Martin Barre - Warsaw Progresja (24-11-22)

 After Airbag last Friday, this was my second Prog gig in the space of a week.

Love Prog gigs for the profound ambience, no pushing and shoving, just a brilliant, dreamy focus on great music.

Last night, the Martin Barre set was divided nicely into two parts: old Jethro Tull favourites in the first part, the whole of the Aqualung album (plus a few other tunes in the second.

From the first part, Hunting Girl and Heavy Horses were always going to be my favourite tunes, but a massive shout out to Sweet Dream too, as I wasn't expecting this.

Dan Crisp has a great (Ian Anderson-type) voice:

And works in great unison with Martin Barre:

Saw Jethro Tull four times somewhere between the Broadsword and the Beast and Crest of a Knave albums.

But my favourite Jethro Tull albums are the Trilogy: Songs from the Wood; Heavy Horses; and Stormwatch (easily the most underrated Tull album, for me).

And the second half of the Martin Barre set last night, like the first part, went by in a flash:

Bought Aqualung while still at school in the dim and distant past, and it was great to see the accoustic tunes (Cheap Day Return; Slipstream etc.) done live, shortly after the title tune, of course .

Had also forgotten how good My God and Hymn 43 are, it was a really nice trip back down memory lane.

So hats off to Martin Barre and his great band for giving me a great Thursday night out, a real treat:

Saw Ian Anderson's Jethro Tull at the New Day Festival in Kent in August, so seeing Martin Barre last night kind of gelled things together a bit.

Also saw Martin Barre at the New Day Festival in 2019. 

Great to see that there's some kind of circularity to it all.

Airbag - Warsaw Progresja (18-11-22)

From the moment Airbag came on with Machines and Men, we were treated to a wonderful, audio-visual experience.

Have seen a clutch of gigs since getting back from my summer trip to England.

But this was my first live Prog music since the New Day Festival in Kent in August (nearly three months without live Prog!).

Found myself in a trance-like state (with a couple of nice Czech beers) during the Airbag set.

Great tracks like Redemption and Killer went by in a flash.

And the close-out of the show, the epic, Homesick I-III, everybody was 100% captivated.

Also really enjoyed the Bjorn Riis set:

Especially A Voyage to the Sun and Lullaby in a Car Crash.

Love the ambience of a good Prog gig, you can't beat it.

The Band That Couldn't Get Started

 

At the Brasenose Arms fringe event at this year's Cropredy Festival, we witnessed the strange episode of a band, apparently, not being able to start their live set.

For almost an hour or so, my friend and I watched the soundcheck, and the band looked (and sounded) interesting, but they just couldn't get started due to some kind of issue with the mixing desk.

Really do hope that the band did eventually get to do their set.

Chesham Fields Overgrown

 

Have been out of Bury for about 25 years and when I occasionally return there, I feel like a stranger as many people I once knew there have moved or passed on.

But on a recent trip to Bury, I loved how Chesham Fields were now overgrown, wild and untamed.

It just looked like Nature had reclaimed what were once orderly and clean-cut fields.

I loved Chesham Fields with the new, unkempt look.

A Walk I Must Do

 It looked like the tall, stout building had once been a pub. 

The Quarryman's Inn looked majestic with low-lying hills rolling in the background.

This wonderful building lies on the outskirts of Edenfield in Bury, heading towards the small town of Waterfoot.

Must have a walk from Edenfield to Waterfoot one day. 

Waterfoot still looks like a traditional Lancashire town.

Reflective Space

 

A friend of mine from Bury, sometimes finds himself sitting outside the Anglican church in Edenfield, on the outskirts of the town, heading towards Burnley.

He finds that the church and its surrounding gravestones give him the right sort of space for reflecting on the serious things in life.

Think that the church tower here may date back to the 14th century:

The church is a mightily impressive building.

My friend isn't a formally religious person, but he still feels some kind of sacred space here, it's a special place for him.

Where time stands still, and he gets away from it all.

Not sure if he realises it fully, but he probably senses some kind of religious echo up here, a sense of a better time.

Tents Among The Gravestones (Canterbury)

In an old church graveyard, not far from Canterbury West train station, we had to look twice to make sure we weren't 'seeing' (imagining) things:
 

 My travelling companion joked:         

      "I hope they're tourists on holiday. But it's a strange place to camp, isn't it?"

 It certainly was, and the first time in my life that I'd seen it:

Still, if the graveyard campers were homeless, it was a much safer place to sleep than in a High Street doorway:

And it kind of looked like the Anglican church was allowing the campers to set up tent amongst the graves, which I guess could be viewed as a genuine act of charity.

But a much bigger question must be asked concerning what the British State is doing to help (often British) homeless people.

Don't understand why illegal migrants from Africa and other distant foreign places are given blatant preferential treatment over homeless British people. This really is taking the p*ss.

Lost in Faversham

Somehow, after quickly looking at the Almhouses, then the Gunpowder Mill, we managed to get lost in a residential area of Faversham.

Thankfully, some local council workers pointed us in the right direction, and we passed an unusual-looking doctor's surgery or some kind of clinic:

 The black-and-white house below added a kind of Gothic atmosphere to the scenario:

 

While the Duck Pond below signalled that we were definitely on the right track:

Not far from the town centre, we passed a modern-looking Catholic Church:

And finally, we reached Faversham town centre to have our Wetherspoons breakfast, and then have a scout about the Outdoor Market in the street:

Ended up getting some pretty decent samosas and onion bhajis here.

Faversham Almhouses

 

One of the main reasons why we got off the bus a stop or two early, before Faversham town centre, was to take a look at Faversham Almhouses.

Have just read that the Almhouses were built in 1863 and make up one of the biggest Almhouse set-ups in the country.

Both close up and from a distance, the Almhouses did certainly look impressive:

 

Have also just discovered that the Almhouse dwellings were extensively renovated in 1982 and reopened by the Queen Mother.

At the centre of the whole Almshouse structure stands an incredible-looking chapel:

The close-up shot below shows just how elegant-looking this chapel is:

Really glad that we got to have a look at the Faversham Almhouses.

Hare Krishnas on Canterbury High Street

Love the picture above, as the man in the foreground looks deep in thought, possibly being a bit perplexed, as four young Hare Krishnas have just passed him on Canterbury High Street.  

It was a still, almost silent Sunday morning, but the profound quietness was soon broken by the repeated Hare Krishna Mantra(s).

Don't really mind the Hare Krishnas, they seem quite decent folk in an esoteric kind of way.

Faversham: A Gunpowder Mill

Coming into Faversham on the bus from Canterbury, we got off it a couple or so stops from the town centre as a few things looked quite interesting in the suburbs.

First up, we came across an old Gunpowder Mill:

The plaque below shows that the Mill is open for visits, mainly during the afternoon at the weekend:

Have just read that this Gunpowder Mill is the only surviving one, with there having been four at one point.

Have also just found out that the Mills made gunpowder for Nelson at Trafalgar and Wellington at Waterloo.

Moreover, during peacetime, the Mills provided explosives that blasted the way for railways and canals to be put in place, thus, playing a major role in the Industrial Revolution. 

Boughton-Under-Blean: Getting Some Booze

 

To get our beer for the New Day Festival campsite, we made our way to the nearby village of Boughton-Under-Blean.

In Boughton-Under-Blean, we got some beer from an ethnic shopkeeper who sold it for a far more expensive price than the average supermarket does.

Still, the ethnic shopkeeper sold the best and biggest chocolate flapjack I've ever tasted, and much less expensive than any supermarket I've been to.

The walk to Broughton-Under-Blean and back from Mount Ephraim Gardens was quite pleasant, as we went down a narrow leafy path of Kentish countryside:

The horse took an interest in anybody passing by:
 

And the conker below caught my eye, in the bright evening sunshine:

Mount Ephraim Gardens: Great Festival Site

 

Mount Ephraim Gardens lies in the heart of Kent, somewhere between Canterbury and Faversham.

Have just read that it has been the family home of the Dawes family since 1695, so the place has some historical background.

I first visited Mount Ephraim Gardens in the early 2000s for the Canterbury Fayre Festivals where I saw all kinds of interesting bands (Caravan; Gong; Colosseum; Arthur Brown; Man; Hawkwind; Porcupine Tree; Arthur Lee; The Stranglers; The Damned; All About Eve; Robert Plant; Bob Weir's Rat Dog; Roy Harper; The Buzzcocks etc.).

The place (and whole surrounding area) has a nice kind of agricultural feel, and getting onto the New Day Festival campsite this year, we passed through a few apple orchards:

On the campsite, there was plenty of space, as we arrived the day before the Festival, in the morning:

The tree below was our favourite place for a quick Jimmy Riddle if we didn't fancy walking to the chemical toilet places in the middle of the night:

The wooden building below looked like a cricket pavilion, and this is where the chemical toilets were located on our campsite:

When we arrived on Thursday morning to set up camp, final preparations for the Festival were calmly underway:

Been to the New Day Festival twice, once in 2019 (Fish; Glenn Hughes; Uli Jon Roth; Zal Cleminson; Soft Machine; Martin Barre; Hawklords; Focus; Thunderstick etc.), and this year, of course (Focus; Colosseum; Jethro Tull; Hugh Cornwell; Ten Years After; Kaprekar's Constant; Skinny Molly; Karnataka; Blackbeard's Tea Party etc.).

Have really enjoyed every Canterbury Fayre and New Day Festival that I've been to. How could it be otherwise with such great music line-ups in a quaint rural setting?

Think that the shots below fully show how beautiful the Mount Ephraim Site is once the Festival is up and running:

With festival-goers sometimes camping amongst apple trees:

And being in nice earshot of the music if they just want to relax and catch the music from a distance: