Day
3 at Millport Festival
Sunday
morning dawned, and it was really starting to feel like the third day! Whilst festivals are fun, we spend a lot of
time on our feet! It being Sunday, the
first order of the day (after breakfast with Lockeland) was a lovely service in
the Cathedral of the Isles for Francesca while Rik checked on the stage and
sound checks, and then a tour of the cathedral from the Bishop. Just like the Festival and indeed the town of
Millport, the cathedral is small but fascinating!
And
so to the music. Often the first act of
a Sunday is a quiet affair, but not on Cactus Jacks!
Tommy
McGuire
Tommy
introduced himself to us in the Green room as a solo artist – which was
confusing us a little as he had a bassist and a drummer! In fact Tommy has recently gone solo after
playing in various bands, and this was his first solo performance with a band –
if you see what we mean! Rather than
ease us gently into Sunday morning, Tommy hit us with his style of Country Rock
and certainly got everyone’s attention
Danny
McMahon
Danny
is another artist who doesn’t do subtle.
Nominated for three awards this year, and a previous winner, Danny
brought his full band to Millport, and from his walk on music to his last note,
Danny plays with extreme energy, and quickly gets the crowd singing, clapping
and generally having a great time. The
whole band work full time in music – performance, production and tuition, and
it shows in their whole performance.
Danny gave the first very sweaty hug of the day!
Cow
Cow Boogie
What
are you to make of it when you see that name on a line up? Hailing from Edinburgh Cow Cow Boogie
combined a little bit of everything into their music – Country, Rockabilly,
Americana – and the mix really works!
Mixing old tracks with their own compositions the audience loved them –
it took some effort to be able to get lead singer Nicole down to the merch
table, as so many people wanted to stop her and congratulate her on behalf of
the band
As
with the previous two days, Cactus Jacks was building to a big finish
Stuart
Landon and the Angels With Dirty Faces
Some
bands are born to play live music – and this is one of those. Shortly to embark on a European support tour,
Stuart and his quite eclectic band absolutely owned the stage, again mixing covers
with their own compositions, the new single and then ended with a rocking
rendition of Sweet Home Alabama. Ending on a classic and long 70s standard
guarantees you stage time, and guarantees the set ends with everyone smiling
Backwoods
Creek
We
are very familiar with the Creeker boys – which meant they were a little
nervous of what stories Francesca might include in their intro! A band that
love to party and to bring the party, their walk on was a comedy sketch, aided
and encouraged by Francesca - although
they don’t need much encouragement! Backwoods Creek have quite a body of work
now, but the room was all waiting for “When I Grow Up”, surely the best UK
Country song of last year and always beautifully performed by Jamie and the
band, showing that they are more than just a party band.
Backwoods
Creek were the final headliners of Cactus Jacks, and the final Headliners of
the Festival. Of course, we couldn’t
close Cactus Jacks without a Silverball Country Party! No theme this time – just pure Country
Party! Rik took to the decks, and
Francesca roamed the dancefloor flushing out anyone feeling a little too shy to
dance! With a team of line dancers
taking us through the Git Up challenge, a vote on whether we accepted the
apology in headliner Cam’s hit Diane and a singalong ending, the crowd just
weren’t satisfied…
One
More Song?
How
else to finish our first time DJing in Scotland than with Runrig’s Loch Lomond
which brought together everyone who was still on site – staff, performers and
of course festival goers.
Cactus
Jacks – what a festival, what a party, what a blast!
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