Festival set to hit heights

TOPPING the bill . . . The Coral

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WHAT a line-up - and what a day is in store at the already feverishly anticipated Cotton Clouds Festival on August 12 at Saddleworth Cricket Club.

Topped by Birkenhead rockers The Coral, Cotton Clouds promises so much, and massive credit must go to chief festival organisers Rick and Max Lees for dragging together such an exciting, eclectic mix of artists including, crucially, a handful of up-and-coming local artists who will help create a real party atmosphere for what will hopefully be a sell-out audience.

Just look at the mix - The Coral will be joined by 80s icons the Sugarhill Gang and Nick Heyward (from old faves Haircut 100), while Delph-based Bruce Carter's The Whip feature, along with the mighty Pins, the Everly Pregnant Brothers, the Rhythm Method and the Sundowners.

Don't forget the huge spectacle will be spread across a main stage and two others - Jimmy's Stage and Tim Peak's Diner (established so popularly recently by the Charlatans' Tim Burgess) - meaning there's also room on an epic showpiece for more brilliant local bands such as Cupids, the Blinders, Ethan and the Reformation, Gardenback, Stillia, Nev Cottee, Proletariat and Shadow Palace.

It's just going to be a new festival to cherish - so as long as it doesn't pour down, what could possibly go wrong?

Former Twisted Wheel bassist Rick told me: "Through us working and DJing at various other festivals across the UK, we felt we'd gained enough experience, so we thought 'you know what, Saddleworth is a great setting, we've got great contacts, we've got the space, so let's try and put this all together'.

"We teamed up with a local entrepreneur called Luke Stanley, and now it's all going ahead, it's booked, and we're ready to roll.

"We've got a lot of good people behind it, and there's a strong line-up which we're happy with.

"We wanted the bill the to appeal to as wider demographic as possible. Don't forget Saddleworth has quite a rich musical heritage, and we have got some great local bands on.

"We were keen to make it all as diverse and as accessible as possible really. We want to make it a great day for a big crowd."

Rick and Max both enjoyed spells in Twisted Wheel at different junctures, and putting on an event like Cotton Clouds has certainly been a long-held dream for the brothers.

"Because of what we did with Twisted Wheel I have always been drawn back to festivals, probably sub-consciously," added Rick.

"We had some great experiences at festivals up and down the country. We did Glastonbury, Kendal Calling, T in the Park - all the major ones. We even went over to Fuji Rock in Japan and that was amazing.

"Just seeing how much people appreciate live music, that will always stick with me.

"Now we've built up these contacts, we know how to do it and how an artist feels to play a festival, I'm sure we'll deliver a massively successful event."

Cotton Clouds will certainly give some of those locally-based artistes a considerable fillip as they continue to beaver away on the long road to potential success.

What a great chance to showcase their talents this is going to be.

Rick went on: "There does seem to be so many bands from Saddleworth at the moment, though having said that there has also been a good scene up here.

"Hopefully we'll be giving some of them a platform in august when they can really show the people what they've got.

"These bands might be out there rehearsing in local mills and stuff, working really hard every night, but there's not really many places they can actually play in Oldham.

"They do generally have to go down to Manchester.

"We hope we can give some of these local bands something exciting to work towards now. We then want other bands to then say that next year they want to be on Cotton Clouds.

"Hopefully this can help drive the industry a little bit."

While undoubtedly Cotton Clouds will make a huge mark on the music scene this year and the exciting anticipation is almost at fever pitch already, the festival is also set to be a day out for all the family, with kids welcomed and lots of exciting activities planned.

Check out the Cotton Clouds website for more details and ticket availability - www.cottoncloudsfestival.com.

The festival also has dedicated pages on Twitter and Facebook.