Cambridge Rock Festival fallout
There’s been a lot of anger and frustration expressed on various web forums over the drastically shortened slot for Mostly Autumn at the Cambridge Rock Festival, when what had been planned as a 90 minute set got shortened to just 40. Various rumours have been circulating, some blaming things on Marillion, others on Radio Caroline, with the most likely culprit being Andy Fairweather Low’s organisation.
The festival organiser, Dave Roberts, posted this on the Rockingbeerfest Feedback Forum which lays at least some of the conspiracies to rest.
My apologies that the Mostly Autumn set was cut short, my stage crew are unable to explain it - the secondhand information I had initially was just via the onstage announcement by the band, that they were coming off early and comments from one of the sound engineers that there was a problem with the guitar pedal board (which caused the delay at start of set). Since speaking to Bryan it seems my original understanding that there was a technical issue with some of the bands kit was not the reason for the early close of the set. Radio Caroline were ready to go with the following set whenever it started and did not interfere in any way with the running times. CRFs stage crew were having a short break at the time so were not at all ready to do a change over when MA unexpectedly came off, the upshot is that we are not aware of who spoke to the band to cut the set. However this has occurred and I am as disappointed as you that we did not get the full set from MA .
Only that just opens some new cans of worms. Exactly who was it that ordered the Mostlies off stage? Was it some junior member of the RBF crew who had no authorisation to do such a thing? Or someone else entirely? I think the following band owe us all an explanation.
All is not lost. Dave Roberts continues:
I have spoken with Bryan today and have arranged a special gig for Mostly Autumn to perform at the Junction on Thursday 11th December - with no support band so we can provide a full double set with the Junction’s new state of the art digital sound system, I hope this will go some way towards lessening our shared disappointment.
It’s a Thursday, and it’s midweek, so I’m not sure what the finances and annual leave situation will be that late in the year. We’ll have to see if I can make it.
September 1st, 2008 at 4:17 pm
I manage Andy fairweather Low and I have just been made aware of this dialogue and for anyone out there who does want to hear the Truth this is it.
During the Mostly Aumn set we were asked by the stage crew & promoter if we could get ready to go onstage early at Cambrdige as Mostly Autmn were coming off early because their pedal board had failed and the guitar player could not play all of their the songs without it - God help us if he had broken a nail as well !
Anyone who thinks that there must be some sort of conspiracy against them should grow up.
Regards - JT
September 1st, 2008 at 10:05 pm
Not true.
The problems with Bryan Josh’s pedal board delayed the start by about ten minutes. but then gave no further problems. If his pedal board had failed, would the band have announced one last number, which just happened to make extensive use of guitar effects? I think not. And it was clear to anyone that heard that last number that there was absolutely nothing wrong with the pedal board by that stage.
It was most categorically *not* Mostly Autumn’s own decision to finish their set early; they were pulled off stage by whoever was acting as stage manager for reasons that have not been established. This was abundantly clear to anyone that spoke with the band afterwards.
I know there were a lot of ‘Chinese whispers’ floating around the arena after the truncation of the set, one of was technical problems. But this was discounted by the band themselves, who were clearly under the impression they’d been pulled off stage early to give AFL a longer setup time in connection with the Radio Caroline broadcast. Radio Caroline have subsequently denied interfering with running times.
It may be that what transpired was a result of serious communication failures by the festival managers, but claims that Mostly Autumn and their fans need to ‘grow up’ is insulting.
September 2nd, 2008 at 7:27 pm
I think it is you, Mr Taylor, who needs to grow up. If you think you can just simply pass the buck in this way then you’re sadly mistaken, squire. 100% of the fans in attendance know what really happened, so wise up, stop looking for scapegoats and do your job properly.
September 2nd, 2008 at 10:14 pm
Again if anyone wants to know the truth because they actually care about the truth then here it is again as I will not be gracing an idiot like Grumpy Badger who apparently cannot even stand up to giving their actual name with any further reply.
We were asked would we go on early because MA were coming off early because of their aforementioned problem. We had to scaramble around the site looking for various crew, band members and the freelance engineer we had hired to cover the live broadcast to do this and comply with the promoter’s request and as I previously said it had nothing whatsoever to do with any of us in the AFL camp, there was no prior discussion with us on any level about this.
I might say we found it completely odd that MA were coming off that early and the reason given even odder hence my earlier joke.
So Grumpy old boy ( or girl ) I don’t really care whether you accept the truth or not that is how it was and yes Elvis is still alive and working in that Fish shop in Barnsley, the CIA obviously blew the twin towers and global warming is a fraud !!!!
If you want to look at the real problem here then it lies with the fact that Dave Roberts could have ended any question immediately it arose by just being clear and firn about what happened and owning up to any mistake they may or may not have made, the fact he did not seems strange to me - A band does not just give up at a festival and come offsatge that early without reason and DR being in complete charge of the festival should be completely definitive in his response - Nonsense over !
MA are like most of us in this business a band who are doing their gig and trying as hard as they can to do it well - We all do it with a camaraderie and a good feeling toward each other which some of you don’t seem to appreciate and without all of this invention and imagined backstabbing -
Good luck to them and the rest of you whether you accept this or not
End of subject - Goodbye.
John
September 2nd, 2008 at 10:37 pm
John, whatever “the Truth” might be, your aggressive and sarcastic tone does neither you not the artist you manage any favours whatsoever, and makes everyone reading this far, far less likely to accept your version of events.
September 3rd, 2008 at 12:00 am
Hi Tim
OK then as you were kind enough to state who you are and so as not to offend sensibilities a response and surprisingly to some readers I’m sure, I believe that Andy has a friend who was with MA that day.
Before I was made aware of this some postings were very rude and anti AFL for absolutely no reason and yet no one had even bothered to speak to him or anyone representing him for a quote or even their take on events and I didn’t notice anyone really trying to take that on board - Is that not equally insulting ? - Is this a forum where all sides are considered equally before conclusions are drawn ?
As I said the truth is the truth - it can’t be changed because one is more popular with the judge & jury - I do not have an ego about what others feel about me and nor is there any moral high ground. If some poeple are swayed by hearsay then it is their own perception and not mine nor can I do anything about it.
I am certain of the main fact here which is that Dave should have been absolutely aware of why this happened and should be able to say exactly and with certainty who said what to the band it is inconceivable to me that this situation can exist we also played at Glastonbury, Trowbridge, Colne, & Stamford festivals this summer and readers should understand just how really odd this is - it could not happen at 100 % of events as far as I am concerned and yet did here so I am saying don’t look to other acts on the bill ask the real questions of the people who should be able to answer them and then come back to those convicted in the kangaroo court and be honest.
Regards - John
September 3rd, 2008 at 12:08 pm
So, firstly who am I - if anybody really cares!! I’m the promoter at the Riga Music Bar in Southend and I’m also involved with Radio Caroline and The Cambridge Rock Festival (or RBF).
I’ve heard about what’s been said on here and find it incredible that anybody would believe that a band could demand that another band should cut short their set and actually have their demands granted.
I spent a lot of my time backstage at the festival and was with Andy Fairweather Low and his band when the message came through that Mostly Autumn had a problem and were cutting short their set. Nobody really knew what the problem was - and would appear still don’t - but didn’t have the time to try and find out as The AFL band had to get their gear together and set up on stage pronto. Judging by the looks on their faces, if anybody knew what was going to happen, they deserve and Oscar.
Those that were there may also remember that there were sound problems during the first songs of AFL’s set caused by the rush in getting everything together so quickly. As their set was being broadcast live by Radio Caroline, if there was any under hand business it certainly backfired!!
Sorry I can’t give a fuller explaination as to what occurred, but like most of the people involved it just happened, was worked around and was forgotten about.
Which is something I now entend to do about this meassage
thread!!
September 3rd, 2008 at 6:10 pm
A few points I think I need to make here to put my original post in context:
* This site is really my own personal journal rather than a music biz discussion forum - it allows comments, as many blogs do, so that friends and acquaintances can responses.
* I post about Mostly Autumn and related bands a fair bit on the site, but I am always writing purely as a fan. I am not in any way an official spokesman for the band, or worse still, as a music critic. I don’t buy the “blogging=journalism” line either.
* I wrote this entry back in July, less than a week after the RBF, when a lot of fans were still quite angry at the turn of events. Since then it had scrolled off the front page, and was gathering virtual dust in the archives. It would have been forgotten about had John Taylor not posted a comment against it.
* Despite what Grumpy Badger says, I do not know what actually happened to MA at the RBF, except that they did not terminate their own set because of technical problems. I am aware that there is more than one plausible theory.
September 3rd, 2008 at 7:01 pm
As someone close to Mostly Autumn I would like to add some clarity to this matter.
Firstly, Mostly Autumn (MA) certainly did not come off early due to the lead guitarist’s (Bryan Josh) pedalboard failing. It is true there were some technical problems that delayed the start of their set by 10 or 15 minutes. This turned out to be a faulty power supply to the pedalboard and it was replaced with a functioning unit i.e. the pedalboard problem was fixed before the set started. Furthermore, as Tim quite correctly points out, if Bryan’s pedalboard had failed during the gig he would have to have stopped there and then - not announce they were going to do one more number (a 10-minute one at that!).
So while the delayed start of 15 minutes can be explained by this, the subsequent bringing forward of the finishing time (and consequential shortening of the set by a further 30 minutes) cannot.
Just as MA were about to go on stage they were told that they had to finish 30 minutes earlier than originally scheduled and hence had to cut their set further. With the gig already delayed and about to start there would have been no time to challenge this and besides the band would naturally assumed that this request was from someone in suitable authority. However, subsequently it has not been possible to identify who this person was. Given the resulting backlash from fans, maybe it’s not a surprise that nobody has put their hand up. Of course, it might have been a simple misunderstanding by the person making the request.
To the best of my knowledge no member of MA or their organisation has ever suggested that AFL had anything to do with this. They were naturally very disappointed at what happened but as mystified as anyone else. Therefore my initial reaction to John Taylor’s remark about Bryan breaking a nail is that it was rather sarcastic and unhelpful. On the other hand things can be taken the wrong way on blogs such as these so maybe it was just an ill-judged joke.
I would agree that the whole matter wasn’t helped by the fact that there was no public acknowledgement of the issue by RBF’s management for 3 days. While it’s understandable that they were busy breaking down the site after the festival, a simple message on their forum saying something along the lines of “We are sorry MA’s set was cut short. We don’t yet know the reasons but will find out and let you know” would have prevented a lot of the anger and various accusations that brewed up in the aftermath of the festival.
To be fair to Dave Roberts, once he did become aware of what had happened, he did make an apology and by arranging a special MA gig (which will be free to MA fans who were at RBF) he has shown himself to be an honourable guy who deserves respect. Yes, as the organiser he must carry responsibility for what happened but mistakes happen for us all. What matters is how you deal with them and in my opinion he has more than made amends to the MA fans who were there.
September 20th, 2008 at 10:23 pm
[…] probably never know the real reason why Mostly Autumn’s set got cut short at the Cambridge Rock Festival. But I’m wondering if we can blame Guardian hack scribbler […]