I
should have said yes to my friend but, for some reason,
I wanted to know who was asking. When he told me, I
couldn’t turn it down as it was something on my bucket
list of things to do before I get to old for this sort of thing.
He asked me to take care of the DJ and compere duties at
the Manchester Rock and Bike Fest for HAMC Manchester.
“Oh, go on then!” I replied....
My son Sean and I arrived at the site bright and early
courtesy of my old mate Daz picking us up on the way. The
stage was in the process of being constructed and, while I set
our tents up, Sean helped to build the lighting rig. Thursday
was set up day and, as they were going to be busy for the next
couple of days, the Club wanted a couple of bands to entertain
them later that evening. It’s not often I see a site go from a bare
field to a small village, so I can appreciate the planning that
went into getting the layout right. Nobody likes being too far
from food, drink and entertainment and on this occasion that
wouldn’t be very far at all. It was all well thought out.
Two bands entertained us on Thursday night. Army of Stars
played a set of their own compositions mixed with a couple of
covers that they delivered confidently despite being new to the
bike scene. The Hidden delivered a set of popular rock classicsthat quickly had folk dancing and it was a nice way to start
the weekend.
Friday saw a steady stream of arrivals through the gate
from midday onwards. The weather had been kind to us and
most folk enjoyed sitting out in the sunshine, chatting and
generally chilling out. The entertainment line-up was busy on
Friday with five acts booked to perform and first on stage was
Cherry Valentine. One girl, one guitar, one huge voice! Cherry
gave a great performance of acoustic music, some of her own
songs and a few covers she had put into her set just for us. She
had clearly done her homework and soon had an audience as
folk wandered into the barn to see who was belting out the
songs. Well done Cherry, very well done indeed.
TG Lee and the Rag-O Band were up next and played their
own songs with enthusiasm built on them being happy to be
there. A three-piece band shouldn’t really be able to make
the kind of noise these lads did, but as they had Jesus on bass
guitar, you knew they were blessed. While the bands were
on, I had a wander around which included the birds of prey
display. Now, you would think that an eagle owl, the biggest
owl in the world, wouldn’t be intimidated by anything. But
this one looked distinctly nonplussed when a chap fromEarly in 2019 I got a phone call from a dear friend asking me a question
I still haven’t sorted out the answer to in my head: “Are you still retired?”
Regular readers may remember I called time on my DJ activities at the
NABD rally last year, wanting a more sedate life at rallies so I could enjoy
them without the responsibility of making folk bounce around
MANCHESTER ROCK AND BIKE FEST
WORDS & PHOTOS: JIM GRAVESMOAT LANE, WARRINGTON, CHESHIRE
EVENT FEATURE MANCHESTER ROCK AND BIKE FEST
92 | 100% Biker | issue 250 | http://www.100-biker.co.uk