Wickerman - Hector Bizerk, Example and Optimo

As the previous blog mentioned, the Everything Flows team expanded to 4 for the weekend and on the Saturday night we were all off doing different things across the site.....

Guest blog by Reddy....

And so all back to the Optimo after party…

After the eaglefaced Wickerman had fired fireworks from his fingers, and the entire structure had burnt to the deck – we adjourned to the main bar area to return to the SubClub. 

Dancing with the neon facepainted kids, the music was banging and the party vibe was in full effect – Absintine made an appearance on the dancefloor, along with Kate Bush with her cloudbursting, Prodigy took your brain to another dimension – it was the age of love for a committed number of focused dancers. Optimo knew where we were and where we wanted to be and reminded us with their final song, Lost In Music.

Earlier Example had got the packed main crowd jumping and fist pumping to his and DJ Wire’s party and indeed cheesy beats – Example ‘kickstarted’ his set with some bouncing tunes, with DJ Wire providing the dancebeats; it seemed like the party was going to continue well into the night. However with a strangely lo-key exit from the stage, the mood lowered and we all got into position to witness the Wickerman’s grand gesture.

The finest hip-hop storytelling happened before the cheese-pop of Example; Hector Bizerk rocked the Scooter tent with frontman Louie getting the crowd totally in the zone, including a flag-waving breakdancer and an artist painting out the Wickerman scene as the gig flowed along proving an additional visual to Louie’s tight rhymes and manic performance with ‘Party at A&E’ topping the bill. The set might have been cut slightly but everyone who saw Audrey and Louie will remember the all-round party-zone and especially the lowering onto their hunkers and bouncing aloft…

Photo by Gordon Reid

Wickerman Festival 2015 review

 Pic by Gordon Reid - Wickerman burning 2015

Wickerman 2015; a kaleidoscope of sunshine, fire, fireworks, friends, music and good times. What a weekend!

The Everything Flows team expanded to 4 for the weekend; expect blogs to come on Example, Optimo Espacio, Hector Bizerk, Jimmy Cliff, Neneh Cherry, BMX Bandits, The Vaselines, Miaoux Miaoux, Neon Waltz and more.

In the meantime; this is a bit of a round up of some of my own highlights that took place over the weekend;

The weather - the forecast changed dramatically in the week leading up to the festival, at one stage 2-hours of rain was forecast for the Friday night! Instead it was mainly dry with large periods of sunshine, particularly on the Saturday after some rain around noon.

The site - the Wickerman site is beautiful lush rolling green hills that lead down to a natural stage setting. There is plenty of space, yet everything is within easy walking distance, including the campsites.

The atmosphere - Positive, friendly, family friendly yet with space to party, everyone out for a good time. I even attended a wedding at noon under the Wickerman but had to run as unfortunately the heavens opened for the lucky couple. Thankfully the sun came out for them afterwards!

The fireworks were the best in the 6 visits I have enjoyed at Wickerman.

The crowd during Jimmy Cliff - pic by Gordon Reid

Jimmy Cliff - My award for performance of the weekend goes to this guy and his incredible band. They smashed it out the park with a set jammed full of classics in the glorious Wickerman sunshine leading to sunset. I Can See Clearly Now was absolutely beautiful, I don't mind admitting that I had a tear in my eye and my hands in the sky dancing and singing with friends when this was on.

Jimmy Cliff - sensational performance; pic by Gordon Reid

Stereo MC's - They came, they saw, they conquered Wickerman with an energetic set that saw singer Rob Birch cover every inch of the stage and wow the crowd with hits like Step It Up and Connected. The whole set had a real clubby feel to it and got the crowd dancing and singing. It was a particularly important set for the main stage after the unfortunate cancellation of the Sugarhill Gang who many were looking forward to. The main stage hadn't had a moment, the crowd hadn't had a chance to dance...they got one.

Rob Birch - Stereo MC's; pic by Gordon Reid

The line-up - Synergy Concerts have joined the Wickerman team as bookers and they used their skills, knowledge and experience to create a brilliant eclectic line-up that fully utilised the incredible music scene in Scotland. We had indie legends like The Vaselines and BMX Bandits, young up and coming artists like White, Neon Waltz and Kloe, top quality ska by the likes of Esperanza and The Amphetameanies and it was all ended in style by the incredible Optimo Espacio team - gotta be invited back next year?

The Amphetameanies - pic by Gordon Reid

BMX Bandits - I have to give a special mention to the BMX Bandits who headlined the Phoenix Tent last night. There cannot be many, if any, bands who can create the warmth and love that Duglas T Stewart and his friends are capable of making. I've always thought they would be perfect for Wickerman and indeed they were, playing a set spanning their full 30-years and giving older fans some long lost classics and wowing new fans who chose to end their Wickerman Festival with them. Girl At The Bus Stop was an absolute delight and Duglas rolled out Kylie's Got A Crush On Us for the first time in 20-years to the delight of those around me.

Please, please, oh please take the same bus as me

Two different generations enjoying BMX Bandits; pic by Jim Burns