First time at this event, drawn by the eclectic line up and mixture of the new and some stalwarts from the 60s and 70s. Held near Biggleswade (well, other side of the A1 at the Mansion House, Old Warden). Held over three days of the Bank Holiday weekend, how did it fare….
Good Points
Fine selection of bands over three stages. Highlights for me included Oysterband, Archie Brown, Missing Andy, Sean Taylor, Hobo Jones, Jack Bruce, Sandi Thom. Nick Lowe not on long enough and Toots passed his best – this view probably coloured by waiting about an hour in the pissing rain for him to make an appearance and then having to suffer a “guest appearance” by his daughter before he ventured on stage. Caught a bit of Apart From Rod on the Mesurier stage before leaving on the last night, who were far more entertaining.
Good Venue (but see below) and reasonably priced food (for a festival!)
Bad Points
Loads of teething problems, including a badly run beer tent (beer running out, poorly organised), poor and not enough toilets, far too few rubbish facilities, stages not ‘time staggered’ so you couldn’t catch bands on more than one stage, poor lighting so some areas down right dangerous. Apparently, camping facilities weren’t terrific either, but as I am far too precious to camp I can’t comment.
A lot of people have compared 2011 unfavourably to previous events but this was our first so wouldn’t know. Overall, well worth it but the problems definitely need resolving for a repeat visit to be in order. We’ve seen many festivals do it better, but it woudn’t take much for the Rhythm festval to hit the mark next year