We took a different approach to the 2019 festival season. We looked at more bespoke, personal and independent gigs this year. So what started with a 90s dance-fest in June with Clockstock, to a yoga and well being festival in Soul Circus...we finished at Chantry Park in Ipswich across the summer bank holiday weekend.
Ed Sheeran has been on his Divided tour now for over 800 days taking in 260 gigs across the world. He decided to finish with 4 nights in Ipswich as a sort of homecoming...and a very well deserved on at that!
We found it baffling that the venue has rarely been used for such an event. Laying on the outskirts of Ipswich with good travel links it provided a great setting for this 40,000 capacity day fest. Entry was efficient and speedy, the bars were plentiful and well staffed and the food stalls covered pretty much every cuisine and dietary need.
We started with young hopefuls Salvador...backed by BBC Introducing and a very promising young local band. Then the charismatic Lewis Capaldi who not only amazed the crowd with his number of hit songs, but his interaction with the crowd. Offering some very interesting advise shall we say for the children and their parents!
This then led to The Darkness bringing a real festival rock vibe to the audience. It served as the perfect warm up act for the main act....who didn't disappoint.
Regardless on how you feel about Ed Sheeran and his music, you have to respect the artist for his talent. Literally himself, his guitar and a loop station...(percussion pedal tech that provides various sounds and percussion on a loop to make a full composition backing track). To be able to produce a seamless set in itself is a challenge. But even with 40,000+ in the crowd it seemed such an intimate and personal gig. To be on stage for nearly 2 hours all by yourself and working the loop station faultlessly was amazing (read more on loop stations and how to play them here).
All the huge hits were covered, with some personal explanations on how he came to write them, or his experiences that led to them were a nice touch. The visuals accompanying each track were great, but the best was left until the end.
There had been rumours throughout the event that there may be a special guest appearance at some stage. So when Stormzy hit the stage during the encore of Shape of you...the whole park erupted. What an amazing finale to the event and you could tell by the chemistry between them, they were great friends who has huge mutual respect for each other's talent.
So as festival seasons go...2019 has to be up there for us. We took a chance with attending and hosting private groups and clients at such different types of festivals. But it has proven to be a great decision, tremendous memories and experiences and one we will continue to follow into Summer 2020.
We would love to hear your views on 2019 festivals.Did they live up to expectations, or are you left slightly underwhelmed?
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