666 : True Grit!

The music festival has become a quintessential part of the Great British summer. They used to be counterculture enclaves, full of smelly hippies wishing to storm the barricades of the bourgeoisie elite, after of course they had finished spliffs. However, over the last fifteen years they have evolved into an essential component of our way of life (and our economy). Comparable to high profile sports or cultural event such as Wimbledon or the Chelsea Flower Show.

This morning the lead headline on 5live was MP’s warning of the effects of another summer without music festivals. Coz as we speak it does look pretty fragile. Glastonbury is gone, Boomtown is gone and Big Download is gone. In our world we have got diddy Download (or whatever Andy Copping is calling his test event) and the ever-resilient Bloodstock (an event that seems intent on squaring on up to the virus and screaming into its face “come and have a go if yer hard enough”). However, in the words of an elderly Jedi Master, there is another. Steadily and Stealthily, Call of the Wild has been keeping both the faith and its nerve and may well emerge as the triumphant success of the summer.

They have formed in the whole triumph from tragedy shebang. Last year, they were almost the last man standing. As others folded and gave up the ghost, they hung in there until the very last. They moved to September and they poured their very last intent into modelling how social distancing could work at a live event. There was talk of pre-designated marked out spots at the front of the stage and of one-way systems across the whole site. And they very nearly pulled it off. They were inches away of having the honour of beings 2020’s only festival, but sadly the Kent variant and rising numbers put pay to such elaborate planning. But Raz White and his team are not ones to be despondent. Where others would have given up, or at least gone into a darkened room for a good cry, they picked themselves up and started planning this year’s event.

It is that grit and determination that has impressed us here at ROCKFLESH Towers. They dug their heels in, decided that they are not for turning and got hold of three of the hottest headliners out there. There is journey man Ricky Warwick and his fighting hearts, there is the gloriously flamboyant heavy rock of Inglorious and what can we say about the chart-bothering Massive Wagons that hasn’t already been splashed across these very pages. There is also a brucie bonus of the always dependable The Treatment on the Thursday as a thank you to the all those that have rolled over their 2020 tickets.

In fact, Call of the Wild has managed to pull together an enticing smorgasbord of British Rock n’ Roll with something for everyone. There is the chorus busting metalcore of Skarlet Riot, the irreverent comic thrash of Lawnmower Deth, the back to basic rock of Florence Black and the world debut of much anticipated supergroup The Hot Damn! There is also the small matter of an actual god darn Sex Pistol in the form of Glenn Matlock. But as we all know festivals are not just about the music. Back in 2019, Call of the Wild managed to pull off that rare thing of making you feel like the organisers were not just after the pound in your pocket. Attendees found themselves in a well-run, well organised environment that felt a million miles from other soulless corporate hells I could mention. The summer of 2021 is screaming out for evenings of copious lashings of Rum and Rock’ n roll. To make up for the heartache and disappointment of the last fourteen months, it needs to be the summer where we rock harder than ever before. We at ROCKFLESH towers will certainly be hitching up our (massive) wagons and heading on down to Lincoln showgrounds. You should join us.

Call of The Wild tickets can be found here