June 13: Snow Patrol and Euro 2004
This was the last day of the festival. We got up and, before breakfast, I tracked down the proprietor, Kevin Thornton, in the kitchen to pay for our stay. I wanted to pay early because I knew we would be leaving the hotel very early the next morning and wouldn’t have time to formally check out. While there we talked about how we were enjoying the festival and I talked to some people I though might be his parents. After hearing my American accent they said, “You sound like you’ve come a long way.” I mentioned we had visited London and Bath and they said they were originally from the area south of Bath.
We had another English breakfast and then went out behind the hotel to catch the lift. We had to buy tickets to take the lift and it did save us time getting to the Shanklin Somerfield. We bought a round trip or return ticket as the English call it even though the lift closed at 10:00 PM. We caught the Southern Vectis bus to Newport and again sat on the top level.
Once we arrived in Newport we walked to that camera shop we had seen the day before. They told us that they didn’t develop film on Sundays. I bought a lead-lined bag to protect my film from the x-rays. We went to the Safeway to get some bottled water and then looked for a place to eat lunch. We looked at a couple of pubs but most were very crowded and the food didn’t seem like anything special. We tried that coffee shop we had seen the day before but it was closed. We finally found an eatery near the church called Brothers that served all kinds of food including pasties and fish and chips. My wife had a vegetable pasty and I had a fishburger. During lunch we overheard people saying that the group The Libertines would not be performing at the festival that day due to one of their members being in rehab. We heard a rumor that Supergrass would replace them but this turned out to be false and they would instead move the group that was to follow the Libertines, the Charlatans, up and after them broadcast the Euro 2004 football (soccer) game.
After lunch we walked to the festival. On the way there I bought a cap to wear and protect my head from the sun. It was a white cap with a red stripe and the three-lion insignia for England. There were selling them because England was playing its first game in the Euro 2004 football (soccer) tournament against France that evening. When we arrived at the festival, it was warm and sunny as it had been every day and we took out the umbrella my wife had brought to use it as a shade. At one point someone jokingly asked us if it was going to rain.
The next act up when we arrived was Suzanne Vega, the only American artist performing at the festival. She included The Who’s Behind Blue Eyes in her set. She ended her set with her most famous songs, Luka, and Tom’s Diner on which she had the audience sing part of the melody. Following Suzanne Vega was the new group, the Delays.
There were many people wearing white and red and some wearing crazy hats, wigs, and face paint in support of England in the Euro 2004 football tournament. There were also people holding up flags for England and other flags. We saw a purple flag with the three lions and another that was made up of several different European flags. There were also flags from other European countries and we even saw an American flag. That person had to be brave.
The next act was Snow Patrol, an Irish group whose CD, the Final Straw, my wife had lent me and I enjoyed. They sounded great, playing several songs from that CD including their single, Run, that was probably one of the best performances at the festival. The audience and myself were thrilled to sing along. They were very humble saying how this was the largest audience they had ever played for. They gave the best performance of the festival in my opinion.
After Snow Patrol I went to get dinner at the vegetarian place. I had the traditional veggie burger and my wife had the Mexican veggie burger. We split a cookie from the doughnut and cookie place for dessert.
Next up were the Charlatans who sounded good even though they didn’t play any songs of theirs that I had heard before. At one point in the set a member of the Libertines came out to say a few words. The lead singer of the Charlatans announced that England was up 1-0 in the Euro 2004 football game against France and the crowd cheered loudly.
We left after the Charlatans’ last song skipping the Euro 2004 football coverage and David Bowie. It turned out the England lost that match 2-1 with France scoring in the latter half of the game and David Beckham missing a free kick. We returned to Shanklin but weren’t able to take the lift back because it was closed. We walked down the hill has we usually had done. We saw that the lift wasn’t open early enough for us to take it the next day. Once we returned to our hotel we packed up everything in preparation for our journey home the next day.
This was the last day of the festival. We got up and, before breakfast, I tracked down the proprietor, Kevin Thornton, in the kitchen to pay for our stay. I wanted to pay early because I knew we would be leaving the hotel very early the next morning and wouldn’t have time to formally check out. While there we talked about how we were enjoying the festival and I talked to some people I though might be his parents. After hearing my American accent they said, “You sound like you’ve come a long way.” I mentioned we had visited London and Bath and they said they were originally from the area south of Bath.
We had another English breakfast and then went out behind the hotel to catch the lift. We had to buy tickets to take the lift and it did save us time getting to the Shanklin Somerfield. We bought a round trip or return ticket as the English call it even though the lift closed at 10:00 PM. We caught the Southern Vectis bus to Newport and again sat on the top level.
Once we arrived in Newport we walked to that camera shop we had seen the day before. They told us that they didn’t develop film on Sundays. I bought a lead-lined bag to protect my film from the x-rays. We went to the Safeway to get some bottled water and then looked for a place to eat lunch. We looked at a couple of pubs but most were very crowded and the food didn’t seem like anything special. We tried that coffee shop we had seen the day before but it was closed. We finally found an eatery near the church called Brothers that served all kinds of food including pasties and fish and chips. My wife had a vegetable pasty and I had a fishburger. During lunch we overheard people saying that the group The Libertines would not be performing at the festival that day due to one of their members being in rehab. We heard a rumor that Supergrass would replace them but this turned out to be false and they would instead move the group that was to follow the Libertines, the Charlatans, up and after them broadcast the Euro 2004 football (soccer) game.
After lunch we walked to the festival. On the way there I bought a cap to wear and protect my head from the sun. It was a white cap with a red stripe and the three-lion insignia for England. There were selling them because England was playing its first game in the Euro 2004 football (soccer) tournament against France that evening. When we arrived at the festival, it was warm and sunny as it had been every day and we took out the umbrella my wife had brought to use it as a shade. At one point someone jokingly asked us if it was going to rain.
The next act up when we arrived was Suzanne Vega, the only American artist performing at the festival. She included The Who’s Behind Blue Eyes in her set. She ended her set with her most famous songs, Luka, and Tom’s Diner on which she had the audience sing part of the melody. Following Suzanne Vega was the new group, the Delays.
There were many people wearing white and red and some wearing crazy hats, wigs, and face paint in support of England in the Euro 2004 football tournament. There were also people holding up flags for England and other flags. We saw a purple flag with the three lions and another that was made up of several different European flags. There were also flags from other European countries and we even saw an American flag. That person had to be brave.
The next act was Snow Patrol, an Irish group whose CD, the Final Straw, my wife had lent me and I enjoyed. They sounded great, playing several songs from that CD including their single, Run, that was probably one of the best performances at the festival. The audience and myself were thrilled to sing along. They were very humble saying how this was the largest audience they had ever played for. They gave the best performance of the festival in my opinion.
After Snow Patrol I went to get dinner at the vegetarian place. I had the traditional veggie burger and my wife had the Mexican veggie burger. We split a cookie from the doughnut and cookie place for dessert.
Next up were the Charlatans who sounded good even though they didn’t play any songs of theirs that I had heard before. At one point in the set a member of the Libertines came out to say a few words. The lead singer of the Charlatans announced that England was up 1-0 in the Euro 2004 football game against France and the crowd cheered loudly.
We left after the Charlatans’ last song skipping the Euro 2004 football coverage and David Bowie. It turned out the England lost that match 2-1 with France scoring in the latter half of the game and David Beckham missing a free kick. We returned to Shanklin but weren’t able to take the lift back because it was closed. We walked down the hill has we usually had done. We saw that the lift wasn’t open early enough for us to take it the next day. Once we returned to our hotel we packed up everything in preparation for our journey home the next day.
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