Festival '75
Does anybody out there remember the rock festival that took place at Bloomfield Road in the Summer of 1975? At the time such events at sports stadia in this country were unusual, so to a BFC supporting rock music enthusiast such as myself, this was a new experience. The Kop, which had a roof in those days, was the auditorium, with a stage situated on the edge of the 18 yard box. The 'backstage' area was to be the players' dressing rooms, which meant that the artists had an approximate 100 yard walk to the stage. Sounds rather like a scene from Spinal Tap. Nevertheless it was a sunny day, and there was a relaxed air of expectancy when things got underway early in the afternoon.
Events were kicked off by local group Street, followed by the charismatic Welsh rockers Good Habit, both acts performing well in front of a subdued audience. Even a member of the Good Habit road crew dancing on stage with a toilet brush impressively balanced on his nose, failed to provoke much reaction. The lack of atmosphere was mainly due to the large area between stage and audience, and the concentration camp style fence that ran along the bottom of the terracing. Singer/Songwriter Kevin Coyne vented his frustrations by hurling a chair off the stage, but only managed to reach the penalty spot! Roy Harper and his all star backing band overcame the problems by playing loudly. This rather spoilt the subtlety of some of the songs, but livened things up a bit. Headliners Steeleye Span, folk music with rock rhythms, gave it all they had, and climaxed their set by persuading the police to open a gate in the fence, allowing singer Maddy Prior to lead a line of enthusiastic dancers, pied piper style, up and down the terracing. In the end a good time was had by all.
You may be wondering what happened to this galaxy of stars after appearing at such a prestigious event. Street and Kevin Coyne disappeared into obscurity from whence they came, and Good Habit evolved into one hit wonders Racing Cars, before finally sinking without trace. Roy Harper had the misfortune to contract a rare and near fatal disease from one of his farm animals, consequently gaining more publicity than for any of his musical efforts. Only the innovative Steeleye Span achieved any lasting fame and fortune, but somehow I doubt whether an appearance at the Bloomfield Road Festival had much to do with their rise to stardom!