Something Else Somewhere Else could easily be one of the festival circuit’s best-kept secrets. It’s a festival full of friendly people, quality bands, and an amazing crew! Saying that it could just be the best over-grown party ever…
The spacious family-friendly site saw kids freely and safely playing while people chilled in the sun listening to sounds of all genres from Ska to Heavy-Rock to folk to Skiffle-Punk!
The kids’ area was brilliant and straight-forward for parents. If you paid £5 for a wristband your child could go on loads of activities rather than pay for each one separately. This included crafts, trampolines, circus skills, comedy adult vs kids football games, and climbing frames. A special shoutout to the crew running the zorb balls who took all the balls out and let the kids play in the pool for free because it was so hot, even an adult in a tiger onesie got in!
Highlights for me included off-the-rails Skiffle-Punk festival favourites Hobo Jones & The Junkyard Dogs, who played a rousing, crowd-pleasing set, and had the whole tent in the palm of their hands. Also Tarantism played a duo set, with powerful yet beautifully understated vocals and amazing funky soulful guitar. Other bands included the wicked 8-piece Ska-outfit New Groove Formation, Leatherat, Attila The Stockbroker, The Outcast Band, and One Eyed God. Headliners Ferocious Dog played a storming set that the crowd went crazy for, plus afro-roots duo Two Man Ting complemented the sun perfectly on the Saturday. There were of course loads of other great bands but there were too many too mention.
I ate at on-site vegetarian café Nana’s Kitchen, where you could get delicious freshly home-cooked food for reasonable prices. I can see why her loyal following of festival goers donated to fund this brilliant place.
It’s not often you can walk away from a festival without thinking of something that was wrong with it. But this weekend the something else crew really pulled it out of the bag; the stress-free camping, awesome bands, well priced beer and lovely people who pretty much all knew each other by the end of the weekend. This solar-powered festival is not to be missed, and luckily for you they’re doing it all again twice this Summer (Up North and In the Dean) and early bird tickets have already gone on sale for 2015…
Published on 27 May 2014 by Ned Mansfield
