Rocking Out LeeFest 2013!
“The long-haired singer randomly shoved a big cake into his own face and, to the amusement of the audience, he later slipped over it too. It was a hilarious and bizarre introduction to LeeFest and set the tone for the rest of the day.” – Angie Quinn, Reviewing LeeFest 2013 for Newsshopper
Yesterday, I had the totally kickass experience of playing at LeeFest – AIM Awards’ Best Independent Festival!
Now in its 7th year, LeeFest has grown from being a party in a garden in 2006 to hosting more than 2000 people and putting on acts including the Noisettes, Delphic and The Skints. Oh…and Gay Bum!
Although we weren’t on the original lineup, a band dropped out of the Play All The Things stage and, at the last moment, we were asked to fill in. Being the UK’s Number One Second Choice Band…we agreed.
So it was that, on a boiling hot summer’s day, 8 hours after getting home from losing my EWA British Championship rematch via a knee to the throat, I set out with the Super Puma for Kent.
Naturally, we got a bit lost, conquered some closed roads and drove straight through a horse-riding convention… BUT WE MADE IT and, when the time came, we unleashed the SHEER FORCE OF ROCK upon the place, as only two guys with one acoustic guitar can.
Alas, it seems there are no official photos, videos or recordings of any kind of our performance. This is a shame because, s far as we were concerned, it went pretty well! We also got lots of compliments from the people of the festival, whilst we were checking out the other acts – so that bodes well!
What we saw of the rest o’ the fest was the best. Seriously. The weather was sublime (very well organised), the sound was perfect and the people were the happiest I’ve ever seen at a festival. (That may be because I go to festivals full of angry metalheads…)
They even had their own beach in the centre of the festival and a slick bar operation going on, who even had the foresight to question whether we were artists when we asked for some much-needed water. Because we were, we got it for free – which is something The Bum is not used to at all.
To answer the most commonly-asked question thus far: no, we did not get paid. We never get paid. Ever. It’ like an unspoken law that The Bum, despite rocking out harder than any band on the planet, should never be paid to perform. Maybe we should list ourselves as a not-for-profit band…
So it cost us a small fortune, as ever. It was totally worth it though.
Here is one of only two photos of our set we have found, thanks to Ralph of To Kill a King:
