Jools Holland and Rhythm Force at Kneller Hall

London Event Reviews by May B

My heart sank as I watched the torrential rain on Friday afternoon - how could we possibly enjoy this open air celebed-up event that we happened upon last year and enjoyed so much?

But luck was on our side and the evening broke clear and bright (and we could even see the stars in the sky)and cold enough to encourage everyone to jig along to the music to keep warm.

Whilst last year was free, this year adult tickets were £15 in order to raise funds for the Army Benevelent Fund. And it was well worth the money...

Things had started at 7 but we arrived around 820pm during a Beatles medley by Mind and Soul. My daughter's heart sank a bit til she saw all the glow sticks. She wasn't old enough to go with her brother to Reading but this was the closest she was gonna get to a music festival and she was determined to enjoy it.

So we sat on our waterproof rug and opened the wine we had bought along - placed strategically in view of the large, main stage and the smaller side stage and close enough to the coffee, carvery and burger stalls to make us feel hungry.

Liquid Lunch "the hardest working band in the army" belted out some good ones - including a credible "Valerie". The audience - which this year reached 4,000 - moved along to the music. Then it was Monk playing "You're the one" and "Knocking on heaven's door". The really neat thing at this event is that each act does only three songs - so there is lots of variety.

An Irish band took over with lots of yippie-i-a, yippie-i-os in a version of "Ghost Riders in the Storm" - which went down a real storm with lots of audience participation. Thankfully, the rain miraculously still held off.

Then a big band took over with a couple of Mark Ronson songs and Queen's "We will rock you" with some great lighting effects. Supply Chain (from the logistics regiment) burst onto the stage with Reef's "Put your hands up" and the Kooks' "She moves in her own way". The military drummers looking super-smart in navy and white pristine uniforms were awesome. And we moved onto My Chemical Romance's "Carry on" - my teenage son would have been happy here.

The lead singer of "Tanked up" was celebrating his 10th wedding anniversay and sang well for "Are you ready for love?" before moving onto Elton John's "Guess that's why they call it the blues" and then "I'm still standing" - which should surely be the theme tune for the forces?

Phoenix rang through some more modern numbers and the nearby youngsters went wild - particularly to Scouting for Girl's "Elvis aint dead".

At 10, our host (a Captain from Dorset) introduced Jools who joined the Army Big Band and launched into some serious boogie. Then a couple of slinky jazz numbers. A highlight had to be a special arrangement ska version of the Loch Lomond. Yep, Jamaican Scottish anthems - you couldn't get this working well anywhere else! Louise Marshall joined the gang and did a couple of numbers including "Georgia on my mind". Then a few more swing numbers before a finale of "Tuxedo Junction" and lots of fireworks.

I don't know where X Factor looks, but the talent at this show again put the last few series to shame. There were lots of hospitality areas this year - Royal Mail, Standard Life, RFU and The Richmond and Twickenham Times. Let's hope that the event keeps it common appeal for next year and doesn't get too corporate. But I will make this a regular annual fixture....

Posted Date
Sep 13, 2008 in London Event Reviews by May B by May B