First up I attended a very interesting weekend at the 2009 Wakestock, Abersoch. Muddy and bangin!! A live collab with Derwyddon Dr Gonzo resulted in myself attending this year’s Wakestock, unfortunately, due to a situation out of my hands I missed my performance slot with the boyos, as you can imagine they weren’t very happy and attempted to sell me to traveling gypsies backstage - but I fought back and we had a bangin’ weekend together. Armed with a rucksack full of promo cd’s and red wine I set off around the vicinity. Caught incredible sets from The Golden Silvers, The Cuban Brothers, Dizzie Rascal, Zane Lowe, NERD.......The list goes on, I’d also like to add that I managed to get a promo cd to everyone of them backstage! 1 nil Ed! A few of the boyos also got to meet Pharrel Williams! Anyway, the weather was all over the shop but the weekend itself was an absolute banger and I defo recommend checking it out for future reference.

Next up, I checked The Ffîn festival innit!! Organised by our very own Sophie and Andy, Y Ffîn was definitely one of the best festivals I attended this year! What a successful day. Also, a very good opportunity to catch banging sets from Mechanical Owl - a band that I have only recently discovered - absolutely wicked! You should discover ‘em too - myspace.com/mechanicalowl. Derwyddon Dr Gonzo as usual tore the absolute roof off.........eeerrmmmm.......the sky off as it was outdoors!! Y Sibrydion played a very nice, all the classics, mellow set, that accompanied the very nice chilled out vibe of the day. John Lawrence and the Dry Drip Man also performed in the Eco-tipi accompanied by Sophie Mckeand, Rhys Trimble + Jonny Fluffypunk on the poetry front. Between all this, other band performances, the many various activity stalls + incredible aftershow party @ Y Pentan, resulted in Y Ffîn being a very successful festival and I’d expect to see it leap boundaries over the forthcoming years, check it out next year… Good job guys!

Next up on my list was the ever-growing Bayfest, a festival located in Cemaes Bay on Anglesey. What can I say? This festival grows and grows year by year and this year was no exception. Both nights were ram packed with heads from all over the UK attending. Primarily a rock festival, I caught a lot of banging local band performances such Gumshaw, Lantern, Transit, Evolve, but the boyos that did it for me were Valleum, an Incredible long time band from Amlwch! They played an absolutely splendid set, I suggest you check ‘em - myspace.com/valleum. I also got the chance to grace the stage with my Leeds based boyos, Speculum. Building on last year’s performance, this year was a lot more organized / solid which resulted in a very storming set courtesy of Tom and Loz on the old music making front. Shout outs to Mike for the opening dj set too! Overall, Bayfest was definitely a highlight this year, I expect next year will again be twice the size, so go check it!

Next up on my hit-list was the national Eisteddfod, Bala 2009. What a week, I might have seen you there as I clocked up more than 10 workshops & 4 gigs in that week! Sets took place on the performance stage where I also got the chance to catch some cream of the crop, Ryan Kift, Yr Ods, Gareth Bonello, Y Cyrion, Gwibdaeth Hen Fran.... the list goes on. Myself and Paul Tom also judged a battle of the bands competition that took place in Maes B, the competition was scorching but the winners emerged, a very tight impressive band called After An Alibi, I suggest you check these guys out as they are pretty heavy - myspace.com/ydirtywords. They deserved to claim first place that resulted in a recording session / C2 session amongst other goodies; expect to hear more from these young up'n'comers. The main headlining slot took place at Maes B with yet again another heavy set from local crazies Y Derwyddon Dr Gonzo, it really has been their year and Maes B’s performance was no exception with dancers and fire eaters gracing the stage! Also, myself and Aneirin "Bin Bags" Karadog emerged for guest spots, stars of the show obviously!!! Haha. Overall, I’d expect no less than this week to be superb! A defo for anyone that wants to experience the Welsh music scene in full schwing.

Next up, we’re approaching the end of my festival travels now! We have the incredibly attended Copperfest, Amlwch. What a festival! The first year that I have attended and performed at this homecoming festival. Over the course of three days a whopping 5000 were clocked up in attendance, unbelievable when you take into account that it’s all for free. Copperfest gives the opportunity to all sorts of bands / artists to perform in front of thousands, personally I had a banger, I presume that Midge Ure (Ultravox) / Bryn Fon / Racehorses / Profiad / Meic Stevens amongst others all felt the same. An incredible 3 day event, a massive shout out to all the organisers on this one!!

Lastly, I performed at a very nice out of the way festival called Chwilgig, chwilog. This festival is based at Chwilog’s local (sorry readers, cant remember what its called!!!), a very chilled out affair under a big marquee, which was needed that weekend due to weather. Unfortunately I didn’t get to catch the night time gigs but I was informed that both nights were total sellouts, I can imagine that they were due to excellent organising / sound / overall setup. An excellent effort here to the Chwilgig organisers!

There you go my Welsh mongrels, I hope you all had a bangin’ summer this year! Personally, I have had an absolute banger, one of the best summers I’ve had in fact, so until next year I shall be in hibernation. Until next time my Welsh scorpions!