Coconut DF gig@ Global Village festival Scholey Park Tattershall Lincoln

Firedances

The Night [Part 2]

So what was next on Saturday?

Our Gaz

We needed to get some food and also energy for the night so Chips&Curry and a delicious Beef&Onion pie was compulsory. We were now prepared for the fest.

We went to Tescos to get more John Smith Cans and other supplies needed for our Nomad camping mates [Ice, fags, food for a full english breakfast, Plenty of cider, etc...]

There was a big main stage and a small dome too were Coconut DF were supposed to play. Also there was an alternative cinema and another big tent I didnt have time to see.

Dave Fielding

The fest atmosphere was great very relaxed. A perfect friendly environment.

Thought that Mini Bike was cool

I went to see some of the bands were playing and I also saw Andy Shades band on the main stage.

Andy Shades

Nice one

We chilled with our friends all the day around the festival and enjoy the company of our friend Darran [AKA Gonzo] and a mate, who came from Derbyshire to enjoy the weekend too.

Emma&Friend

The sun was shinning.

We even managed to see a brief performance of the mighty 'Rocking Bob' singing 'Tiger feet' by Mud!

video

Class!

Around 7 pm Coconut DF soundcheck was close so the band was getting the gear ready and Gaz started unloading and plugging the light equipment from his van, like we did in other shows.

David&Darran

The set was about 45 minutes and they started to play about 7:45 pm. It wasnt the best timing for the music and style CDF does I have to say, they probably would fit much better in later hours of the night. But I dont think the band really was bothered at all.

Gipsy Dave

New percusionist

Dave started the show with his great ebow intro like other shows and injected instantly an intense energy all around the dome. It was the prelude for what was about to come.

Its always a full pleasure to hear the Microfret sound that undeniably shined so bright on the past, and still does, but with a brand new music direction.

There is one pretty obvious thing for sure, Mr Fielding has moved on.

Ralph Harris

Coconut DF its a brilliant blend of spacey sounds with tribal beats, they are fresh and psychedelic, experimental and trippy.

Coconut DF are a band worth exploring, if you are musically audacious and not stuck in the past. A perfect mixture of dance beats, tribal drums and that heavily delayed e bow guitar chords we all have heard before on The Chameleons and The Reegs. Dave Fielding's own trademark.

Dave singing 'Bosnia' photo by Darran

I really really hope they decide to record something one day.

Its always a pleasure to see Dave play. The legacy remains but on a new form and shape.

Pic by Darran

Our Bo Dancing

There was a new percusionist playing along with Ralph Harris. They added the perfect cocktail for their dance tribal spacey sound. Coconut DF are a great live band and the fact that they played a bit early didnt stopped us to have a fantastic time.

I cant really tell much about set lists or any songs order. After the intro a couple of long tunes were played, mostly improvised I guess, although to be honest it doesnt looks like it, but I can tell you one thing though, you have never heard anything like this before.

The stage light was great , another sterling job of our friend Gaz.

'Bosnia' was the final chapter for a class evening. Every time gets better and better, since I saw it played on The Reegs with Reg backing on the guitar 10 years ago.

Photo by Darran Metters

After the show everyone seemed very pleased.



And we even had a top sunset!

Other acts were lined up on the night, but there was one needs to be mentioned: Dj Food. Im not really much anymore into Djs and all that sort of culture [I pretty much prefer live bands], but this lads were very good. They were mixing Hendrix, The Beat, and loads of other odd bands and tunes with their breakbeat drum&bass style .Proper djs I have to say.
Nice one.

Dj Food

It was a quick but intense trip to England and a unique chance to see Dave&lads play live this summer, probably this year.
We will wait with great anticipation for the next one for sure.

See you next one guys!

cheers

Pedro.


Here is a few more pics I took

Firedances

Me again. Photo by Becky

Blowing fire!

Coconut DF gig Global Village festival@Scholey Park in Tattershall, Lincoln.

Festival entrance

The Day part 1

Few days ago Dave Fielding's [The Chameleons] current project Coconut DF was asked to play on the last minute in The Global Village Festival so without much notice they were lined up to play on saturday afternoon.
It was time to pack me stuff, get my travel bag ready and visit my friends in England.

Lincoln Suburbs. Looks posh!

After meet my friend Gaz in his place in Lincoln friday afternoon and have a couple of beers and a chat we decided to head straight to the Festival.

The initial plan was to go and see Exit Calm-Ex Lyca Sleep guys-in Barnsley that night but after text Rob the guitarrist he told me the gig was re arranged for the 28th . Bugger!! I hope to have the chance to see them pretty soon because they are the most promising band in Northern England at the moment.

http://www.myspace.com/exitcalm

I was stunned with the small villages we drove across on the way to fest near Tattershall. Very nice pintoresque English style houses. Everything looked very green, tasty, flowered decorated and very clean. Lincoln has definetly a lovely countryside. The roads were narrow and Gaz took me hrough some shorcuts he knew which made the journey even more enjoyable.

Bardney, on the way to Tattershall

I can only feel sorry for all those massive hords of spaniards going every summer to overpriced London, thinking they ve seen it all in England. Idiots!. I tell you what, better to keep things like they are, otherwise these unique places on the countryside would loss their genuine charm.

I ve only missed the chance to stop in one of the odd traditional pubs in any of the small villages we saw on the way and enjoy a nice pint of Bitter, but we had better plans to do. See our mates Dave&Becky, our Lincoln friends and other usual suspects.

We although stopped in an old catholic Abbey to make some pics [Well actually what it was left of it]. According to my friend they were all over the country and they were burned down by Henry the VIII when he converted to protestantism.

Tuppholme Abbey

Interesting.

This places have always an intense energy to me.

As soon as we got in the place Gaz gave me a free pass, a wrist band which I could use the whole weekend. Nice one!

The weather was a bit cloudly and it poored down a bit from time to time on the afternoon but it was that sort of light rain you get in England that doesnt lasts too long. But coming from Madrid and been +40c I can guarantee you I enjoyed the rain a lot.
Alcohol wasnt sold on the fest premises so we did make sure to buy crates of beer and cider and other refreshments for the next days. And I tell you what, its been possibly the cheapest festival I ve been in my entire life!

That Van said: Got more drugs than a chemist

It was certainly a plus to have your favourite cold drink anytime and avoid, like in other overcrowed events, long annoying queues for a expensive warm plastic glass of crap beer.

Some friends: Rockin' Bob, Dave, Gaz, Darran, David Becky and Emma!

Wikitt

The festival had its own Chill Out ZonE

We saw this bloke walking on the distance. The perfect good place to chill.

We saw some of the bands and some were very good but unfortunetly and due to alcohol intake I didnt pay much attention to set lists or any bands names.

Gaz, David, Dave Fielding and Darran

Bo trying to catch the freezbee

The best was about to come the next day.

Photo by Darran

We stayed until the live music finished and we decided to head back to Lincoln to see again our friends in the next day.

err..thats me. Photo by Darran

Darran and Rockin' Bob!


end of part 1

Photo by Darren Matters

Coconut DF Live gig in Tattershall, Lincolnshire July 2007

Last weekend Dave Fielding and his current band Coconut DF performed a live show in the Small Village festival in Tattershall, Lincolnshire.
I will upload some photos and post a full review very soon.

Cheers

Pedro

La Alhambra-Granada, Morrison last vision?

Morrison Hotel Outtakes 1970

Jim Morrison in Granada Spain

The 10th of April 1971, 3 months before he died, Jim Morrison and girlfriend Pamela Courson traveled all along the south Europe. From Paris, where he was living at the time, Lyon and then Spain crossing finally to the north of Africa. They rented a Peugeot and went all the way through the Pyrenees and Catalan countryside, drove across Spain and then headed down south to Granada.
Some of the places where they stayed during those 3 weeks remains a mystery although I´ve been told by some relatively reliable sources that Jim was spotted here and there by the time [In Costa Brava for Example and even in Menorca in the Balearic islands!]. You know the classic, I know someone who knows someone.. etc etc..

1966

When they arrived to the Andalusian city of Granada Jim and Pam were supposed to meet some local people who owned a club. The place was called 'Zingara' and it was build in a cave facing a top view of 'The Alhambra'. You could see live bands there every night, poetry gatherings, painting exhibitions and other cultural acts.
A pretty avant garde place if you ask me, considering the situation in Spain at the time.

Zingara Granada 1971

A young lad from Granada called Angel Carmona, one of the former founders of the club, lived for a while in California on the late sixties so he experienced the explosion of the Hippie culture at the time. He later brought all his knowledge to Spain, a place where all this things were still undiscovered.
His friend Rafael Cuellar lived in the US too and also helped Angel to build the club when they both were back. They also made good friends in America so few years later 'Zingara' got loads of American visitors, people from the US, Canada and other parts of the globe. Bands like Ten Years After, Jefferson Airplane, Santana or Jimi Hendrix were played by the local DJs and also mixed with some of the local folk music.

One night going to his club Angel noticed a car parked on the front door, a pretty uncommon thing he said, apparently due to the narrowness of the streets and the hard accessibility to the old quarter  (You know Americans and their car culture he he. Only Joking.)
That was of course Jim Morrison's car. Apparently he was told by  some circles in L.A. about that bar and wanted to pay a visit.
As soon as Angel was inside he noticed the female waiters very excited because the unannounced visit of Jim and his partner. Joanie Roseblant y Joanne Yablosky were two young Californian girls traveling around Europe and they were working in 'Zingara' temporarily. (I tried to look for some information about this girls on the Internet and have found nothing to be honest).  The girls were the ones who recognized the bearded singer. Pam told them they were there for few days and they were staying in the house of some Australian friends. She told them they both wanted to remain incognito.

According to Angel, Jim ordered some whiskey, a drink they didn't have in the bar, so he offered to send someone to find some of the stuff for Mr Morrison in town. Later that night while Angel admits Morrison  mates didn't drink much and remained pretty quiet, Mr. Mojo Risin' drank the whole bottle. Apparently he enjoyed the live bands and although at some point he was invited to perform he kindly refused to sing. Jim asked for some Janis Joplin music to be played instead.

The next day, early on the morning, they went with Angel to see the great 'La Alhambra' the Moorish palace whose gardens and architecture is one of the wonders of the world, a pilgrimage Mr. Morrison had wanted to do for years. Seems our good 'ol Jimbo was instantly trapped by the magic of the palace. He apparently went there few more times.

Jim in Venice in 1965

There is some Super 8mm video recording of Pam shooting Jim sat where the Alhambra lions and the fountains are located [along with other footage they previously taped during the trip] and at the end of the film he approaches towards the camera with his arms stretched wide until only one Morrison eye filled the last frame of the sequence. Apparently that was the last footage they recorded ever while in Spain. It has never seen the light.

Few days later they flew to Tangier [Where Jim is reportedly being ripped off trying to score some solid!], Marrakech and then finally a clean shave Morrison went back to Paris on the 3rd May 1971, two months before he died.

Unseen photo of Jim in 'La Alhambra'

Last vision of Morrison?

The rest is story.

His body was found on the bath on a 4th floor in 17 de Rue de Beautreillis Paris just 36 years ago today. The official version says he died of a heart attack

But french Gilles Yepremian, who knew and meet Jim Morrison few times in París says he died on the toilets in a pub called 'Rock and Roll Circus' [57 rue de la Seine], after he tried some of the strong chinese heroin [China White] he supposedly bought for his girlfriend and was apparently easy to score in Paris these days.

I personally think we will never know what happened the 4th of July,1971. 

Pamela Courson reported that they went back home from the cinema later that night [After watch Robert Mitchum film 'Pursued'], they played some 'The Doors' tunes by Jim request and also watched some of the videos they did record on their holidays in Spain. Jim was unable to get any sleep that night.

If we give the credit to Pamela version perhaps last thing Jim ever saw before he died was the unseen footage they both recorded in La Alhambra?

*I did translate this article from spanish to English and was originally published by the spanish journalist Juan Jose Lahuerta.   

James Douglas Morrison December 8th 1943- July 3rd 1971

You can read about my visit to Pere Lachaise cemetary in Paris HERE

Photos of my visit to Jim apartment in 17-19 Rue Beautreillis in Paris HERE