Splendour

I wasn't going to Splendour originally, free tickets from the Evening Post for the cricket made my mind up that sitting at Trent Bridge was a better way to spend a Sunday.

But then a couple of Splendour freebies found their way into my lap (I'm not called LuckyCol for just one reason you know ;-) ) so a choice had to be made.

To be fair, it was a bit of a no-brainer, I'd loved Madness as a kid but for some reason I'd never seen them live. The Pogues were also a favourite back in the day, and ironically the last time I'd seen them was at Wollaton Park, in the days when it was an annual free concert, alongside the likes of Stiff Little Fingers, That Petrol Emotion, Blur, Big Country etc etc.

Owing to a combination of the poor weather, a hang-over from the day before and the draw of the Test Match on SKY, we didn't make it down to the Wheelhouse until nigh on 5pm.

Good position near the beer tent (Harvest Pale, nice) and a cool set from the Fun Lovin' Criminals.

The rain came down and my adulthood refusal to buy a cagoul as a result of my mental scars of having one pretty much surgically connected to my body as a child led to my drowned rat appearance. But who cares, dancing can keep you warm !!

As people moved around stages / beer tent we found ourselves in an even better position for The Pogues. Shane McGowan having to be led onto the stage after the first song had finished meant he probably saw less of it than me. Something tells me it's partly an act, but bearing in mind he's been drinking since he was 10 years old, he's as lucky as me to still be alive.

Again, other peoples movements (stage / beer / bowels / whatever) resulted in an almost stage side position for Madness, who were quite frankly magnificent. The rain had stopped, the sun had been briefly out before surrendering to the horizon and the Hall was lit up like a Bavarian castle. Brilliant.