Читать книгу Class of '79 - Chris Rooke - Страница 14

From Leigh-on-Sea we went on to our last port of call – Reading Festival. As we lived in Oxford, Reading was easy to get to, and I’d been there the previous year on my own. That year (1975) I didn’t take a tent and so slept in the communal marquees which was quite an experience! I also didn’t have a ticket, so I completely missed the Friday performances, but my luck changed and I met some friends from Oxford on the Saturday morning, and they knew someone who was leaving, saying that the festival that year was sh*t, and that he was going home forthwith. He then somehow managed to prise open the metal clasp on his wrist band and gave it to me! I had a brilliant time, with highlights including watching Wishbone Ash, Yes, Supertramp, the Ozark Mountain Daredevils and The Heavy Metal Kids, although it was bit weird being by myself, especially as I’d only just turned 17. A big disappointment though, was that Lou Reed had been booked to play, but he refused to turn up, allegedly because he was only second on the bill on the Sunday night, below Wishbone Ash. I would have loved to have seen him and heard him play White light, White Heat live, but it was not to be. To be quite honest I have to agree with him about his poor place on the bill – he wasn’t even second billing on the Saturday! – who can blame such a massive music star as that for not bothering to fly over from the USA with all his band and equipment, for a lowly Sunday night second slot billing?

Anyway, this was now Reading 1976 and a truly great line-up, and I could enjoy it with all my friends. The only thing was that although this was still part of the ‘long hot summer of 76’ it rained a lot! - it was Reading festival, after all! Highlights that year included AC/DC who were just stunning, Eddie and the Hot Rods, and a great headlining set by Rory Gallagher. However, head and shoulders above them all were Phil Manzanera (Roxy Music) with his band 801, who were just fantastic. However, for very different reasons, the performance of the festival for us, was by the legendary American rocker, Ted Nugent. It was a pinnacle for us, not so much because of the music, but because of the great time we were having in the audience with some dope (which was ironic as Ted Nugent was heavily anti-drug), a lot of red wine in plastic bottles, and above all with a group of girls we knew from Oxford.

We were in the crowd, drinking and smoking, when we were suddenly and miraculously joined by Gary’s girlfriend, Steph, and a few of her friends from school. We knew that Steph was coming that night, but not with a group of her friends, and how they found us in the middle of several thousand people was incredible (no mobile phones etc. of course in those days).

We all had a great time, and as it decided to rain heavily at that point, we all dived under some plastic sheeting we got from somewhere, and somehow, probably due to the alcohol and the drugs, we all automatically paired up with the girls in the group – occasionally leaping out from the plastic sheeting to ‘freak out’ before diving back under and having a bit more sexy fun. This was what festivals were all about! A great time was had by all. They weren’t Bikini Babes, but they were most definitely Festival babes! Result!