As I climbed into the taxi from Solihull train station, glad to be out of the typically British summer rain that was hammering down on me, I was surprised to find that the driver didn’t even know there was a festival going on!
 | | Blue Nation's cheerleaders |
And that’s something I’d like to change, (because I obviously have the power to influence oh so many minds). No one really knows about the B91 festival and that’s a shame because it’s well worth the measly £12 for the weekend ticket. After wrestling with my tent and dumping my stuff I wandered over to the club house for a nice pint of bitter (a reasonably priced one, too, I’d like to add) and soaked up the chilled atmosphere (and the rain) while enjoying some good old fashioned rock ‘n’ roll. English Jones
 | | English Jones fans brave the rain |
The first band I saw was English Jones and I suppose the only way to describe this trio would be that you’ll probably find their CD in your Dad’s car. (Not that that’s a bad thing, nor does it categorise them in any relevant way, especially if we’re talking about my Dad…AC/DC and Texas: what’s all that about?) Despite the premature winter weather attacking the stage (which caused a break in the performance to re-structure the speaker set up) they ploughed through a set of feel-good dad-rock, complete with oooooooohs and aaaaaaaahs in all the right places and harmonising vocals that hit the spot. Chris Edwards
 | | Chris Edwards |
I was then drawn to the Acoustic tent to watch Chris Edwards, a rather nice chap who’s been gracing the Midlands with his folk/country/rock sounds since 1997. I really liked this guy, he had a sense of ‘cool’ about him, his chilled out songs accompanied my pint quite well. Poetry
 | | Richard Bruce Clay |
It’s not all music at B91; in between sets the crowd were entertained by poems from talented writers. One of which was Richard Bruce Clay, who shared his hilarious thoughts with us in the rain. One of his poems, ‘The Bees’, was particularly funny and brought some interesting theories about Selfridges to light. The Indigos After wandering around aimlessly, admiring the clothes and jewellery stalls and wishing I had more money, I caught the last few songs from The Indigos, a four-piece indie/punk band with a raucous set of songs destined for the big time. With bucket loads of charisma and good vibes, they were just what I needed to step things up a bit on a lazy Saturday afternoon. Lunarmile
 | | Lunar Mile's Toni-Marie Iommi |
Lunarmile offered a refreshing sound; powerful vocals and thrashing guitars – it’s not often you see a female fronted band these days and they had an amazing presence on stage. Tom Williams, the bassist, said, “It stopped raining for us, which was kind of cool. It was cool that people came to see us.” Apollomy
 | | Apollomy with the Celturian |
Apollomy lit up the acoustic tent with their funky upbeat tunes, (I camped next to these guys and had to interrupt a rehearsal to borrow some of their tent pegs because I so cleverly forgot mine). The legendary Celturian accompanied them on stage, now that’s a man who can play guitar! Crawl was my favourite song of their set, and unfortunately the only one I can remember the name of, but check out their Myspace page, they’re wicked. Blue Nation and their cheerleaders
 | | Blue Nation's Paula Murdoch |
Blue Nation, a local four-piece brought good sounds and an impressive team of cheerleaders to the main stage, which was most amusing. Their mix of mellow, lighter-swaying tunes and cool, radio-friendly rock made the sunset even more beautiful. Tilted Smile - headliners Headliners Tilted Smile hotted up the atmosphere in the clubhouse as they hammered their way through what must be the most energetic set I’ve ever seen.
 | | Jack Tilted Smile |
It’s a wonder they didn’t pass out, the pace of their performance and manic stage manoeuvres ensured that within 1 minute of bursting on stage their enthusiasm and drive was oozing out of every pore, thus making them look like they’d just been swimming. I caught up with them after their set to make sure they were still alive. “We don’t think about it, we just go for it,” said drummer Ben, “We don’t really know what’s going on outside of us three. As long as you’re having a good time it’s all good.”
 | | Tilted Smile |
The band landed the headlining slot by winning the Jack Daniels ‘Battle of The Bands’ competition down in London. Tilted Smile beat 7 other regional winning bands across the UK and are now getting flown to Tennessee to tour and record an album in the legendary Sun Studios. It seems their on-stage oomph has paid off in heaps! What an exhilarating end to a fantastic day of music at the B91 festival. Next year I’ll definitely stay for the whole weekend, and, with any luck, I won’t forget my tent pegs. | 
