GuilFest 2007 review by Richard Pain

TWO-thirds of the way into The Magic Numbers’ Sunday evening set, front man Romeo Stodart asked how many of the huge crowd at the Radio 2 Main Stage were watching the band for the first time.

A show of thousands of hands revealed the majority of the masses were indeed ‘Numbers’ virgins, but you can bet your bottom dollar they’ll be coming back for more.

With their mixture of melodic folk rock and soulful love songs, it would be easy to label the band “middle of the road”, but the GuilFest audience are wise enough to realise this isn’t the case.

Up-tempo hits such as Love Me Like You and Forever Lost had fans clapping and dancing in unison, while the touching ballads I See You, You See Me and Love Is A Game were able to equally captivate.

Exactly 24 hours earlier a different kind of buzz spread through the main stage crowd as Morcheeba provided the perfect Saturday evening chill-out session. Their soulful blend of hip-hop and country fused pop emphasised the diversity of this year’s line-up before Squeeze took to the stage for a trip back in time.

Away from the headliners, there was plenty to keep the festival’s eclectic audience entertained on Saturday, with fans of acoustic music likely to have found themselves drawn to the Ents 24 Stage.

Fresh from a recent sell-out tour, Stephen Fretwell took to a stage bathed in mid-afternoon sun and impressed the large crowd with his heartfelt lyrics.

Uncle Bob upped the pace with a superb show of bass-driven acoustic rock and were followed by popular political songwriter Rory McLoed.

The biggest treat of the day did not arrive until 9pm, however, when the legendary Richard Thompson arrived to rapturous applause.

Thompson may still be considered an underground folk star but it is easy to see why so many contemporary artists list Thompson as a major influence. Armed with just an acoustic guitar, the veteran produced a spellbinding display of classics and new material alike as the sun set perfectly on the horizon.

Not even a temporary power cut could put Thompson out of his stride, as an audience that must have spanned three generations soaked up every minute.

He has the rare ability of being able to make one guitar sound like three, and classics Valerie and I Want To See The Bright Lights Tonight inevitably received the biggest reaction.

A few hundred yards across the festival site, one of Guild-ford’s most promising acts were making waves of their own on the Surrey Advertiser stage.

Satellite State are clearly building up a loyal following that is only likely to grow after a display that more than justified their billing as headliners.

A rousing set of keyboard-led Indie left supporters begging for more and it surely won’t be long before Satellite State find themselves progressing to greater heights.

GuilFest 2007 review by Kerry Ruse

THOUSANDS of music lovers piled into Stoke Park for one of the most popular gathers in GuilFest’s 16-year history.

The three-day event was a big hit among the 52,000 festival goers who made the most of headline acts Supergrass, Squeeze, Madness, The Ordinary Boys, The Magic Numbers and Morcheeba, as well as sampling alternative options at six other tents, including the Surrey Advert-iser stage, Ents 24, and The Andertons Live Club stage.

For those who fancied a bit of a laugh, The eFestivals Cosmic Comedy tent provided the perfect light relief over the entire weekend, with acts such as Russell Kane, Mike Tomb, John Mann, Stan Stanley, Danny James and Hal Cruttenden.

One of the highlights on the Surrey Advertiser stage was rock band SeeWeeD who attracted a major crowd to its set and paved the way for the evening’s entertainment, which included Sikhona, My Federation and White Sunday.

The BBC Radio 2 main stage attracted the largest audiences with Thirteen Senses and The Hold Steady first on, followed by Mexican acoustic guitar duo, Rodrigo Y Gabriela, whose quick fingered fret work struck a chord with everyone.

Those not convinced or sure who they were to start with were won over by the end – confirmed after they received one of the biggest cheers of the entire evening.

Despite his recent break-up from his wife Chantelle Houghton, Preston was on fine form with his band The Ordinary Boys.

Having been catapulted into the limelight following his Big Brother stint and wedding to fellow contestant, Chantelle, Preston had boundless energy and pulled off the best show of the evening.

Supergrass hit the stage running with Caught by The Fuzz but it was the tunes Sun Hits the Sky, Moving and Pumping on your Stereo that were the crowd pleasers.

Fans were treated to a selection of tracks from the long awaited new album due out later this year, along with a spectacular light show.

Judging by the screams, the set went down well and the foursome answered the cries of an encore, although sadly their fame making hit, Alright, did not get an airing.

Overall, as headliners, Supergrass were disappointing, with The Ordinary Boys stealing the show.

GuilFest 2007 review by Colin Parker

IT was evident from the sea of pork pie hats and Fred Perry shirts, interspersed with the odd Jamaican flag, that Sunday’s musical theme would have a distinct off-beat rhythm.

Organisers of this year’s GuilFest, whether by master plan or incredible coincidence, managed to bring to the event some of the finest names in reggae and UK ska, particularly on Sunday.

Ageing rude boys, with tattoos and T-shirts paying homage to their favourite bands, skanked all day under a misty haze of smoke.

Although on Friday night The Ordinary Boys doffed a pork pie hat to the two-tone era, it was Jimmy Cliff, the artist credited with bringing reggae out of the gun ridden shanties of Jamaica, who kicked off the weekend’s most notable theme.

Coming on at 2.20pm, which confused a lot of punters who saw his name listed for much later, he filled his criminally short set with sun-kissed reggae anthems including You Can Get It If You Really Want and Rivers of Babylon.

Also on Saturday was The King Blues, whose punk and folk-fused acoustic ska set was one of the highlights of the day and had the Rocksound Cave bouncing. Anti-BNP anthem Come Fi De Youth summed up the spirit of the band and every member of the audience was left hoarse after singing along to closing number Taking Over.

But Sunday was the day for the rude boys and girls. Skaville UK was the first band to satisfy the musical desires of the two-tone army. Featuring former members of Bad Manners, and musicians who have worked with Prince Buster and Lee Perry, the outfit managed to kick the hordes into life.

Next up was The Beat, the Birmingham-based combo who featured in the original two-tone label that showcased the UK’s most influential ska bands in the early 80s.

Included in the line-up was the youthful Ranking Junior, whose modern ragga tinged vocal slant perfectly complemented original singer Rank-ing Roger to songs including Hands Off She’s Mine.

The Dub Pistols fired their own sonic shock-and-awe assault at the burgeoning hordes with bass beats that could have removed fillings and activated car alarms.

The crowd noisily welcomed ska hero Terry Hall, from The Specials, for the last few songs of the Pistols’ set and, despite his moody reluctant rock star persona, he still brought a smile to most faces with the classic hit Gangsters.

By this time the rain had said farewell to Guildford, and the warm sunshine welcomed reggae heroes Toots and the May-tals to the main stage, the crowd continued to grow.

Charismatic lead singer Toots – more a Jamaican James Brown than Bob Marley contemporary – led the rest of his band through musical numbers that fused reggae, soul and gospel, finishing with his unmistakable anthem 54-46.

Which meant it was left to Madness to be the two-tone cherry on GuilFest’s musical cake. The nutty boys capped off an awesome day of off-beat, up-tempo music that spirit-ually, and almost physically, fended off the rain.