FIRE & STEEL FESTIVAL
Vicarage Field, Torrington - 5th August 1995
Fire & Steel was the name given to my hometown's commemoration of the 650th anniversary of the Battle of Torrington at the end of the first English Civil War in 1646. Torrington was the last Royalist stronghold and was toppled by Cromwell's New Model Army. The headquarters of the Royalist commanders was the Black Horse pub which is still open today.
In a bid to raise funds for the event, an all-day festival was held at the home of Torrington FC. The bill consisted largely of local acts, but the three bands heading things up were from out of the area: Funkabubble from Bournmouth, Brighton's Electric Groove Temple, and of course, our favourite Londoners, Back To The Planet.
This was the sixth and final time I would catch BttP in action, and I remember them playing a blinder. I don't remember a great deal else, alas. So here's a snippet of my review for the North Devon Journal, published on 10th August 1995:
Funkabubble [...] set the place alight. It could have been the Red Hot Chili Peppers up there as their powerful funk rock vibes succeeded in finally getting some feet moving. And the laid back world dance sound of Electric Groove Temple kept them moving as the chill-out hours approached.
When headliners Back To The Planet stepped up, Fire & Steel erupted into a dance frenzy as the festival faves blasted through an amazing set including old classics such as Daydream and Sleepless Nights alongside newer tacks like Imminent Deities and Criminal. Rounding off as ever with the legendary Teenage Turtles, the Planets brought the whole thing to a throbbing climax worthy of events twice this size.
For my part, I wrote some stuff for the programme, including an excruciatingly cringey piece on the back that I cannot forgive myself for...
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