Creeps up on you, don't it?

"Now then", I hear you ask, "What creeps up on you? Could it be that bloke with the mad staring eyes? A badger with homicidal intent, that bit of mould that you meant to clean off the bath trim?"

No, it is none of the above. It is the realisation that more time has passed than I would like to acknowledge.

"Oh no, he's gonna get all maudlin." I hear you say. Well, no I am not. If you stop interrupting. I will explain. So, here we go.

It was about this time of year in 1979 that myself, the bass player from a band I was playing with at the time and two other mates went to the Reading Rock festival. We packed an old bell tent and several tins of irish stew into the bass player's Moskvitch car (yes really) and headed West. We arrived late on the Friday evening, paid for the campsite (about £3.50 as I recall), pitched the tent and headed off to see some bands. One of my mates had a cousin who was working on the gates, so we only paid for the campsite that weekend. Like today, it pissed with rain. The tent was flooded when we got back, so we slept that night and the following night in the car. if you have checked the link out, you will see that it was a pretty good line up. In spite of the huge quantities of weed herbal tea, that were around, I remember most of them. I do not recall Thin Lizzy. I will have to check, but I think that they were replaced at short notice. Gillan, Whitesnake and Peter Gabriel were brilliant. I will also never  forget Root Boy Slim and the Sex Change Band for different reasons. Despite the cramped sleeping conditions and the fact that none of us had thought to bring a change of clothes, it was a great weekend.  Get to the point - Ed

Anyway, the preceding tale was prompted by the fact that Mrs B and I are watching highlights from this year's Reading and Leeds festival. Of the bands this evening, we had only heard of the Palma Violets. A popular beat combo, I believe. This prompted Mrs B to observe that we are getting old and out of touch. This then brought to mind my visit 34 years ago. Although the bands and the music have changed, the technology has improved (although it was bloody loud in 1979) and the choice of food is greater, I think the vibe remains much the same. As an aside, I have been watching the footage of the crowd closely and have not seen one bottle of piss flying through the air. I guess that is another difference.

I would have to agree with Mrs B. We, most certainly, are getting older. As for out of touch, I am not so sure that that is a negative thing. I have dipped in and out of the current music scene. Indeed, I have albums by the Ting Tings, Arcade Fire, Kasabian etc in the car. However, I remain faithful to the music that I listened to and played in my younger days.

I think this has turned into a random waffle, but, given my rock 'n' roll outlook,  I will post it anyway.