Stormin' The Castle at Witton Castle.
Howdy! Hope you fabulous Drummers & Drummettes are well. I know a lot of you will have been busy playing this Summer at loads of different events & all the Festivals dotted around the place, Enjoying this glorious weather we didn't have!
Let us know your gig tales with some pics & Videos attached & we will put them on here for all to see!!
I'll just tell you about a cracking festival I did last weekend with our band, The Kill. It was the 25th anniversary of 'Stormin' the Castle' at Witton Castle, Near Bishop Aukland. It was a 2 Day Festival - 4th & 5th of September. This was a 1st for me as I hadn't played there before so I was really looking forward to it as I'd heard so many good things about it from fellow Muso's who'd played in years gone by.
I arrived at the site at around 2pm to get ready for our sound check. It was great to see friends from the other bands on the bill, Wilco Johnson Band, AKQ Stottin' & GrooveTrain, (Featuring groove misters Ian Halford on drums & John Dawson on Bass!)
Today's weapon of choice was my beloved Sonor Centenary 1975 Acrylic Kit, 24"x14" Kick Drum, 14"x9" Tom & 2 16"x16" Floor Tom in Smokey chrome with a 1975 Sonor chrome 14"x5.75" Snare Drum all kitted out with Evans Drum Heads. Cymbals were a mix of my trusty Paiste Rudes & Paiste Alpha Cymbals, along with the incredible Czarcie Kopyto Custom bass drum pedals and Regal Tip drum sticks.
After a Quick sound check I went to the Marquee next door to find Mr Kev Charlton and his band of merry men, The World famous 'Bessie & the zinc buckets' ripping it up with their Jagermister fuelled rockabilly renditions of tracks from Motorhead to David Cassidy.. Brilliant!
This is a really well organised festival with plenty to do & see... Amazing customised chopper bikes, loads of stalls with T Shirts, Jackets & Leather gear & hand made jewellery, vast amount of Food stalls & even a fun fair!
As the evening kicked in the 5000 thirsty bikers we're getting nice & refreshed whilst enjoying the bands on the Main stage & the Iris stage. At 9pm it was time for us to bring 80's Hair Rock to the masses, With classics by the likes of Whitesnake, Foreigner, Aerosmith etc.. It was a great sight to see the whole tent bouncing!
Following us was the Legend that is Wilco Johnson, of Dr Feelgood fame with his 3 piece Rock n Roll/Blues band to keep the crowd boogieing away.
After 700 Pints, 3 Kebabs & a go on the waltzer it was time to turn in, So I climbed into some tent for my well deserved beauty sleep. A fun time had by all!
Here's a Video of the Encore...