Music in Wanstead Park

As the name suggests the annual Music in Wanstead Park is essentially a music festival  but it also features plenty of other activities to keep the whole family entertained including Snakey Sue & her snakes , Wellgate Community Farm, Morris Dancers, It’s a Knock-Out and an Eggathon (as well as a beer tent of course!).

Unfortunately I missed the first three bands but there were still plenty to see. First off were Stereo Decade, an indie band from Upminster who sounded very promising; their songs are catchy yet with a bit of bite to them. Next were The Wannabeatles , a local Beatles tribute act made up of 14 year olds. They were very good, they played the familiar songs well and looked very confident for their age. Its good to see 14 year olds doing something positive and they’re obviously good musicians... would it be churlish to say that possibly 14 year olds should have a little more ambition than being a tribute act? Probably. Caitlin Downie followed, she is a local graduate of Royal Holloway wiyh an amazing voice and performed various musical styles from Gershwin to Puccini. Another local band, Bleech, then took the stage and upped the tempo a notch with their heavy indie rock. Having seen this trio before, who are comprised of two sisters on lead and bass guitar and vocals and a male drummer, a number of us are already big fans. We had a short chat with one of the girls afterwards who was absolutely charming and easily persuaded us to buy the new album, does that makes us Beechettes or Bleeks? – I’m not sure. After the excitement of Bleech was Dr Blue and the Prescription, a blues band as you might’ve guessed. To be honest Blues is not really my cup of Darjeeling but they put on a good show and the crowd obviously liked them. The headliners were Manteca who play Latin Funk and soon had the crowd dancing along to their infectious rhythms.

All in all another fantastic day’s entertainment at Wanstead Park, the music was of the usual high standard that we have come to expect at this event and as an added bonus the weather was kind to us.