Big stars wow The Eyes Have It crowd at Derbyshire's little gem of a festival

This year’s festival in Duffield boasted two main headline acts per day, starting off with chart hit group The Korgis on Friday after Riley Marsh had opened the festival on the marquee stage in great style. Some people I spoke to at the festival claimed to know only one Korgis song; their big hit Everybody’s Got To Learn Sometime, but then realised they knew a few more than that after the band

had played their very professional set.

The Christians were the other headliners on the Friday night, playing after we’d heard a nice set from local band The Mease. As the crowd congregated, the mainstage looked magical with its sparkling light show as day faded into night. The Christians played many of their best known songs to a very appreciative audience including Ideal World and Harvest For The World.

The day rounded off in great style with popular local band Littlefield setting the marquee jumping.

Saturday promised to be huge, and it didn’t disappoint. Festival faves Telsen travelled up the A38 from Brum to warm things up for The Eric Bell Trio whose leader was the founding member of those celebrated Irish rockers, Thin Lizzy. The band played some wonderful tunes with a flavour of Celtic rhythms, intertwined with echoes of other well known Irish musicians. The set wouldn’t have been complete without ‘Whisky in the Jar,’ and Eric’s rendition of this famous song was a joy to behold.

The Endings, who hail from Telford, carried on the Irish theme with with some frantic tunes somewhat reminiscent of The Men They Couldn’t Hang or maybe The Pogues. Next up were The Blow Monkeys whose wonderful sounding set of best known songs included their biggie, Digging Your Scene.

Things really began to get seriously into party mode after Surianne and The Fusion, had played their set. This up and coming band had remarkably made the trip all the way from Gibraltar to make their second appearance at the festival, having played here last year. Then….Boom! Kissmet hit the stage and WOW! did they set the place alight, figuratively speaking. This Bhangra based dance band radiated happiness and had everyone dancing….in fact there had to be something wrong with you if you weren’t dancing as their brand of music was very infectious.

This happiness vibe was carried over into the marquee afterwards, as top local ska and reggae band The Skarantinos continued where Kissmet had left off. It was difficult to find a spot to dance among the heaving mass of happy festivalgoers in the marquee so people danced in the field outside the tent.

Ever popular Indie band Sleeper finished off the day in great style, keeping the pot boiling to a very appreciative audience with a goodly selection of their music, before the ebullient MC Ted bounded on the stage to wish everyone a good night.

Rhomy and the Rads sprang a real surprise on the final day of the festival, playing a selection of their own penned songs,demonstrating a skill beyond their years. Festival organiser Simon Clark ‘discovered’ the band at a gig in Belper, and was so impressed with them that he booked them! What was more remarkable is that the band is comprised of youngsters of school age,

typically just 15 years old.

Mandlebrot Shakes, who played after local favourites, The Collide, sprang another surprise. Mandlebrot Shakes are comprised of vocalist drummer Letty Gallagher, and guitarist Julian Wells. This dynamic duo have been labelled as a garage punk trash blues duo which is a pretty good description of the sounds that I heard emanating from the marquee. Another one in the course of just a few hours to watch out for.

The Climax Blues Band are a very polished outfit indeed, and they made it all look so laidback and easy on a sunny afternoon.Despite singing that they ‘Couldn’t Get It Right, they definitely got it right in a set which included tunes like Going To New York and Seventh Son.]

The legendary Geno Washington and the Ram Jam Band had already arrived by the time the penultimate act of the festival, Dave Onions, got up to play an acoustic set. Dave is a local guitarist who often appears at local venues, and gave a good account of himself.

And so, it was down to the last act of the festival. I’d had a chat with Geno previously, and he said was really excited to be playing here. We chatted about his time in the US Air Force and how he used to play at the US Air Force bases in Suffolk in the Sixties. Geno is an incredible 80 years old but this guy still has soul and his mojo was definitely working today as he effortlessly sang his way through many soul classics.

As the applause for Geno finally died away, festival organiser Simon Clark got up on stage with MC Ted to thank everyone for coming, and promised that as next year’s festival will be the tenth to expect something really special.

Early Bird tickets are already available for next year’s festival in Eyes Meadow from July 4-6 and can be bought from www.theeyeshaveit.co.uk