大象传媒

With over 90 beers, ales and ciders and more bands playing this year than ever before, there was only one place I was heading at the weekend - Silloth Music and Beer Festival.

That Thursday Feeling

Well I say weekend, I actually made my way over to Silloth on Thursday night, the first night of the four day stint over which the festival took place.

The act I was on a mission to see were headliners, The Commitments, however I was notably impressed with the support acts as well.

They performed mainly covers of modern tracks but also some classic songs by The Beatles, all done with their own quirky edge to them.

The young musicians were very impressive and showed great promise, bringing along with them quite a fan base already.

It's encouraging to see so many young people getting involved with Cumbria's live music scene. It appears to have died out in other parts of the county such as Carlisle, with many live music venues having closed down. It's reassuring that West Cumbria are still keeping it real!

The Bullfrogs

Local rock band, The Bullfrogs, summed up their feelings about the festival when they said,

"Some bands cross international time zones to play gigs like this whereas we're just outside our postcode."

I don't know if the psychedelic rockers will take this as a compliment however I thought the lead singer's voice sounded quite similar to that of Sting, especially when in the higher register.

I spoke to Graham Gibson from Carlisle who has been following the live music scene in Cumbria for a number of years now and is a big fan of the Bullfrogs himself.

He had also visited Solfest last month and commented on how Cumbria has got the right idea when it comes to music festivals,

"Solfest reminds me of how Reading (festival) and other festivals used to be in the seventies - Now they're all so expensive whereas at the festivals in Cumbria they don't try to rip you off and everyone is just there for a good time. Silloth Beer Festival is yet another great outlet for live music to be appreciated in Cumbria."

The Commitments

The world's hardest working band dropped to perform the final slot of the night and put on a highly energetic show which was definitely worth waiting for.

The band first achieved fame with the film, The Commitments, released back in 1991 and based on the novel written by Roddy Doyle.

I was soon eating my words though as the band completely won me over. Call me fickle but the turning point might have actually been when lead singer Joe Walsh said he fancied me and then went on to sing the gorgeous slow soul song The Dark End of The Street directly to me!

The girls also perform all of the bands backing vocals and harmonies. The band credits themselves on using no effects and just real music and vocals to produce a great sound.

The remaining original members of the band are guitar player, Ken McCluskey who played Derek "The Meatman" Skully in the film and drummer, Dick Macey who played Billy "The Animal" Mooney.

The Commitments are due to play in November at The Sands Centre in Carlisle and I would urge anyone who has seen the film to book tickets now, you won't be disappointed!

The Final Verdict听听

The whole evening was thoroughly enjoyable and if only I wasn't working I would have tried to sample every type of beer, ale and cider too!

The only complaint anybody there on Thursday had was that it was a weekday and everyone had work in the morning.

I did feel it was a very odd evening to kick off a beer festival and especially to have the headliners performing on. I'm sure there will have been a few phone calls into workplaces on the Friday morning with complaints of splitting headaches and poorly tums!