Susie and Tom are good friends of Rollercoaster’s Alistair and Holly… and Susie has booked the band previously in her capacity as fundraiser for the Thursley Village playgrou
nd, and for various Action For AT parties. Most of the folk had seen the band before, so it made for a very friendly and welcoming crowd. The marquee was an open sided design, and the whole event was done under the ‘Shillfest’ banner, with a festival vibe dress code. With various food stalls across the lawn, a large array of cocktails to go round, and the party starting at 6pm, the stage was set for a great party. All Rollercoaster had to do, was provide the musical back drop… which after Tom’s very fine welcoming speech at 9pm, they did. As the night wound on, the party goers loosened up, until it was in full flow. To be honest, this was a close as it gets to playing a festival – everybody dancing as one, hands in the air… it was a dream crowd.
The final song was Fairytale of New York… and we would have carried on, had not an over zealous reveller tumbled into the speaker and lighting array, sending it off in the direction of a very steep hill. As it was, it was on the final bar of the song, and was past midnight, so the crowd was non the wiser. Chris slammed on the apres-band tunes, and we packed down as the guest slowly departed.
it was a great gig – an absolute pleasure to play… lets hope Shillfest 2017 is in the dairy – it’ll be a good’n!
