by Glen Screeton
TERRIBLE weather didn’t dampen the spirit at Woodfest but it certainly tried its hardest!
Excellent organisation by Sam Heathcotes ‘Eventive’ team , a fabulous venue at The Woodlands Pub in Great Sankey and six musical acts from 1 till 9pm with full DJ support turned this potential garden party into its deserved status of mini-festival last Saturday, July 22.
Approximately 300 revellers occupied the outdoor/ covered seating area and set up camp alongside the bbq , pizza, cake & pretzel stalls, and with an inside and outside bar what more did they need!
A fantastic stage with superb sound from Nathan Higham greeted the first act at 1.15pm , namely soloist Lee Egerton a.k.a Defined By. With the rain slowly coming down and the crowd under cover it was always going to be a tough act .However,strong vocals and clean guitar play with a mix of original and cover songs did the job and the crowd quickly warmed to him.
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Suzi Whitlow
This was the first band of the day, popular locals ‘Jonny Foreigner’ with a lively 1 hour set of high-tempo covers and frontman Gordon Shaw’s infectious energy had many brave revellers dancing in the teeming rain.
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Jonny Foreigner
Headline act for the festival was the tribute band ‘No Gallagher’s High Flying Birds’ who took to the stage under leaden skies at 7pm and played a set of Oasis and Noel Gallagher songs very well indeed. There was also a nice touch by frontman Richard and festival organiser Sam, as their 10 year old daughter Grace played keyboards/effects and sang tuneful backing vocals as a one-off for the festival . Finally, and in closing ,the band played the well known tune ‘ Don’t Look Back in Anger ‘ which was belted out by the soaked revellers who, by now were beyond caring about the rain before heading back to the warm sanctuary of the bar a little earlier than scheduled.
Overall , and despite the weather this inaugural festival can be deemed a success and let’s hope it continues for years to come and adds to Warrington’s ever growing number of music events.
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Noel Gallagher tribute
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Keree Sheree
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Outside bar staff
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