Great Western Festival Souvenir

Produced by Sounds

New eye on an Old Problem

Stanley Baker, the man behind the festival, talking to Steve Peacock

WELL, THAT old peace and love trip didn't work out too well did it? So now, with the first of the events put on by the Stanley Baker and Lord Harlech organisation, Great Western Festivals, we enter something of a new era in pop festivals

Ask Stankey Baker what a nice film tycoon like him is doing in a business like this, and he'll-reply: "It sounds like a line, but I've been in show business all my life in theatre, films, tele vision and I think that festivals are here, and they'll be here for a long time."

So to him, festivals were just another branch of show business? "Totally, like it or not, and if you can do it as the problem in the past has thing else . . . I think part of the problem is the past has been fly-by-night merchants who put a thing together for the readies in it, and then as soon as they get the readies, announce to the Press they've lost money, dose the company and run.

Attitude

"But our whole attitude from the start has been let's do this professionally, lets make it work'. There's no question that there's a need for festivals, as another part of show business, and once it's accepted as that then a lot of people can enjoy themselves."

He believes that once people stop thinking of festivals as rather symbolic, woollily-idealed affairs, where' it's a fair game to try and cheat your way in free, and accept it as a legitimately organised form of entertainment like going to the cinema they'll be quite happy to pay up.

"People who go to a festival have got to accept it as a legitimate form of entertainment which teas been proved, and that they've got to pay for." He says that once the whole thing is "on a proper level with proper standards", everyone will get a better deal the public will have more smoothly run events, the arrangers will have fewer headaches, and a better chance of getting back their investment.

The professionalism of the Great Western organisation looks impressive. Quite how well they execute their plans we won't know until the event, but in advance they seem to be well prepared, and willing to put their money where their ideas are.

Showers

They're spending a lot on the site both on the essential things like lavatories, showers, water supplies, tented areas, stage and services, and on frills like "environmentation" which means hot air balloons and flying sausages floodlit, and lighting trees and so on around the site.

''I hope that when people -see all that they'll think it's good and they won't want to spoil it. But then you're always going to get a rough element who are going to say 'Who cares? Wreck it', so we've made arrangements for that. We'll have about 200 security people inside the arena who've been carefully chosen they're not heavies, no uniforms or armbands or all that nonsense. They're not there to spoil people's enjoyment, they're there to help people enjoy themselves."

Baker's previous experience has, he says, been very useful in preparing the site. "We've put in a lot of the people that have worked for us in the past on film productions, because the parallels between this and doing a film like 'Zulu' are very close Ñ you have to build roads, prepare the site provide food and those people are terribly experienced at it.

Certain

"If you're running a county agriculture show or something, then you usually have the site already, prepared, but for something like this you've got to do it properly, area the experience our guys, have got is bloody invaluable. One thing I'm certain of is that the team be right Absolutely.

Had the troubles of Bickershaw made him very apprehensive? "we all went up there for a couple of hours on the Sunday. I think they had the right ideas, and number one they were very unlucky with the weather, obviously. But I think it was like most of the festivals in the past they didn't put their organisation, which means money, up front.

"Two of the guys from Bickershaw came down to see us at Lincoln last week, and they said the contractors weren't getting paid five days before the event, so they just stopped work. Consequently there were great gaping holes in fences, toilets weren't working . . . all the plans they'd prepared weren't able to be carried out-because they had difficulties, finally over finance.

"That's a lesson to be learnt, and we've said it a dozen times, though it never seems to get through to anybody. But it's quite clear that you've got to be certain up front that your organisation is right, that the money's there to be able to spend on your organisation, and not to rely on ticket sales to give you that money. Otherwise you're going to be late, you're not going to be ready."

Hopes

Obviously, he hopes that they won't get weather like Bickershaw got, but if they do, he says, they'll be able to cope much better than any festival in the past. They have a greater area under canvas than anyone before, he says, there's a wood on the site which is natural rain protection, and there are more things to do side tents, movies tents and so on.

He obviously expected to make money, but what would happen if they ten? Would that be the end for Great Western Festivals? "I'll be happy if we break even I hope we make money, but I'd be happy to break even. If we test, I think we'd still do another one."

Festivals, says Stanley Baker, are primarily about listening to music. "But they're also about people getting together to listen to music they're there for the experience of being together to listen to music. I think it's one of the healthiest things to have happened in the past ten years quite frankly, but the way it's happened through these fly-by-night things, everybody feels they're being cheated. We have to regularise it in some way then it can work."

He paused, and seared out from his 19th-floor office window over the Thames. "Jesus, I hope so." New eye on an old problem

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If You Need Help

...here's what to do

WHATEVER WARNINGS and guidance people give out beforehand, festivals always have their share of problems, both predictable and unlikely. Surviving in the open air for several days isn't easy, whatever provisions have been made by the organisers, and you inevitably forget something essential be it a sleeping bag or some aspirins.

People get lost, they have accidents, things get stolen, you run out of money . . . there's all manner of things that can go wrong, and as at most festivals there are various organisations on site that wm help.

Near the stage there will be an area where most of these services are gathered, and if you need help, advice, messages or just a meeting place, the focal point of that area will be the SOUNDS Information Centre, the official information service for the site.

If we can help we will, otherwise we'll send you to someone who can. Urgent messages handed in at the Information centre will be passed to the stage and read out over the PA; other messages will be dealt with by the centre itself, so if you lose or find someone or something, that's the phee to go. Use it as a meeting point

In that area also will be a medical centre, staffed by qualified doctors and nurses; don't be afraid to go there if you have an accident, or get onto a bad trip or something. But if you're in trouble of any kind there are people to help Release will be doing their usual magnificent job, and there will be various religious organisations like the Salvation Army and the YMCA.'

As far as food goes the organisers say they've made a ruling that prices on site should be pegged at a reasonable level, so if you find any of the traders charging ridiculous prices let someone know so they can stop them or at least warn people. If you find yourself without enough money to feed yourself; there will be one place just off the main site, run by the people who did Joe's Cafe at Bickershaw, which can provide good, cheap food, and various organisations w n be able to provide survival food for the completely moneyless For details ask at the Information Centre.

Finally, a few basic reminders: the organisers say they'll be three large marquees provided for people to sleep in, but remember it still can get bloody cold at nights, so bring a sleeping bag of some description. Then again, the organisers say they'll be providing ~ firewood and fire sites, s< don't rip down the fences to burn and don't light fires in themiddle of densely-packed tent areas. Tents bum easy, and so do people.

Festival Map

Returns and Debuts

ALTHOUGH THE bill for the Great Western Festival may not contain many surprises, musically, it should provide more than a few excellent moments. The focal point of the festival, quite naturally, will be the return of Joe Cocker to the English-stage after So long.

Reports of Joe's recent American return tour with Chris Stainton's band have been mixed, to say the least; but those close to him say that despite a fairly disastrous opening at New York's Madison Square Garden the gigs later on in the tour were much better. By now, with a tour and some recordings behind them, the band should be well played in and if they're half as good as you would expect, that alone should make your journey worthwhile.

A 'First' for Great Western will be the debut in this country of the new band formed by Alexis Korner and Peter Thorup, who've been working as a duo for some time, together with three former King Crimson members lan Wallace, Mel Collins and Boz. They met up while Komer and Thorup were touring the States with Humble Pie, and gradually became a band.

Steve Marriott says they sound a bit like the early Stones, with two guitars and rhythm and blues, and for Alexis to get another band together, they must have something. They'll be opening the festival on Friday night. Another debut is Spencer Davis' new band with ex-Burrito Sneakv Pete.

Humble Pie, of course, are on Monday and along with other bands like the Faces, Slade and Lindisfarne, should whip up that kind of raving, looping, get-your-rocks off rock and roll music that goes down particularly well both here and in the States. Incidentally, for those of you who tend to scoff at Slade because of their frequent appearances on Top of the Pops, this festival should show you you've been underestimating their power as a live band.

Those who've heard Rorv Gallagher's "Live In Europe" album. will know to expect a fine show from that quarter on Friday evening, and with the more traditional style of Dr. Ross, the Buddy Miles Band, and Komer's lot, that night should give you a good cross section of different points of evolution from the blues.

VARIETY

It's the Americans at the festival who'll provide most of the variety: the Beach Boys may surprise you with some of their changes Sha Na Na will grease you to life, there's the more relaxed and funky music of Ry Cooder, the black acapella vocal group, the Persuasions, and the songs of Don McLean.

Propeller, who are members of the hit-making German group the Rattles, plus friends and the Average White Band which includes the three horn players who became known as the Dundee Horns after working with Stone The Crows

And don't forget about such delights as Monty Python, with some new sketches Ollie Ollie Ollie, an 18-stone ballerina, plus bighwire acts, movies, various music tents and all the other that you probably won't have side-shows you've heard before like Locomotive GT, Hungarian band.

RUNNING ORDER

ACCIDENTS permitting, the line up for the Great Western Festival should be as the list below shows. John Martin of Great Western says Sly Stone is contracted to appear, but reports from the States indicate that Sly hasn't been doing gigs recently so he may not make it to Lincoln. It is also possible, but by no means certain, that Carlos Santana will be appearing with the Buddy Miles band, and as far as Stone the Crows are concerned their management have said that they want to do the gig, despite the death of Les Harvey, and Peter Gunn will play guitar. This is not the order of appearance.

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