The Gleaves Issue Quite Possibly (Country) Album of The Year 2025

Don't Let The Sun Come Out On Me

Red Rooster Festival

1st June 2024

I've got used to it now

The grey the wind the gloom

Rain and mud underfoot

It's becoming home 

Take me to the river

You couldn't get much wetter

I'll dive right in

Off the board with a spring

We're all used to it now

That patch of blue sky looks wrong

I've got used to it now

Don't let the sun come out today

Yes, three days of Red Rooster 2024 and reportedly the only occasion when  this festival has really suffered from disruptive climate conditions.  The weathered attendees, the prompt stage managers, the acts just got on with the business.  Muscians eventually stopped complaining about forgetting gloves and moaning about the cold.  It was the kind of situation made for a stiff upper lip mentality, except it was the cheery, let's-get-on-with-it of the happy campers who made it a good time.  What a lovely bunch of people.

It is not easy writing about a festival. The music is pretty much non-stop, so one can suffer from sensory overload at the best of times - then there was the cold and rain. Maslow pretty much got it right with his Hierarchy of Needs...we focus on essential survival before settling down to mull over the finer points of music and art. So I must confess that I was so cold on the Friday evening that I headed home and missed Galen & Paul and a few others. I will let someone else appraise you of how that final set of Friday night went down.    

What I will do in subsequent posts is provide some reflections on the range and quality of acts that were featuring at Red Rooster 2024.    

Spencer Ide

3rd June 2024