral experience and makes the ‘what to do over bank holiday’ decision even harder!
The sound is unforgettable, the vibes are perfectly chilled and it’s a great value for money weekend.
Day two of the Full-Tone Festival here in Devizes, and I’m afraid they’ve got me rocking up this time around, the big bad editor to cast my beady eye on matters; it’s Sunday and I’m grouchy, God dammit!
Allow me thus, to summarise the magic with a story, as I annoyingly tend to do (what? It’s an age thing, you don’t gotta read it!) An anecdote which sees me front and centre absorbing those overwhelming acoustics, bumping into a friend Georgie Devon, who was looking stunning in black dress and glitter, causing me to wonder if she was up there singing on that magnificent stage, and I was right, she was, but I had no idea she could sing!
For Chris, Snedds, Titch and Jambo, aka the southwest’s champion indie-pop band, Talk in Code, they’ve arrived semi-fresh from the Victorious festival in Southsea, they’re no stranger to a stage, and naturally, they rocked it. For a smidgen over half-hour, they stole the stage, wowing an audience perhaps unaccustomed to festivals, least hoping for classic singalong covers, with their irresistible originals. Talk in Code don’t do covers, they’re an originals band, but both their catchy songs and energetic stage presence holds said audience spellbound, as if they got what they wanted. What I’m suggesting is you might well be induced into some John Hughes eighties soundtrack, for Talk in Code rinse in the retrospective charm of the era so much I find I liken them to bands like Simple Minds, rather than something contemporary.
Apt then, for them to be placed prior to a set by the orchestra and guest singers of eighties classic pop, which was both “rad” and “wicked,” in the eighties slang meanings of the words! Unlike you lucky lot, I had to work this morning, and had Heart’s Alone, perpetually looped in my head, a particularly adroitly performed cover amidst the many wonderful renditions of a very best of Now, That’s why I Call Music compilation; utterly brilliant, Full-Tone. I loved that song, and all the big-haired soft rock chicks; how would Heart get me alone? Well, they only had to ask!
Back to knowing those Talk in Code guys to seal my overall angle on this piece. It was a no-brainer their set would be this electric, but for the occasional and amateur singers, such as Georgie, the opportunity to deliver a song here on this now iconic stage for the town, amidst a full orchestra, is golden, not to mention the cherry on the cake as to why Full-Tone is so Devizes, and so magical.
Even when star in the making, Jess Self, gets up there, the thrill on her face says what I’m trying to convey, and this young star is accustomed to the stage. The ensemble of these musicians and performers is a monumental occasion for our humble market town. For those not from Devizes, or who hasn’t been to a Full-Tone, imagine, if you will, The Proms, mix it with Pete Tong’s Heritage Orchestra, add a spice of community festival, and stir in a pot of village fete.
Then some keyboard warrior goes on Facebook clutching at straws to find any minor issues to whinge about the event. “The least the orchestra could have done was to prevent the rain and stop the traffic,” I joked with chief organiser Jemma Brown, as the rant included the grass was wet and there was noise from the road!
The Full-Tone Orchestra can musically pull a rabbit from a hat, but they’re not gods! Just a collection of talented individuals, a majority of which are local, and the coming together on this scale, the logistics in organising it, the opportunities it provides, the attention to detail, from first aid to side stalls and from portaloos to one man standing conducting a variety packed programme for a full weekend is bonkers amazeballs, and to nitpick unavoidable paltry I can only imagine is based on pathetic jealousy.
“Here’s a man who needs his bed!” I guesstimated to conductor Anthony Brown as he approached to greet me. I had one question for him, as we stood next to this impressive stage surrounded by a mass of crowds clearly enjoying themselves without an inkling or care of online rants. The stage has become iconic, the event has become ingrained in just a few short years in our town’s culture, as I predicted after the inaugural one. The million-dollar question for him; where do you take this next?
Anthony elucidated it would continue annually but was keen to express there would be some changes. Yet what is important right now, Full-Tone this year was an extension of its previous success rate, it was spectacular on a level apt for a mass audience to enjoy and was a cherry on top of the cake already baked through previous years.
Unlike DOCA events it gets no arts grant, so it must put a price on it, and as we said prior, comparatively it’s reasonable. It is what it is, and I’m not going to suggest it’s everyone’s cuppa, even, but plonk yourself in the middle of it, witness those having fun or stand in awe of the talent and the acoustics they breath into it, and you cannot put a justified complaint in, impossible! Full-Tone works, and Full-Tone is enjoyed by the masses, masses which wouldn’t usually consider an orchestral occasion or festival, for this it is magical, and as Anthony hinted, here to stay; wonderful.
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