The Rambling’ Man Fair is set within the beautiful surroundings of Mote Park, situated in the heart of Maidstone in southern England.
2015 was the debut year for this prestigious new music festival and despite the abysmal weather last summer it still proved a major hit with all that attended. On the back of this success, RMF promised to come back kicking and screaming even louder in 2016. Well, they were certainly true to their word and delivered in every way, with an impressive line-up that covered all genres including classic rock, blues, prog-rock and a smidgen of country.
Having endured almost incessant rain at the inaugural event, thankfully the weather was much kinder to all attendees this time around; indeed it happened to fall on the UK’s hottest weekend of the year thus far, July 23-24.
The privileged few in the Pattaya Mail sponsored media team had decided to brave the elements and go for the “Glamping” option, so the weekend’s proceedings started for us in earnest on the Friday. Having unpacked our meagre belongings in the ready-made tents, we rambled on to find the box office to exchange our tickets for wristbands and once back at the campsite we took full advantage of the Ranch Bar, which was conveniently located just inside the area perimeter fence.
Any hangovers the following morning were quickly extinguished by the bracing ice cold showers (no labels on the hot/cold facilities so wrong choice guaranteed) and then the team headed to the entrance to take up their favourite positions in the VIP area.
Managing to tear ourselves away from the free bar the team wandered over to the Outlaw Country Stage first to watch the last few numbers by Hayseed Dixie. These guys have to be one of the funniest and most entertaining feel-good bands out there, bringing their awesome upbeat country-style rock covers to a very eager and enthusiastic audience. Needless to say, they went down a storm.
At this point the glorious sun was blazing down so we sat down on the grass in the main arena which proved to be a great vantage point for the Classic Rock Stage, so we stayed a while to watch the first of the bands, the much hyped and publicized Inglorious. Their opening number, The Who’s “Won’t Be Fooled Again” certainly resonated well around the arena and there’s no doubt that lead vocalist Nathan Jones is a naturally gregarious frontman, but somehow they just didn’t excite.
Next up were the critically acclaimed Dead Daisies. This band does have an impressive pedigree and with renowned axeman Doug Aldrich synching up with John Corabi on vocal duties and Brian Tichy on drums, it led to a well-balanced delivery. Certainly Mott the Dog (Kim Fletcher) thought they were the first band to get the audience really up and rockin’. A cover of Creedance Clearwater Revivals “Fortunate Son” had the audience yelling their approval and by the time they cruised into their last song they had won the day.
A quick meet up for the Pattaya Mail gang in the VIP area meant we could plan our next moves and discuss who was going to see which bands throughout the rest of the day. Mott the Dog and a few other team members decided to take a look at Ginger Wildheart, who by all accounts put on a “great set of burning rock music”, although the short 8-song performance was perhaps missing a few classic numbers from their early albums.
Joining up once more with the other members of the Pattaya Mail team and extricating ourselves en-masse from the bar, it was time to head down to the front of the Main Stage and prepare for Europe, the infamous poster boys of classic rock.
Europe’s Joey Tempest remains the epitome of a frontman and from the moment he hits the spotlight his melodramatic persona infects everyone around him. This performance at Ramblin’ Man was without doubt no exception, with Joey punching his way through the billowing dry ice to the opening track “War of Kings”. His impossibly executed dramatic gyrations served to stir up an already excited audience to fever pitch.
Hit after hit came pouring out in perfect harmony from the band, with just a little tongue in cheek banter breaking up the string of classic numbers. “Hole in My Pocket” rolled into “Rock the Night” and the foot stomping “Last Look at Eden” (from their more noted heavier album of the same name). Much more followed and then the homeward run of real crowd pleasers started with the instantly recognisable intro to “Cherokee”, through to “Days of Rock ‘n’ Roll” and topped off with THE SONG….”The Final Countdown”.
There is absolutely no doubting the super-slick performance from the other long established band members, John Norum (guitars), Mic Michaeli (keyboards), John Leven (bass) and Ian Haugland (drums) make Europe an unbeatable force to be reckoned with. Long may they continue!
Following this stupendous act, some select members of our team made a quick dash up to the Prog Stage to see Uriah Heep. Mick Box has been at the forefront of Uriah Heep for 47 seven years and still appears to be enjoying his time in the band as much as ever, and in the hard rock genre there are not many guitarists that even come close to him. Bernie Shaw is without doubt the best vocalist that the Heep have ever been lucky enough to bring into their ranks and Phil Lanson is the perfect organist for the band and also a great foil for Mick Box.
Since we last saw Uriah Heep in Thailand, Trevor Bolder, the longest ever serving Heep bassist had sadly passed on to that great gig in the sky and the group had found the right replacement in the form of Davey Rimmer, a real heavy bassist with the necessary nimble fingers to play Heep’s more intricate songs.
Heep were one of the many bands to be on peak form this day at Ramblin’ Man and gave a wonderful show.
Another group pulling out all the stops on Saturday were Thin Lizzy, whose entire set we watched from the comfort of the top floor of the VIP bar. This outing was billed as part of the Anniversary Show Tour, so was probably one of the few opportunities to see the current Thin Lizzy line-up for a while, or indeed ever?
Although it was a predictable set list it was still a great performance from this epic band, with Ricky Warwick doing an admirable job as Phil Lynott’s stand in. They delivered all the classics from “Jailbreak” to “Killer on the Loose” and of course the perennial crowd pleaser, “Whiskey in the Jar”.
Scott Gorham may be getting on in years, but there was absolutely no sign of him tiring. This guy remains a true hero of the guitar world, and hopefully he’ll continue to perform live for many years to come.
It was great to see this line up of superstars, covering the classic songs of the greatly loved Phil Lynott. Tom Hamilton of Aerosmith hammered the bass parts, Scott Travis of Judas Priest brought a real feeling of heavy metal to proceedings and Midge Ure (a temporary member of Thin Lizzy from 1979-1980) was jokingly introduced to the stage by Ricky Warwick as the worst guitarist to ever be in the band, but he certainly added some punch to “Cowboy Song” and the “Boys are Back in Town.”
The headline act on the first day/night of the festival were Whitesnake who sadly disappointed all expectations and David Coverdale, who to many people practically is Whitesnake, was only on stage for half the show and when he did perform his voice appeared to be weak and lacking any of its earlier projection. With bands like Uriah Heep, Europe, and Thin Lizzy also on the bill this day it certainly appeared that the festival organizers missed a trick with their headlining spot.
We were all back in the VIP bar for a night-cap well before Whitesnake slithered off the stage and then retired to our respective sleeping quarters ready for another day of Rock ‘n Roll.
Sunday saw another early rise and a necessary return to the VIP area, as watching all these bands proved really thirsty work! Nicely refreshed, the stalwarts of the Pattaya Mail team were off in all directions. Some went to look for something to eat while Cheryl, Helen and Vince strolled over to the Rising Stage to cast an eye and judicial ear over some of the new up and coming bands, such as Stone Broken, Dirty Thrills (what a good name), and Cats in Space.
The members of the team with longer memories went off to see Pat MacManus play on the Blues Stage. The crowd was packed tight in the marquee and the temperature steadily rose as the audience reacted to every note Pat played – and there were a lot of notes. Sometimes his hands were just a blur. Although only given six songs to perform, each and every one was a gem and Paul Faloon and Marty McDermott provided more than able back up on drums and bass respectively.
Sadly (again) the old stagers amongst us then had to make a choice between newcomers Airbourne or the mighty lords of space rock, Hawkwind. The latter won hands down so off we went to the Prog Rock stage and after an hour were mighty pleased with the choice we made.
Like Uriah Heep the previous day, Hawkwind were in prime form, basing their set around their brand new album “The Machine Stops”, but also including many classics from the past along the way.
It was wonderful to see Hawkwind founder and leader Dave Brock back on lead guitar chopping out those sharp angular riffs and Tim Blake on keyboards. Both of them not in the first flush of youth but you would not have known it from watching this performance. The rhythm section of Hawkwind is now made up of long time drummer Richard Chadwick, as tuned into the Hawkwind grove as ever, and newcomer Haz Wheaton, who not only has more than a striking likeness to Lemmy, but also has a similar stage presence. Out front is the impressively framed Mr Dibs who gives the vocals the right nuances switched between the numerous instrumentals.
Altogether this was one of the best Hawkwind line-ups that we could remember seeing and although the set was still based around the new album, we still got all the festival classics from “Spirit of the Age” to “Assault and Battery”, “Shot Down In the Dark” and yes, the ultimate crowd favourite “Silver Machine”.
As the afternoon turned into evening, everyone reconvened back at the main arena and waited for the appearance of one of the day’s main attractions, Thunder, who had come straight over from a festival in Wales.
Thunder’s frontman, Danny Bowes, bounded on stage with more energy than any normal person half his age and the crowd went wild. “Wonder Days” was their first song and they proceeded to reel off a string of numbers that had the audience interacting fully and singing along at the top of their voices. This group really epitomizes the ideal festival act and they were the big success of the day on the Classic Rock Stage.
The grand finale in the main arena was provided by Black Stone Cherry. They didn’t disappoint as they belted out songs, “Me and Mary Jane”, “Rescue Me”, and “White Trash Millionaire” to name but a few. An encore was a must and with the reception they received at the end there’s every chance they will be back again next year.
While Black Stone Cherry were bringing down the curtain in the main arena, Mott the Dog and a few others wandered off in the general direction of the VIP beer tent. Passing by the Prog Rock Stage they heard Procol Harum playing inside and feeling intrigued they decided to take a peep, and it turned out to be a wonderful treat to finish the festival.
Gary Brooker may be 72 years old, but he still has all his old stage craft, charisma and more. He may also be the only original member of the band but those in the new line-up did an equally fantastic job: Geoff Whitehorn (lead guitar), Matt Pegg (bass), Geoff Dunn (drums) and perhaps the jewel in the new Procol box, Josh Phillips (keyboards).
It was a headline musical set by a bunch of professionals who knew what their fans wanted, with Brooker teasing the crowd into the intro of their final song “Whiter Shade of Pale”. Superb!
We had all ended the evening on a high and goodnights were exchanged between the Pattaya Mail team members as we headed back to our tents for our last night in the great outdoors.
RMF 2016 was overall another phenomenal show and most of those who attended will be eagerly looking forward to the third edition in 2017. Until next year!
