Gig report: Aidy @ Trystonbury Festival, Windsor

Band: Aidy
Venue: Trystonbury Festival, Windsor
Date: 24/09/11
Audience: Scattered but nice
Set: Make It Happen, Pain In My Heart, Down Like That, Maybe, God's Front Porch, 22, I Don't Even Know Your Name, Edinburgh, Washing Machine
Notes: Our second trip to the charming Trystonbury Festival after also appearing last year, this year was notable for the fact that it had sold out in advance. I really enjoyed this - nice relaxed vibe; with the age range in the audience from kids to much older adults so it all felt very diverse. I liked the choice of material our set from this one, some of the songs which are newer to me ('Maybe' and 'I Don't Even Know Your Name') feel fresh and have given it all a bit of a kick, although due to the fact that we were enjoying the good weather and company of friends Hodge and Stuart I think we (well, certainly Aidy and myself, Dave had to drive straight back to Cambridge though) were a little drunk on stage. As a result it was perhaps a slightly more raucous performance than normal, but we'd like to think that just added to the energy of it all, as much as I was concerned that the swearing might not be suitable for a family audience at times. We ended the set by joke trashing our equipment really slowly, no idea why or where that idea came from but we enjoyed it and will probably do that again at another gig. In the audience were celebrity couple Rhys Ifans and Anna Friel (both bonafide movie stars), I saw Rhys' foot tapping along to our set so Aidy and I gave him a free CD later on, he was a nice man, very approachable and not at all annoyed by us. I like Trystonbury, I like the fact that during the course of the evening several strangers started conversations with us, and there was some nice random moments such as a woman climbing up a posh rope thingy to very high levels of a tree, and the whole setting is beautiful. I also really appreciated the fact that it's over a small site, so even when I went for a late night wee I didn't get too lost finding my way back. The food was good, and when we'd finished our rider the bar was cheap anyway. On a personal level that was my tenth and final festival of the summer (to play), and I actually think I've enjoyed them all, as much as I don't like waking up the next morning with a stinking hangover in a tent in the middle of nowhere, me and nature generally aren't friends.