The Dirty Dozen Music Festival - The White Lion - Congleton 21st April 2012

The Dirty Dozen music festival held last Saturday, at Congleton's finest hostelry, The White Lion, was quite a sizeable undertaking and, on the whole, must be considered to have been a great success, certainly from the music-lovers' perspective. A wide variety of musical genres were available for your aural satisfaction, split between the small indoor stage and the larger outdoor stage. It has to be said that the sound leakage between the two was surprisingly low.
Fieldhouse
The Retrospective
Aaron Mobberly
The Robin Pierce Band
Cry Baby & The Hoochie Coochie Boys
Luke Gray
Calls Landing
Sweet Winn Dixie
Greg Larkin
Phil Maddocks
Samuel James Routledge
Velocets
Swim into Scarlet
Elly Kingdon
Thought Glands
Brad Wilde
Lost Scenes
Petty Cash
All of the acts I know I saw (in Bold) were just great. Phil Maddocks, Luke Gray, Cry Baby and The Hoochie Coochie Boys and, The Robin Pierce Band, I thoroughly enjoyed but, pretty much, couldn't see, let alone photograph. Elly Kingdon I, unfortunately, missed which is a pity because she is talented. I was around much of the day and caught snippets of many of the acts. None of them sounded horrendous though. The PA sound was unexpectedly good so, well done on that score.
My only observation is one that I know not much can be done about. The White Lion is a great pub and a beautiful old building; one of the oldest in town, in fact. But, when it is packed, there is nowhere to move. You cannot go backwards, forwards or, at times, even sideways. That said, some of the best gigs I've been to have been in tightly-packed, sweaty rooms...
Robin Pierce, who I believe is the force behind the event should give himself (and those involved in organising and running the day) a pat on the back. Well done! The weather wasn't helpful but, I think (and that is what is important here) it was great. I enjoyed myself and that is what matters most.
Mark L. Potts
The God of Thunder
10th May 2012
Fieldhouse
The Retrospective
Aaron Mobberly
The Robin Pierce Band
Cry Baby & The Hoochie Coochie Boys
Luke Gray
Calls Landing
Sweet Winn Dixie
Greg Larkin
Phil Maddocks
Samuel James Routledge
Velocets
Swim into Scarlet
Elly Kingdon
Thought Glands
Brad Wilde
Lost Scenes
Petty Cash
All of the acts I know I saw (in Bold) were just great. Phil Maddocks, Luke Gray, Cry Baby and The Hoochie Coochie Boys and, The Robin Pierce Band, I thoroughly enjoyed but, pretty much, couldn't see, let alone photograph. Elly Kingdon I, unfortunately, missed which is a pity because she is talented. I was around much of the day and caught snippets of many of the acts. None of them sounded horrendous though. The PA sound was unexpectedly good so, well done on that score.
My only observation is one that I know not much can be done about. The White Lion is a great pub and a beautiful old building; one of the oldest in town, in fact. But, when it is packed, there is nowhere to move. You cannot go backwards, forwards or, at times, even sideways. That said, some of the best gigs I've been to have been in tightly-packed, sweaty rooms...
Robin Pierce, who I believe is the force behind the event should give himself (and those involved in organising and running the day) a pat on the back. Well done! The weather wasn't helpful but, I think (and that is what is important here) it was great. I enjoyed myself and that is what matters most.
Mark L. Potts
The God of Thunder
10th May 2012