Hogwash 2008

The third and final of Guernsey’s summer bike shows, The Hogwash, took place in a field over looking Vazon bay on 18 and 19 July 2008. Featuring everything you’d expect from a bike show – including burnouts, bands and, in some cases, large amounts of beer – the show was a great event for anyone with a love of engines and loud music, and, for the first time, lawnmower racing.

But more about the music… the Saturday kicked off with 2 Minutes 2 Late, who had already gone down well the night before. Sounding tighter than ever they did they played well in the face of the still small crowd and seemed to be appreciated.

An interesting change to there usual pop-punk came in the form of a Bob Dylan cover with a guest vocalist who added an extra dimension to things and left me wondering if we are likely to see more of this kind of thing from them in the future.

Second on the back of a truck style stage were Tora Bora whose brand of electric blues was great for relaxing in the sun on such a hot afternoon. Mixing traditional blues sounds with elements of The Doors and occasional Latino moments made for a great sound that continued next with J.J. Corbin.

While more known now for his work with full blues bands these days Corbin took to the stage alone with just his acoustic guitar and treated us to a mix of blues standards and his own compositions which added a relaxing feel to bike show madness that was ramping up in the arena.

The upbeat pop-rock of The Nelkons promised to lift the atmosphere next and, while they were onstage they did a great job, especially on their new track which features an extra added violin. Unfortunately The Nelkons drew one of the day’s short straws as they were continually interrupted by the lawnmower racing and bike show awards, which rather spoilt the flow of their set.

Finally on the outside stage was pop-punkers Poor Attempt who have continued to grow over the last few years into a great band, again though the bikers side of things interrupted the set with the tattoo competition and though they played again later in the beer tent the break seemed to drain the energy that this band can possess leading to a slightly disappointing outing today.

Joe Corbin was back on stage in the beer tent following the protracted event that was the tattoo contest, but this time fully electrified with Spoonful. Their driving blues proved a great start to the evening’s entertainment and went down very well with the now packed tent.

Once again Corbin showed his talent on guitar, especially in the sections where he worked very closely with Andy Mason’s harmonica, but also the often overlooked rhythm section really had a chance to shine tonight as Spoonful provided one of the days true highlights before quickly heading south to play their second gig of the night at The Venture Inn.

As always with The Hogwash one band seems to draw the short straw of having their set broken up by the ‘adult entertainment’ and this year Subversion got that slot. Despite this the band did their best and seemed to go down well with their classic pub style rock and punk-rock covers the highlights of which were versions of Foo Fighters’ ‘Everlong’ and Black Sabbath classic ‘Paranoid’.

After another show by the strippers, and about an hour and a half late, No Paparazzi hit the stage and their mix of extremely tight pop and rock covers provided a great end to the day as they got many at the front of the tent dancing and, despite the late start, kept playing until the PA was turned off and left everyone with a good mood as it seemed the party was set to continue through the night.