Earthly delights

The Vale Earth Fair saw thousands flock to the annual music festival, headlined by dubmeister Roots Manuva. Tom Girard gives his personal take on the day.

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It was Sunday of the August Bank Holiday weekend and back to the Vale Castle for another day packed with music at the Vale Earth Fair.

RentOClean were the first band I watched as they kicked things off on the Castle Stage. Once again they showed why they were deserved winners of the Battle of the Bands a few weeks ago, with a set of their own take on reggae-punk that seemed designed for the sunny afternoon we were being treated to and went down well with the steadily-growing audience.

SugarSlam made their Vale Earth Fair debut next and while their sound was, maybe, a bit rockier than we're used to for early afternoon, their hybrid of Foo Fighters-style pop rock and fuzzier tones reminiscent of Teaspoonriverneck, still seemed to be appreciated with those chilling out in the sun.

Heading out to the Stage Against The Machine, I got my first chance to experience Twelve Tribe Mansion. Spanning genres and styles like no band I've ever seen, this instrumental three piece jumped from math-rock to jazz to funky sounds, all in the space of an individual song, let alone across their set.

All really showed off their genuinely exceptional musical talents, with guitarist Sam McKerrel a stand-out among stand-outs.

The next band I caught were metalcore types Elmer Henley. Playing only their second show in three years, it was something of an oddity today as they were down a vocalist, leaving Ben Lickley to try to fill the space he normally shares with Clinton Millard. Despite the band's best efforts, this did make for something of an unbalanced set that failed to live up to expectations for those of us who remember them storming this stage a few years ago.

The Castle Stage was soon jumping as Sark's The Recks brought their undeniable party music to the Earth Fair. A late addition to the bill, the five-piece had people up and dancing from the off to high energy, folk-swing-gypsy sounds that are as infectious as they are fun.

One of the bands I was most looking forward to were up next in the form of mod supergroup Speakeasy, featuring, among others, Guernsey's own Mark Le Gallez. They didn't disappoint, tearing through a set of songs from their self-titled debut album with fire and energy, and guitarist Simon Stebbing did the rare thing of almost matching Mark's energy, with his Gibson SG blasting out sounds matching his singer's rock 'n' roll wails.

As the sky began to darken I made my way back to the Stage Against The Machine, where a trio of my favourite Channel Island bands were due to round off the festival. But first I got the chance to see Parisians Blackpool, whose combination of Pixies- and Radiohead-type sound saw them granted an encore as those gathered in front of the stage under the looming granite walls of the Vale Castle danced and cheered for more.

Teaspoonriverneck kicked off the Stage Against The Machine's rocking headline triumvirate with a set drawing on both their new album, Do It Again, and some classics from their back catalogue.

From the start they had heads nodding along to their tight psych-infused hard rock grooves and by half way through the set the energy in the crowd had grown to breaking point.

It was penultimate song Gideon And The Black Jaws that pushed many over the edge and a mosh broke out in earnest, escalating further as they launched into Eaten By The Devil to close the set, which was to be my highlight of the day.

Jersey metallers Stan Smith were the night's penultimate band. Quite a crowd had gathered and, kicking off with a song called The Moshpit, it was clear how things would be for the next hour or so.

Based on the night's performance it was obvious why this band have built the following they have.

They exuded that thing that metal does best as they broke down the barrier between themselves and the crowd to become one entity, celebrating heavy music and life with fury and passion.

My Vale Earth Fair was rounded off by another bunch of Jerseymen: pop-punk-rockers Top Buzzer.

Taking to the stage a little later than planned and fighting a few technical issues, they blasted through their set featuring a selection of songs from their excellent Outside Is A World album, along with a few covers.

While clearly not playing their tightest set, Top Buzzer trod the line of falling apart and holding things together admirably, and in a way that added an extra energy to the show, which made it a real stand-out moment of the day.

While they may not have the following on our shores of Stan Smith, those at the front seemed to be even more dedicated to this band, despite their smaller numbers.

It was another great show from the Vale Earth Fair Collective, which once again contained too much good music for any one person to hear it all.

Long may it continue.