First things first, I love this festival! There’s space, decent food, no queue at the bars and the toilets don’t stink or look an explosion at Willy Wonka’s. Blue skies certainly help and as with any outdoor event the weather can and will align your judgement but sitting on the long grass sipping an ice-cold lager looking out over the Cotswolds and suddenly Cornbury seems like Festival nirvana. There’s no doubting GAZ COOMBES musical prowess and his late afternoon set is highly enjoyable, but not playing any of The Supergrass hits seems a tad churlish. Not that his solo material isn’t up to scratch, it is and songs such as ‘Buffalo’, ‘Salamander’ and ‘Walk The Walk’ are all top tunes. His band is complemented by the Roxy’s a trio of female backing singers who add (when used) a loving garnish to the Coombes superlative voice.
‘The Girl Who Fell To Earth’ is dedicated to his sixteen-year-old daughter before ‘Detroit’ rounds it all off. ECHO AND THE BUNNYMEN ooze class and in Ian McCulloch, they have a truly captivating frontman. He swaggers from the microphone to the drinks trolly with his customary brandy and milk before dispatching some Rennie into the crowd. ‘Seven Seas’, ‘Over The Wall’ and the beautiful ‘Nothing Ever Last Forever’ which is seamlessly interspersed with Lou Reed’s ‘Walk On The Wildside’. Watching Ian McCulloch in the flesh and you suddenly realise there is a plethora of Brit/Pop/Rock frontman who owe the understatedly cool scouser some serious attitude royalties. ‘Cutter’ gets the loudest reaction before the set-closing duo of ‘Killing Moon’ and ‘Lips Like Sugar’. THE SPECIALS arrive on stage to air raid sirens and rapturous applause and opener ‘Man At C&A’ is followed by a hot-footed ‘Rat Race’ and the sombre ‘Do Nothing’. Terry Hall is his usual sarcastic self as is the multi-tasked sharp tailored guitarist Lynval Golding, Terry, on the other hand, looks like he’s heading out to a BBQ. ‘Vote For Me’ is 2019’s cold truth while ‘Blam Blam Fever’ and ‘Embarrassed By You’ epitomise The Specials ongoing metamorphosis. ‘Gangsters’, ‘Concrete Jungle’ and ‘Stereotype’ are all received with a shoulder-shrugging gusto by an appreciative if not skanking Cornbury crowd. ‘Too Much Too Young‘, ‘Ghost Town’ and a soul-stirring ‘You’re Wondering Now’ stick a chequered bow on this perfect festival Friday.