The Godney Gathering near Wells: featuring Reef on Saturday 16th July 2011

It's a well known fact that us folk from the Wells area love standing around in fields drinking cider and listening to bands, and with the first Godney Gathering that took place on Saturday 16th July, they had yet another perfect oppportunity so to do.

Plagued by rain in the area for much of the morning, things were looking touch and go on the welly front, but by mid-to-late afternoon the sun was finally out, it was quite warm and shaping up to be a pleasant evening weather wise. At the site the ground was firm underfoot and all things considered the organisers couldn't really have hoped for much better. The vibe was chilled out and friendly and there was a great party atmosphere; the police and security were visible yet low-key and people of all ages were out in droves for a top class evening of entertainment, with, as far as I can tell, very little (if any) trouble. The bars were doing a roaring trade, with beer being knocked out at £2.50 a pint, and of course what goes in must come out, so that meant that the queues for the loos were quite long at times, which appeared to me to be the only minor gripe from the punters. Meanwhile I was pleased to see a catering wagon selling purely vegetarian food, rather than just being a sideline for a meat burger bar.

"Yes, but what about the bands?" I hear you cry.

Well, The Joe Public had drawn the short straw and went on first at shortly after 6pm; alas the gates had only just opened as they took to the stage so many people who were patiently queuing outside missed their set. I must confess I've not seen the band in probably 3 years, and although I caught them many times in their formative years when they were plain old Joe Public, the line up has changed somewhat since then. The original singer has departed and Jake Meeking (formerly of Tijuana) has taken over on lead vocal and guitar duties. His presence certainly adds extra energy to the mix as the band belted through half an hour of their rocky numbers. Jake's an engaging frontman, and an accomplished musician to boot and as such a real driving force behind the band. Meanwhile "new" drummer Kyle Cullen is a little more hairy than his predecessor Jordi, who has presumably joined a hardcore band elsewhere, and stylistically quite different too, but the rhythm section holds strong too and this is a great start to the evening.

Stingerbessant (half of Reef as I guess most of you already know) were up next; they took to their seats and in the warm evening sunshine took us through a short set of stripped-down folky acoustic numbers including "The Calling" and "Wipe those Tears" that are at odds with their main band's material, as we basked in the warm evening sunshine. This was quite introspective and soulful stuff, with even the addition of harmonica on a couple of numbers courtesy of Jake Bessant who was doing his best Seasick Steve impersonation (I'm just gutted they didn't provide him with a rocking chair), and while both took their turns with singing duties, it was of course Gary's distinctively rich vocals that were enough to remind us of who we were actually listening to.

Rude Tiger up next are tipped for big things. They are a new band to me and it seems that lazy comparisons to Muse are the order of the day: they're a trio; they're from Teignmouth; singer/guitarist Jas Morris bears a passing resemblance to Matt Bellamy (especially if you have irreparably broken your glasses as my esteemed colleague and photographer for the evening Ed did shortly before their set) and he even possesses a similar playing posture. He's certainly a guitar prodigy, and presumably a guitarist's guitarist, having recently won the UK's Guitarist Of The Year (sponsored by Guitarist magazine). But they do plough their own furrow, and do it very proficiently. Tonight they were great and I think they knew it; they brimmed with confidence and enthusiasm - and I could very easily imagine them headlining a massive arena and not being remotely phased by it, and they turned in an accomplished and high-energy performance in which each member played a key part - heck even drummer D. Collings treated us to a drum solo. Their set of majestically sweeping melodies sped by in a blur and before we knew it they were throwing themselves around the stage in what was to be both their final number (and new single) Desolate. Rude Tiger they're ****** greeeaaaaaaaat!

As the sun started to set, ska punk septet Shoot the Moon led us into the second half of the evening with a stomping set of up tempo numbers that were so infectious you couldn't help but moving your feet to them. In fact the guy next to me at the barrier at the front of the stage, was getting into it so much that I thought he was having a seizure. STM have been around for a few years now, and theirs is a finely honed and thick sound, with a great brass section and plenty of style and substance. They were certainly enjoying themselves as much as we were, and as a result they overran their stage time and were forced to finish despite having a couple more songs to play. I guess they were brassed off.

Toploader in their heyday were a very popular international rock band whose two albums sold over 2 million copies, with their cover of "Dancing in the Moonlight" (which they of course played here tonight and during which for those that may have noticed the moon was spectacularly brilliant) being recognised all over the world. They split in 2003 (wow was it really that long ago) and are now back with a 3rd album "Only Human" having been recently released. Unfortunately I've always found their music and performances a little lacklustre - the sort of stuff that makes me appreciate Coldplay (which I really don't!) and tonight's performance to me was alas no exception. Unfortunately, on a bill as varied as this one you can't necessarily like every act, but to give them their credit, plenty of people did enjoy them while I was over at the bar, chatting and watching the aforementioned moon rising.

And so to the main event. Reef are probably Glastonbury's most well known and successful rock band and were playing a rare hometown(?) gig in front of around 4000 faithful fans, so what could be better than that? They're another band that took a long hiatus before reforming for some shows in 2010, and now, fueled by gallons of Wilkins' cider, they're back stronger (and brighter) for another stint. By the time they took to the stage at 11pm the Godney arena was heaving and from my prized position on stage left I could look down and see the cheerful (and in some cases somewhat worse for wear) faces enjoying every minute of their storming, upbeat and energetic hour long set. Crowd participation really enhances a performance and the band were certainly rewarded for their endeavours here. Kicking off with a blistering "Come Back Brighter", they treated us to 12 or 13 numbers, lifted predominantly from the height of their career and from first two albums including "Good Feeling", "I Would Have Left You", "Summer in Bloom" and "Naked", and of course their anthem "Place Your Hands" before ending with..um "The End". Throughout their bluesy numbers, guitarist Kenwyn appeared totally absorbed in the atmosphere as he whigged out on guitar and let the chords do the talking, while bassist Jack stomped his feet and shook his mane of grey hair along to the beat. Dominic pounded away at the back of the stage, while Gary strutted and prowled the stage, occasionally whipping out his tambourine and giving the thumbs up to his kids. All the while his gravelly voice bellowed out the lyrics, until after a joyous hour it's the end with...um... "The End" of course. The curfew was still a few minutes away and thus the lads return triumphantly for one last number "Waster".

Following this the band left the stage for good, and as the sated masses dissipated into the night it started to rain.

Next year's Godney Gathering is due to take place on Saturday 21st July, with the line-up being announced at the begining of Februart and tickets going on sale in March at which time it may be worth your while snapping up some tickets, as after the success of this year's endeavour they may well sell like hot cakes.