What a night last night! But today was the start of the big event….and we were all ready! I was up first at the ungodly hour of 6:30 am even for some reason. Fiddling with the BTL/Mr. Myst photos occupied my time until Justin came down and prepared to head off to the close by supermarket for provisions. Breakfast went over famously, with chef Justin preparing a great spread. Overall it was a lazy morning as we sat out in the garden area with coffees laughing at little jokes from last night. “Maniac” being a good one🤣. Before too long, the Jupilers were out and our excited laughter’s volume increased.
As the sun rose higher and we rolled into afternoon, Justin mentioned he’d seen a bar on his short grocery walk this morning and we decided to invade. With a burger cafe next door, we enjoyed pints in the sun. But as always what goes in must come out and it was time to pee. I’m seriously thinking to start a photo series of “Weird Bathrooms I’ve Peed In“. This one at Cafe T’ Hoekske takes the cake! When you walk in, it’s a large room with a hand wash sink and two urinals on the right-hand side wall. One toilet stall on the back wall and spare tables and chairs and assorted items lined along the left side. Stranger still is when you realize that if a lady needs to use the stall she has to walk past you while you’re using the urinal! And tomorrow we would discover still another feature to increase the weirdness even more…..but that’s for tomorrow.
To The Venue!
Along the way, or rather a little past, we hit up Sapphire Bar to see who was there. The infamous Shitface was in full force! There was even a marriage proposal! Great to see this young man who introduced himself to us as “Shitface” last year at this very spot! I broke away from the gang a little earlier and backtracked to the venue to sort out my press/photo pass in my newly beer-soaked shorts, shirt and shoes. Thanks, Shitface🤣.
Things sorted quickly and easily, I greeted still more friends as we milled about waiting for the doors to officially open. Once inside, it was right off to the merch corner to collect my pre-ordered Wildfest shirt! The venue itself is, I think a great size. Not too big, not too small with the stage on the right as you enter. Merch is in the back kiddy corner to the entrance with soundbooth along the back wall facing the stage and the drink card table next to it. Well, I should stop at that table too, shouldn’t I? Great to see this year that they were accepting both cash and cards. *Until later on when they had reached the limit their bank allowed them to intake by card and it became cash only*. Bar was situated along the same wall that the entrance doors were on.
Bring on the Bands of Wildfest 2023
With the extremely disappointing last-minute news that Madhouse had pulled out due to Illness. C’mon, how ill are you really? I’ve watched a guitarist vomit in a bucket on stage, but the show must go on! A young band called Cardinal had stepped in were first up kicking off Wildfest 2023. Let’s go!
Cardinal
Obviously a quite young band, massive kudos to them for jumping on the bill on less than a day’s notice. To me, their singer seemed a little timid up there and there really wasn’t a theme in the look with the bass player all “Motorheaded-out” but the rest in plain white tees. I don’t know one thing about the band’s history but with some experience behind them, I think they could be great. One song they did play was a cover song……yes, you guessed it, Michael Sembello‘s “Maniac“! That’s three times in less than 24hrs! What is this, the Belgian national anthem??🤣
OFFICIAL WEBSITE (Bandcamp) / FACEBOOK
Osukaru
Having seen Osukaru a few times I knew what to expect here. In fact, I know guitarist Oz Petersson as well as his Canadian wife a little bit having met a few times. Osukaru seemed heavier than usual today and that is a GREAT thing. I heard rumour throughout the weekend that their new album will be heavier, more guitar riff oriented with keyboards pushed to the back. Their set here rocked more than I’ve ever seen from them and really has me amped up for the new release!
Chez Kane
Chez Kane has quite the buzz about her these days. And I have to admit it’s well deserved in some respects. She is excellent on stage, delivering a very charismatic and audience-engaging performance. This marks the third time I have seen her on a stage and while the music is certainly a little heavier in a live setting, it’s still just a little light and not my personal flavour. But what the hell do I know, the crowd was loving it all the way. She does fly the flag for new rock music and I love that folks are digging new material instead of the same olds.
OFFICIAL WEBSITE / FACEBOOK / INSTAGRAM
Degreed
Unfortunately I just never gelled that much with Degreed‘s music either. This is a personal taste and in no way a reflection on the band nor their talents, like Chez Kane, just not my bag. That said, Degreed gave the audience a great gig led by frontman Robin Eriksson. Robin seemed all smiles, much similar to when I’d seen Degreed at HEAT Festival a few years back.
…at this point, I’m sure readers are wondering just what I’m doing at Wildfest based on my thoughts on the last two bands….lol. I respect anyone getting up there and creating and performing original music, it all helps to keep our scene alive. While not every band is to my taste, nor is every band for you either, they all deserve respect and support.
Confess
Now, this band of Swedes is the shit! My shit! Having seen them before at an HRH event, I expected great things on stage. I was not let down one iota! They came out in full force and maintained that energy all set long! However, they didn’t play my favourite song, “So What?“, but it was still a great set! Confess wrapped up the high-energy set with a cover song. No, thankfully not “Maniac“, but their version of “What’s Love Got To Do With It” made famous by Tina Turner. Confess are also now announced in the initial crop of bands for Call Of The Wild Festival 2024.
Ted Poley
Ted Poley was a little rougher sounding vocally I thought on the first couple of tracks, be it him or the sound mix. But he steadily improved as the show went on and I found it to be a really fun set. Before too long there were balloons launched from the stage adding to the fun of the show. His backing band for this show tonight was in fact Degreed. They did a great job musically I thought. Ted is a very personable and engaging frontman, I’ve seen him many times at events throughout the last ten years or so and he always puts on a great show. As expected, the set tonight has a parade of hits and well-known classics that are always great to sing along to. Despite my personal views on some of his online conduct a year or so ago, I really enjoyed the show and he clearly was having great fun.
Wildheart
Some may think it odd that a local (and fest fave) band hit the stage after the headliner, but I say it was perfect! For me, the headliner was absofuckinglutely Wildheart! What a band, what a show….and their second of the day even! Wildheart performed at another festival event earlier today and arrived here shortly before their late stage time, which was why it was scheduled as such. I have now seen the band twice before and was impressed each time. But tonight they just seemed to me to literally be on fire, raging flames burning out of control. Again, much heavier live on stage, this is a band that more people need to see. I for one am already hyped up for the next time!
OFFICIAL WEBSITE / FACEBOOK / INSTAGRAM
Finding Thomas at the end of Wildheart, we walked home together discussing the day’s events. What a great time and a feeling lighter than air that nothing can take away from you. That’s the power of live music and the worldwide rock and roll family at an event like Wildfest. We enjoyed (choked down might be a better term) yet another Jupiler around the kitchen table as I also polished off the remaining half of my burger from the cafe earlier. None of us still has any idea what a “Bicky” is….maybe we’ll try that tomorrow since the cafe is “The Official Dealer“…..lol.
OFFICIAL WILDFEST WEBSITE / FACEBOOK / FACEBOOK EVENT PAGE
2023 Photo Galleries of all bands coming soon to CGCM Rock Radio!
Wildfest 2023: Pre-Fest / Wildfest 2023: Saturday / Wildfest 2022: Blog Link
Cheers,
The Meister
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