Sep 10, 20237 min read

Summer 2.0 Rebooted!

Updated: Sep 14, 2023

A wedding, a radio and a sunny reggae Sunday to finish it all off

The weather took a turn for the worse over the last couple of weeks, but then it pulled it up and came again - Summer 2.0 live, direct and rebooted, and we had a wedding to go to!

Saturday morning marked the day of Seb & Pippa's wedding at Wall Eden Farm in Somerset - not too far from Burnham on Sea. We buddied up in cars and were taken to the venue in absolute Megane style with Sugar driving us. We picked up Angus on the way and all four of us (Sugar, Anna, me and Angus) took an extremely comfortable drive down south in the gorgeous sunshine.

A picture after we played of the barn we played in from outside

I don't think Pippa and Seb could have asked for a better day, weather-wise, and the venue was absolutely gorgeous. It's a holiday destination for it's regular job, offering all sorts of activities like canoeing and axe throwing and archery, but they closed the entire venue down for just the wedding guests for the entire weekend, and all staff were on hand to make it a beautiful day. While we're on the subject of staff, they were so nice to us! They really took care of us and made sure we had everything we needed, which regularly included ice water cause man alive it was hot.

When we arrived, we found Clive who directed us to where we needed to load in from, which was perfect - right in front of the barn we were playing in. Once we'd loaded in we moved the car round to the car parking area so it was all neat and tidy. They gave us use of the farm shop to get changed and store our belongings out of the way and they were really friendly.

We found Teebs not long after, who had only just arrived himself, and so it was all hugs and love. Of course, Will and Grandad were hard at work setting up the PA at this time, so everyone was leaking quite a bit. The barn was a lovely space to play but the ceiling/roof was insulated and it was just holding heat, even with all the many doors wide open! There was nothing that could be done - the weather was on us! Just so you know, as musicians, it never matters how much someone is sweating, when it's time to hug, you hug. So, safely collecting everyone's germs, we enjoyed the food provided for us in the kitchen while we awaited our part of the set up time.

At this point, the guests were enjoying the speeches in the marquee, which was a great big affair and it looked really lovely from over by the barn. You could feel the nice and welcoming atmosphere over the grounds from them, and we just knew it was going to be a great night.

We found Cat, Marie and Jess not long afterwards, and I have to say a huge thank you once again for Cat joining us on the drums. You guys are just a vibe and we really appreciate your time, effort and contributions.

And then Dawn arrived with her friend Dan from spending the day at Burnham on Sea, literally swimming in the sea. I love that woman. She's a free spirit!

Dawn and I, extremely hot, after playing

We played a quick soundcheck when we were all ready, which some guests came to dance to anyway! The vibe was so chilled and upbeat and we just knew it was going to be a great evening.

We called the couple, Pippa and Seb, to the dance floor to have their first dance as a married couple, and they did not disappoint! They were so into it and each other, it was beautiful! We played a request for them - Good Thing Going by Sugar Minott. I think it was perfect for them - they definitely do have a good thing going there.

Wedding Guests with Sparklers after the show

The set was going down an absolute treat, with guests in and out of the barn, staying for a dance before diving out for some fresh air. They were wonderful. Singing along, dancing, enjoying themselves. It was a pleasure to play for them all.

We had our break where most of us got changed because we were ringing wet! We hung out outside and sat on the grass enjoying the sun going over and the air cooling a little.

Sugar, Teebs and Me

The second set kicked off with a bit of the new Beres Hammond tune, I need Your Love, which is a gorgeous tune and should be played at every wedding. Once we'd finished that one, Anna had to run away because she'd forgotten to do something important, and while we were waiting Sugar and Dawn had a practice at saying Somerset with a Somerset accent, which prompted Angus to start a little country blues style bass, which everyone jumped in on, and then Dawn did a completely improvised whole song about swimming in the sea at Burnham on Sea today, finishing with the line 'And tomorrow, I'll probably go shopping, in the Bull Ring' which was absolutely hilarious and the whole wedding just completely went with our randomness and weirdness. Superb. You know you've got a great crowd when they go with you on something that out of keeping with reggae! It was hilarious though, and I'll put a video on Socials for you later! You never know, it might be hit!

Will even captured this brilliant moment where everyone dived in for a photo with us! Just perfect.

The picture at the head of this blog was taken by the wedding photographer, Paul Stevenson/The Bearded Man Photography. He was so lovely and he made some really nice comments about us! He said he gets to see a lot of wedding bands and we're the best one, so your cheque is in the post, sir, thank you!

It was an extremely hot and sticky day, but it was wonderful. It was wonderful vibes with wonderful wedding guests, a truly amazing and beautiful couple (the bride made us cry!) and friends and family of the band that we love like our own. Such a great vibe. Did I mention Seb & Pippa also love drum and bass music? When I popped back in to see what was happening in the barn after we'd played, the DJ equipment was set up and THE GROOM WAS ON THE DECKS. Seb, you cool, man!

Unique and truly loved Angus on the bass

We all said our long goodbyes after a job well done and some of us convoyed the way back. We had exciting stuff to do though, because I've been chatting with a super cool DJ by the name of Lee 'DJ TopShotta' Burton who had some of our tracks we recorded at the beginning of the year, and he started his show on Pullupradio.net at 9pm, so we tuned in and got him on the Bluetooth speaker! He played both our tracks and bigged us up massively, and now it's my turn - mate, you are cool as heck, but you're also a true professional and your kindness towards the band and I has put you in a special place in our hearts. Proper Birmingham boy, as well. Accent nearly as strong as mine (winky face)! I can't tell you how chuffed we all were when you gave us a shout out! He even did some background research on the band to tell people about us, and shouted everyone out that would be listening along with me in the car! So amazing and surreal and we appreciate it so so much. Thank you for sharing our music.

We all got back safely and everyone let everyone know. Poor Will knocked himself sick loading out too quick in the heat of it all, but Grandad took him home safely! Love you both millions.

A beautiful day with beautiful company. We are blessed.

So, I woke up on Sunday morning and thought, na, cause it was still early. Anna went to work and I went back for a nap, and when I woke up, I'm doom scrolling through my socials and see that it's the last reggae cookout of the year at The Night Owl, so I phoned Sugar to see what he was doing, and he wasn't doing anything really, so we went on a mad dash adventure to Digbeth, and we are so glad that we did!

Ras Joseph was performing, and I've never heard his stuff before, but it's got a vibe all of it's own. Real, genuine lyrics and a big soothing voice. Perfect for a Sunday afternoon. He even brought the sun back out! We ran into some of the reggae ruffians of Birmingham, too! Adam was there when we got there. Sweet Sensimillia arrived, and we haven't seen him since he joined us for our Susan Cadogan show, so that was amazing. We got to see our brass "sister" Errol as well. He plays trombone and me and Anna are already sisters, so we just made him an honorary sister. We saw Aggro from Tempted2Touch (coming soon to The Lounge at Boldmere, folks!) and he got up and did a couple of nice Beres sounds too. It was lovely to hang out and chill with everyone and I'm sorry I'm terrible with names and there were more people but it's getting late now. And there were Night Owls regulars too. It was great to be an audience with you for a change!! And Milo Sadler and Dining by Dalton.

Sugar and Sensi outside The Night Owl

It's been a beautiful weekend and we are truly blessed to have music, musicians, music mixers and music lovers in our lives. It makes everything nice.