Review: Eaglefest 2014

Eaglefest is certainly one of those events that manages to pull together the whole of the local music community and always provides a festival of great live music to remember and cherish. Last weekend was no different; over two brilliant days and although Saturday was at times awash with torrential downpours, it never once dampened the spirits of either the enthusiastic crowd or the performers. Unfortunately, on day one, the inclement weather meant that the live stage had to be moved indoors, but from the very beginning of the proceedings at 1pm with local young band Akin taking to the Golden Eagle stage, the roof was lifted!

Live music continued throughout the day until late, with bands giving their time and energy freely to provide cracking quality entertainment. The pace didnt once let up throughout and the packed Golden Eagle crowd responded enthusiastically, by dancing and singing along with the music. The organisation, from the change overs, to the guys manning the sound desk, was first class, which made the weekend very enjoyable for all those that had gone along to pledge their support to such a worthy event. Eaglefest continues to get bigger every year, so much so, that many bands couldn’t be accomodated after offering their services to play. But the bands that did get the chance to perform were all incredibly good.

Luckily, on Sunday the weather was terrific and it enabled the outside stage to be utilised as the crowd basked in the warm summer sunshine and Avishek Choudhury kicked off the day with an acoustic set. The festival manages to create a lovely blend and variety of bands and artists. The more established acts such as Rupert Fabulous, The Shakers Blues Band and the reunion after 18 years of popular band, Dirty Work provided some classic tunes. The younger upcoming performers such as April Keen and her band, Jekyll, The Atmospherics, The People, Akin, Montagu and Insomnia again showed us what great quality there is currently emerging in the area with some exceptional sets.

The two days were a continuous wall of sound and bands such as Kudos, The Cobras, The X-Rays, Lithium Glass Road, Power Trip, Alpha State Of Mind, The Sonic Jam Project, Shiver, Catch 22 and Zebra-X also rocked the stage as well as acoustic performances from John Banks,  Avishek and Paul `The Hat` Luke which completed the line up for the weekend. It was excellent all round entertainment and a testimony to the organisers’ very good choice of performers for the event.

Eaglefest is a real family affair too and as well as great music, there was entertainment provided for the kids. But the aim was to raise some much needed funds for Joe`s Dream To Walk (see link) which was the chosen charity and we have since learned that the event has raised a fantastic figure of £3,000, thanks to the kind donations of people who attended the weekend and those who contributed prizes for raffles etc. An incredible success and a fine contribution for such a great cause.

Eaglefest continues to grow year on year and Ian Fletcher, along with his co-organiser David Walsh, can feel extremely proud that they have yet again managed to stage one of, if not the, best music festival events in the area and also raise a much needed amount of money to help little Joe in his quest to walk. A brilliant effort by lots of volunteers, organisers and musicians helped make all the hard work and planning of putting together such a quality festival all worth while.

The work doesnt stop here. Plans are already afoot for next year and an even bigger and better Eaglefest in 2015. But it will take a gigantic effort to surpass this one.

Below, we have managed to capture the very essence of Eaglefest in images by two great local photographers in Richard Shirt and Mark Shuttleworth, which tell the story of a great weekend.