Thursday 2 August 2007

Stockton Riverside Festival



This weekend sees my hometown of Stockton-on-Tees being taken over by the yearly festival. I must admit that I always used to miss them as a kid as I spent my summers with my Dad, museum hopping in Yorkskire.

But this Saturday I am looking forward to it. If I get myself there. With the headliner being Badly Drawn Boy (okay, okay, I know I have no affection for him further than Hour Of The Bewilderbeast but whatever, its free!) it doesn't look too bad, headliners for the other days include Echo And The Bunnymen and The Ordinary Boys. All three days, Friday (today), Saturday and Sunday showcase some of the best local acts and little-known acts from further afield.

But I must say that among the other obvious acts to really get excited about, the wonderous The Chapman Family and the very brilliant Dirty Weekend, the main one I must say I've come round to actually be really excited about seeing (again) is The Aliens.

After not really being impressed by them live at Fibbers in York, which was mainly to do with the fact that a) I wasn't familiar with The Aliens b) I was more excited about being in the same room as ex-The Beta Band members and c) they were fucking wrecked! So fingers crossed that they can stave off the temptation of alcohol long enough to perform well tomorrow night.

Yet, having worked in Stockton for far too many days recently I am slightly worried that a band as truly brilliant as The Aliens are going to simply be overlooked. One of the most socio-economically deprived areas of Britain might not quite understand the enormity of the greatness and musical genius that is The Aliens.

Here is a taste of them:

The Aliens - Rox

Wow. Thats quite a talking up there, isn't it? They better be good.

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