Tuesday 29 August 2017

Safehaus Release

Safehaus EP Launch



Sadly earlier this year we lost one of the most respected musicians in the Glastonbury FM local and wider area. Ben Kench is highly thought of and respected and educated and supported the local music scene along with producing high quality music with his band Safehaus in it’s own right.

Safehaus hail from the Glastonbury area in South West England. They consist of Ben Kench (guitar & vocals), Jim Kench (guitar, percussion, vocals), Robin Davey (guitar), Paul O'Reilly (Bass) and Alison Wilmshurst (French horn and violin). These guys have played in a number of bands and solo projects over the years (including appearances at the Glastonbury Festival and supports with Jools Holland, the Alarm and Ezio) and were hand-picked by Ben in late 2015.




The band released a lovely EP in 2016 called ‘Lyft’ and started getting some great gigs including playing over in Italy which became a second home to the band. This was followed up again with the single ‘A Letter’. Both releases showed the quality of music the band have and gave them the push to get more work out there. One of their most memorable gigs for me during this spell was at the Glastonbury Night at the Abbey where they made the Lady Chapel just light up and sing.



Ben will be sorely missed but his spirit will continue as the band open another door and chapter with the remaining talented members of the band with one or two new ones move forward in a positive direction and they debut with a return to the Glastonbury Night at the Abbey on Friday 8th September.





 Safehaus have now released their final recordings with Ben which was put out on his birthday (27th August) with local backers working hard to get this to chart or at least get the music out to as many people as possible. The EP is called ‘A Perfect Love Song’ and the EP titled signature track mesmerisingly floats along and gets into your head. It is supported on the EP with three other songs Summer, Running Away and Rebound which could all be singles.The ep was co-produced by Michael Bannister (Texas) and Ross Hamilton  ( Bad Mannequins) and has helped the EP ooze quality. The EP is available on all major sites or you can buy the limited 10” vinyl EP here.
Glastonbury Merch



You can listen to Jim Kench’s interview on Glastonbury FM here.

Safehaus on Thursday Live 240817 sponsored by Jaywalk Guitars guest presenter Georgie Robbins

Monday 28 August 2017

Beautiful Days 2017

Beautiful Days 2017 Review

For years our friend Dan has been banging on about the Beautiful Days Festival and telling us how much we should go. We decided to go for it this year and buy tickets instead of going to Glastonbury much to the upset of my wife when the Foo Fighters were announced.
Beautiful Days is only an hours drive for us and we parked up on the Thursday with little fuss, met up with our friends and found a camping pitch which was in a quiet area. There were a couple of water points nearby along with toilets which could have done with a slightly more plentiful supply. Though these were kept very clean and well topped up with supplies from the efficient Andy’s loos.
We popped in for a walk round to get ourselves oriented with the site on the Thursday night and found a massive choice of food and bars which were of a high standard and good value with most meals between £6 and £9. Most beer and cider was £4 but they had a festival ale on for £3.50 which was supplied by the fabulous Otter Ales. On the Friday we even discovered a guest ale which was on for £3 a pint so made great use of this bargain. 



On the Thursday we caught Nick Parker playing a set along with Ben Wain and Chris Webb playing some older tracks along with many from his cracking new album titled Besta Venya.  It was packed outside of Magpie Music for this but was played and received in great spirit.



Friday was one of the days we were really excited about as we caught our friends PG Haze playing on the Bandstand with a short but atmospheric set and a tribute song to Ben Kench a local musician who sadly passed away this year.
Rev Hammer and Nick Harper were next up in the Big Top who played through their set taking turns and supporting each other but not really collaborating until the final song. It was a set full of humour, politics and life observation. 



Gaz Brookfield had his first appearance at the Festival with his band the Company of Thieves. The tent was packed for this gig as they shot few a mix of songs off the new album I Know My Place and some of the greatest hits which turned into a huge sing along with an enthusiastic crowd.



One disappointment for my wife was that she was keen to buy herself a festival hoodie from the extensive merch tent on the Friday and they had all sold out within a few hours of the tent opening so hopefully next year there will be a better stock of these.
On the Main Stage Turin Brakes were entertaining and rocked out a bit but sort of floated by us whilst we were waiting for Stiff Little Fingers. When SLF came on I was quite surprised with the ferocity of the songs and the way they blasted through them with so much energy. The Waterboys ran through a best of set and though they strived to entertain the sound just felt a little flat as due to economics [I guess] the band scrimped on a couple of additional musicians that would have bolstered the sound. Therapy kept the energy of their music in an acoustic set that an underlying aggression it was fun though and the band communicated well with the crowd giving an intimate café feel to the whole show.




Breakfasts were lovely at the festival and it was easier to get a newspaper, bacon roll and coffee in the morning than to visit the loo. It seems a constant at festivals for it to be satisfactory to allow the ladies to queue for ages and maybe miss some of their favourite act.

Saturday was a lovely day weather-wise so we just camped over by the main stage all day. Bristol based Talisman who had people dancing with their Roots Reggae as the bass pumped through. David Wax museum was a fun mix up of sounds from the south of the States to the edge of Mexico and they looked and played the part. Ferocious Dog in effect were playing in front of their home crowd and their punk folk inspired many to get up and join in. The band seemed as if they would be just as happy being in the audience looking back at their selves. Hepcat had some great moves and skanked along with some lovely mellow groves. 



It was no surprise that New Model Army didn’t play a hits set and this is their strength as front man Justin has always had a focus on now and the hard hitting set had just as much focus and direction as in their early days. 
Sisters of Mercy added to their list of indifferent shows, reaction was muted as the dry ice tried to add an atmosphere as Andrew Eldritch struggled to remember the words of some of the songs. This was my first time watching Frank Turner and the Sleeping Souls and they were amazing and Frank is one of the best front men out there and is a pure entertainer with some fantastic songs.



The rain came in properly on Sunday as we ventured down to the beautifully structured Bimble Inn but struggled to get in and decided to move as we struggled to hear the acts outside but it looked as if it was buzzing in there. On to the Little Big Top to shelter from the downpour as we caught pumping sets from Don Letts who did some great mixes and included a few Bob Marley ones in these. Craig Charles was a spark of energy with his Funk and Soul show and his best mix was a mash up of Up Town Funk Me Up and Severn Nation Army, it was a high energy show and Craig worked hard to pump up the crowd into a frenzy.



Public Service Broadcasting have hit another level and their videos running behind the band made the whole event a huge spectacle backed by their soaring music. The Levellers were blistering and crowd pleasing as their songs were just as fresh in their 30th year. 





Beautiful Days was one of the best festivals I have been to and will be back again. The music was at the front with excellent sound on all the stages which meant you could truly say that you have seen the acts rather than some specs in the distance playing background music. The crowd were friendly, knowledgeable and respectful of each other which created a great atmosphere as they were music fans. Big respect goes out to the organisers who have created a wonderful experience with one or two minor glitches to be ironed out it was an amazing weekend and the fancy dress on Sunday was great as well. Now to 2018.

Thanks to Karen Liversidge for the pictures. She took the good ones, the others are mine.