Wickerblog - Part 1

So I am just back from playing the Wickerman Festival. Here is a quick rundown of some of the stuff that happened on the Firday – Saturday will be tomorrow’s post. I was there with both Mark Nelson and Chris Prigg, so I’m sure anything I’ve missed out will be included in their blog.

The three of us left Glasgow after stocking up with all the camping essentials – ie. £80 of booze and a sandwich that we probably wouldn’t eat.

The journey down was pleasant enough, however we were a wee bit rushed for time, arriving at just after 8.15pm when I was meant to be on stage at 9. We hurriedly put up the tent and then ran to do our gig – I split the 30mins I was meant to do that night with Mark - and we went down pretty well.

We went back to the tent to find Obie and his mate Martin had arrived, with an 8-man tent for just the 2 of them. TIP – If bringing an obscenely large tent to a music festival, try to get to the campsite early – NOT 35 hours after the gates open, you may have trouble finding a space to put it.

Now when I say “you”, what I actually mean is “myself & Martin” as Obie fucked off to do his gig, leaving us two to put up an 8-man tent with no instructions, in the dark. It wasn’t totally in the dark – Obie had brought a lantern – one of the two things he actually brought – the other being wipes and there will be more of that story tomorrow.

When we were putting up this tent, a couple of security guards walked past and we ended up talking to them, sharing a beer and then arranging to be allowed into the festival with as much booze as we wanted to bring…result!

So the tent properly erected and everyone having finished their gigs – the five of us had a drink round the tents with what was basically an army of UpFront guards – top notch lads – before we set-off to explore the various tents.

We wandered round between the tents in a drunken stupor. I think we actually kept walking around in circles – visiting each tent before moving onto the next one without realising we’d been in it before.

In one tent there were 5 tree stumps in a circle and with there being 5 of us, it was too much of a coincidence to not stand on them and do pretty much nothing. Obie left his stump for a couple of minutes to get a beer and when he returned a young woman had taken his place, balancing deftly while sipping at a Bacardi Breezer. Now Obie did what anyone in his position would do if you returned to your log to find it occupied – he rugby tackled her.

She flew about 6 feet backwards and the two of them landed in the mud. I don’t think I’d laughed at any of the comedy as much as I laughed at that – it was brilliant.

We made a quick exit and visited a few more tents before heading back to the campsite for some more high-jinks.

The rest of the night is pretty much a blur – I can remember laughing a lot and also spending a lot of time on the floor.

Not bad for a day that I was technically “working”.