Gig report: Flaming June @ Ipswich Music Day, Ipswich

Band: Flaming June
Venue: Ipswich Music Day, Ipswich
Date: 03/07/11
Audience: Lots, lovely
Set: Rejoice, Under My Skin, You Do Moody So Well, Nerves Of Steel, I Know What It's Like, Insane Ex-Girlfriend Parade, Stop The Ride, Rumplestiltskin, Wednesdays And Weekends
Notes: It's nice sometimes when a gig that looked like it wasn't going to be so fun turns into a proper good show. My sense of navigation has always been a cause for concern, and today that concern was justified as I drove around Ipwich for well over an hour (possibly heading towards two hours), awkwardly asking locals if they knew where this really big music festival was. The people of Ipswich are remarkably friendly (especially the chap at the NCP car park who didn't charge me to get out, realising I'd drove in there by accident), yet despite their constant directions I continually managed to get in the wrong lane, or just not see the crowds of people that everyone says I "can't miss". Eventually I found myself down a very narrow street, with a queue of cars behind me, and then faced with a woman in the car trying to come the other way, with a queue of cars behind her, and neither of us could/were willing to back off and reverse, so we all switched our engines off and sat staring at each other for what felt like a long time (in reality it must have been less than five minutes). Eventually she mimed some swear word at me (I think it was 'wanker', not sure, I was trying not to look) and reversed back a bit, and I smiled politely, before turning left down a road that really didn't look like a road. Much to my amazement, the end of that path/road thingy found me a few minutes away from the festival, huzzah! By the time I actually got to our stage (aided by Steve and Mike in carrying equipment) it was just 15 minutes until our set...now, I know I'm a relaxed kind of guy, but this was a bit tight, even by my own slack standards. I didn't even have time to grab a Red Bull (not that there is any Red Bull anywhere in Ipswich, honest, I've looked and I'm pretty sure of that fact), and went on stage a touch flustered. But, despite the odd technical hitch with Louise's guitar, I felt we absolutely stormed it today. 'Rejoice' probably wasn't the tightest from a personal point of view because I couldn't hear anything, but the soundmen were quick to sort that out for me and we absolutely blasted through it today, proper full-throttle, uptempo, raucous, hand-hurting Flaming June. It's always a sign of a good gig when you come off knackered, and I certainly was extremely sweaty after that one. The festival itself is brilliant, our tent was circus-like and pretty busy, we went down very well, by the end of it I'd almost forgotten about my misadventures on the way. And just in case you were wondering, the drive home was completely stress-free, although I did have a navigator this time which is probably cheating.