Ramblin' Man Fair

After a large breakfast Toni, Sam and I headed out to Maidstone for the first Ramblin' Man Festival. Our first stop was Kent Showground to catch the bus to the venue.

It was a great venue, really well laid out with three stages and lots of stalls peddling wares and food. Here's a 360 view:

Some random pics of the site:

We had tickets for the seated grandstand on account of us being old and wanting a good view. One of our friends even got a picture of us there:

This was our view and roughly how far we were from the stage:

So, the reason that we were here was the music. There was lots of it and most of it was good. So, without further ago.......... here's how it went down.

TOSELAND
This was a new band for us. The singer is James Toseland, a former superbike racer who notched up a couple of championships in his time on the circuit. The band were pretty good. Radio friendly rock music that was very well received by the crowd. A nice way to start the day (for us as we missed the first band) and a band I'll be checking out more of.

See all the TOSELAND pics here:
https://plus.google.com/photos/114488708332382539692/albums/6176238304743624721


FM
This was one of those back in the day moments for me. I hadn't seen FM live since way way back and was delighted to see that they are still going. It was a good set of old and new numbers and once again the crowd lapped it up.

See all the FM pics here:
https://plus.google.com/photos/114488708332382539692/albums/6176240302050198257


BLUE OYSTER CULT
Apart from THAT song this was uncharted territory for me. All the old folk suddenly appeared and were singing along word for word to everything. It was really nice to see. Some of the songs were pretty good, others so-so but they were well appreciated. Respect to them for still going after such a long time.

See all the BLUE OYSTER CULT pics here:
https://plus.google.com/photos/114488708332382539692/albums/6176242603593442833

Here's THAT song (please excuse the sound quality but there was wind):


SAXON
New Wave Of British Heavy Metal legends Saxon took to the stage next to thunderous applause. I had feared that Saxon were going to be a mere parody of their former selves but I was very wrong! It was a set of Saxon classics, some great singalongs plus a couple of new numbers. This was one hell of a way to warm things up and take it into overdrive.

See all the SAXON pics here:
https://plus.google.com/photos/114488708332382539692/albums/6176246008971827057

...and here they are performing Princess Of The Night:


DREAM THEATER
This is a bit of a galling one to have to write. I don't mind some of Dream Theater's recorded output but I am sad to say that live they were truly awful. The killed the brilliant atmosphere that Saxon had created with a really boring stage show. Sure they get a big thumbs up for being technically brilliant musicians but the performance was sterile and stagnant. None of the band members moved around apart from the singer who just did the same circle walk over and over again and it just made the whole thing appear flat and boring. I gave them a chance, I really wanted to like them and be impressed but something was not right. I wasn't the only one thinking this as they ended up playing to the smallest crowd of all the bands. The noise of the crowd during Saxon was gone and so was the fun. Sorry DT but you just didn't cut it. Saxon should have been above you.

See all the DREAM THEATER pic here:
https://plus.google.com/photos/114488708332382539692/albums/6176247940957741169


SCORPIONS
..and so we came to the reason why Toni, Sam and I were at Ramblin' Man Fair. German legends Scorpions doing their first headline UK show in many years. The years might roll on but the Scorpions still have what it takes to put an amazing show and keep themselves at the top of their game. This was an amazing performance. There was something for everyone in the set:

Intro
Going Out With A Bang
Make It Real
The Zoo
Coast to Coast
Top of the Bill / Steamrock Fever / Speedy's Coming / Catch Your Train 
We Built This House
Delicate Dance
Always Somewhere / Eye of the Storm / Send Me an Angel
Wind Of Change
Rock 'n' Roll Band
Dynamite
In The Line Of Fire
Kottak Attack
Crazy World
Blackout
Big City Nights

Encore:
Still Loving You
Rock You Like A Hurricane

See all the SCORPIONS pics here:
https://plus.google.com/photos/114488708332382539692/albums/6176251445518002001

My only complaint about this performance, it wasn't long enough!

We Built This House


Always Somewhere / Eye of the Storm / Send Me an Angel


Wind of Change

Blackout


Big City Nights


As far as I am concerned the first Ramblin' Man Fair was a massive success (yes even allowing for Dream Theater). It's a great venue, everything was really well set up and it was a fantastic day out with some wonderful bands plus some delicious gluten free hot dogs. Can't wait to see what they come up with for next year!