MEARFEST MUMBLINGS - MEARFEST

MOLLY IN POLAND

28/6/2019

THANK YOU SO MUCH
DEREK & CAROL LYON

IN KRAKOW SALT MINES

FROM THE MIGHTY
SATAN'S EMPIRE

MOLLY'S MEADOW

28/6/2019

Molly's Meadow

The sun beats down
The meadow dances
In the late summer heat
The hum of social insects
The air pulsates
Hums with the beat
Of a thousand wings
Nectar is plundered
Creating
Ambrosia
And in the cool depths of the hive
The waggle dance commences
Announcing
The golden food of Gods

Words by Brian Mear

Art by the very talented Stewart Allen

MERCI BEAUCOUP. MUCHAS GRACIAS. आपका बहुत बहुत धन्यवाद. много вам хвала. Ευχαριστώ πολύ. THANK YOU.

26/6/2019

We both wish to say a heartfelt thank you to everyone who contributed to this year’s Mearfest at Farnham Royal Village hall. Starting with the delightful Marie Edwards, Karen Barker, Aiden Tierney, Ultan Tierney, Pete Hood, Keith Adams, Peter Adams, Barrie Dorling, Linda Dorling. You guys made this all happen, setting us up, keeping the bar stocked, keeping the cake and tea in full flow, cleaning, clearing away, answering stupid questions, sorting out tricky situations, and we must mention your total honesty and generosity with donations made at the bar.
A total of £850.00 including tea and cake, which no other venue has ever offered nor matched.

Next a big thank you to John Thomas Bell our Lord of light and sound, along with Abi Martin from Chapel Bell studios for all your incredible technical expertise, it was an audio delight of pure perfection, your combined dedication and tireless hard work was certainly noted by everyone of us.

Denial of Humanity DOH, for loaning us your 4 by 12 guitar cabinets for the whole weekend, and for being brave to be first on stage to kick the weekend off, hats off to you fellas.

Dave from Saffron Studios High Wycombe for your search and magical finds of very urgent Thunderstick drum stuff! Phew we did it.

Andy Wallis for all the VIP backstage passes, Graham Orion Pax for your legendary posters.

A massive thank you to the divine Martyn Turner who took excellent photos as ever. To the mighty John Lambton who travelled from Newcastle to take photos and roadie, Nicky, and Mike Richardson from Rebel Crow for all your amazing photographs and we hope film to come, and Nick Grimley for capturing special moments on disc.

Robin Brancher for the original 40th anniversary t-shirt design and how could we not mention Martin Walkyier-Maia for printing them so perfectly and on time.

ABI MONDAY AFTERNOON AFTER FINAL CLEAN UP

LIFE SAVERS

John Bellinger was everything over the weekend, set decorator babysitter between our official babysitters, tea maker, bunting and lanyard provider, t-shirt seller, clearer upper on both days and on Monday morning we salute you good Sir, and Carl Burridge for your support and kindness in many areas.

Daniel Boon our man on the door, thank you for the amazing family canvas. T-shirts and auction raffles hosted by the delectable Ruth Moore and divine Jim Miller, and Gareth Memory for your hard-selling organisation and honesty.

Ian Warner and Richard Johnson for our efficient Mearfest south security.
(And to Mrs. Danielle Johnson for your donation. Keeping it sweet!)

THANK YOU TO ALL THE BANDS

DOH, GANG, QUARTZ, THE CLAN, VICTORIUS EMPIRE, WEAPON UK, CULLODEN, AIRFORCE, BLACKMAYNE, MANDORA, CHEMIKILL, SNATCHBACK, THE DEAD CAN WAIT, RAMPANT, MALLEUS, AND THE MIGHTY THUNDERSTICK.

A SUPERSTAR thank you to the one and only Steve Grimmett from The Grim Reaper and his lovely wife Amelia who spent the whole day with us on Sunday (we love anyone who stays to the end) but who also made a few guys from Newcastle very happy, he sang ‘See You In Hell’ live. It was truly amazing, dream big people, it can come true.

Weapon UK’s Danny Haynes and Jeff Summers for months of promotions on our behalf, for answering all the online Mearfest questions, when we were too busy elsewhere, and for bringing Pippi.

Bill and Agnes and the whole of the Gang, for coming all the way from France, you know what you did for us, for which we thank you.

Nick Grimley, again…. for his fine legendary Mearfest ales, which now have their very own Mearfest page.

RAFFLE-AUCTION & DONATIONS

Firstly, THANK YOU to Tony Iommi from Black Sabbath for his kind donation of his book, personally signed for our auction. And to Tim Perry Quartz, for his extensive collection of Black Sabbath donations which made quite a bit of money for us guys.

Dave Bonney, for being there both days and to Diamond Head and Karl Wilcox for all your merchandise donations, and support in wearing our t-shirt in front of a million people in France!

Thunderstick for signing their great poster.
Andro Coulton from Malleus for his bass guitar.
Montreux who donated a wonderful amplifier.
Blackmayne’s Phil McDermot for his guitar.
Troyen’s Jeff Baddley for all your merchandise and constant support.
Paul Chatfield and Desolation Angels for all your merchandise.
Mick Atkin from SYZ who donated singles one of which sold for £70.00!
Andy D’urso and all at Traitors Gate for your kind donations.
Cameron Vegas from Metal Mirror.
Marek Chudzikowski for donating Dave Mustaine signed book for the auction…£££££

Adam Mear, Charlotte Hazell, Simon Meer and Charlie for selling our legendary raffle tickets.

Dibs Hawkwinder and Sam Kirwan our patrons, for being there for us always, and for bringing the most amazing BOOZY BRANDY CAKE, which we are not sure if this made any money as it was demolished in seconds. But wins first prize for being the team building pick me up slice of the day…

Nick and Nikki Patterson for all your medical assistance and extra help kindness and very generous donation, which helped us buy a much-needed new printer scanner copier and stationery.

Karon and Mick Hanley for your kindness and amazing collection of unicorns for Amélie but also for your donation of £97.00 from the staff of Kilburn nursing home.

Paul Binyon’s donation from all of his work colleagues at EC Outsourcing in Bouldon Newcastle of £70.00

Chris Tinkham for your amazing Mearfest cake creation to his partner Joan Howard for donating a fantastic keyboard. Joanna Watson who brought a ton of home-made cakes, delicious! And for everyone who hand baked or bought cakes we raised £250.00. (…as part of the bar donations)

Bo Bennett for your very special Molly rock.

The legendary ‘Patrick’ and Ronnie who yet again travelled all the way from Belgium to be with us, along with Talea Boelsems who came from Hamburg bringing Amélie an angelic keepsake which is now in her special box of treasures.

John Dunn for expert T-shirt deliveroo.
Rob Byrne from Montreux who just came by to help out where they could.

Rob Grain and Joanne Purkis from Thunderstick for your help in setting up the stage Sunday.

BABY DUTIES

Angela Holland and Carol Lyon for the biggest job of all, looking after Amélie Mear age two. She just loved the nursery green room at the back of the village hall, especially all the hundreds of new toys that did not belong to her. Everyone there was so good with her, and thank you for all her gifts. It was also her first time live on stage, where she tried to grab the mic a hundred times.

FUTURE PLANS

We hope we have not missed anyone out, we can add later if we have. But after all this we are so proud of this event. The vibes were infectious. We raised £3,000 profit to give to Down Syndrome North East. Which is now a grand total of £9,000 in just TWO YEARS!!!

We announced at the time, that as of now Brian and I are in the slow process of setting up our own charity, based in Norfolk where we now live. It was Amélies health visitor who suggested the absolute obvious to me! It seems we have moved to a county with no real baby loss bereavement safety net, for parents who have had to go through a stillbirth or miscarriage. We are in talks with various agencies about this and will announce our plans at a later date.

We are in the process of setting up a new bank account, then looking to raise £5,000 to become a registered charity with an official number.

So folks....until October 20th where MEARFEST NORTH will be in Newcastle once again, it's been a great experience for us both. We thank you all for everything each one of you has contributed.

Brian, Claire Amélie and Molly Mear.

FINAL SPOOKY NOTE

Oddly, all day I used my perfect little camera, it had been cleaned and checked prior, most of the photos had a glow about them, with some crazy light orbs, even though I was outside and inside the hall, no flash used, day and evening light.
Shortly after we had all left for the night, a mysterious vision was captured by the village halls CCTV. Light orbs literally dancing around the hall. One big light orb is prominent, it comes right up to the stage turns left and comes back. At this time there were no cars parked in the car park, stage right has a small parking area away from any main roads, it was dark and empty. No security lights were left on. Brian remembers that they had all left the building and car park about 2am. These photos were 13 and 16 minutes after. A video is on its way and will be added later.

Molly and her spirit baby friends carried on the party after we had all gone home to bed.

It looks like we really did set the spirits free.

The village hall was built in 1921 and under the stage are pegs where soldiers hung their guns, lots of strange things happen all the time here. The CCTV footage from the previous nights had no activity on them at all, the camera only picks up movement, there is a ton of movement here tonight. This is not dust..... I like to believe my baby is dancing in there somewhere.

Hand glow?

SEE YOU ALL 20TH OCTOBER
IN NEWCASTLE !

BE A VOICE

26/6/2019

Be a voice
For those denied
Be a voice
For us who cried
Be a voice
It's all we ask
Be a voice
A simple task
Be a voice
For those stillborn
Be a voice
For those that mourn
Be a voice
and make it loud
Be a voice
and make us proud
Be a voice
For those held dear
Be a voice
for Molly Mear

Born still but Still Born
by Brian Mear

MEARFEST HAS NEW TOP FAN (BADGE GOES TO....)

24/6/2019

SUE TIMMINS WHO CAME TO VISIT US IN NORFOLK!

THANK YOU

MOLLY IN ATHENS GREECE

24/6/2019

se efcharistó VASILIS PETRIDIS

MOLLY ON STAGE IN PARIS

24/6/2019

MOLLY IS ALWAYS AVAILABLE TO TRAVEL ANYWHERE IN THIS WORLD....

23/6/2019

ARE YOU GOING TO A FESTIVAL THIS SUMMER?

ARE YOU GOING TO SOMEWHERE ENCHANTING OR A ZEN RETREAT FOR YOUR HOLIDAYS?

ARE YOU VISITING SACRED SITES IN DISTANT FORGOTTEN LANDS?

ARE YOU GOING ON ANY PEACE MARCHES OR VOLUNTEERING?

VISITING ANY DIGNITARIES, ROYALTY IN ANY FIELD-ROCK-POP-METAL-NEW WAVE-ELECTRO-PUNK, THOSE BLUE BLOODERS IN THE PALACES, WILL YOU BE HANGING OUT WITH ANY TRUE LIVING LEGENDS OF MUSIC OR FILM OR ART OR LITERATURE OR RADIO OR tv?

ARE YOU SPENDING PRECIOUS SPECIAL TIME WITH LOVED ONES, FAMILY, KIDS, GRANDPARENTS, PETS?

PLEASE REMEMBER TO WEAR YOUR MOLLY T-SHIRT AND SEND US YOUR PHOTOS....WE JUST LOVE THEM ALL!
SHE WILL KEEP YOU SAFE!
WE HAVE HEARD INCREDIBLE STORIES OF HER TRAVELS SO FAR.

HAPPY TRAVELS WORLD.

HER FORCE IS WITH YOU ALL

TURNING LOSS INTO LEGACY.

MOLLY T-SHIRT HERE

MOLLY CENTER STAGE AT HELLFEST IN FRANCE WITH DIAMOND HEAD!!!

23/6/2019

LIKE, THOUSANDS OF PEOPLE THERE!

A HUGE MASSIVE GOBSMACKING THANK YOU
KARL WILCOX
&
DAVE BONNEY

WE LOVE YOU

YOU ARE SUCH BRIGHT STARS

THUNDERSTICK

20/6/2019

And finally we have the closing band of the entire weekend..........

Thunderstick-2019

Well I guess you really had to be there.

To fully celebrate 40 years of New Wave of British Heavy Metal, we were honoured to have the face of the NWOBHM himself Thunderstick Mr. Barry Graham Purkis. The ex Iron Maiden/Samson drummer who is such an iconic figure. Many people had bought tickets well in advance and travelled far and wide to witness the new line up: Raven Blackwing, Rex Thunderbolt , Mike Gibbons, Lee Quenby and the main man himself Thunderstick, who sat at the back, buried within the most impressive drum kit Mearfest stage crew had ever had to assemble during the longest time given between bands just to prepare the stage.

As the SAMSON classic 'Riding with the Angels' opened the set, the air was full of excitement as their brand new female lead singer had recently been revealed as Raven Blackwing. Raven was a complete revelation, owning the stage with true unadulterated passion, confidence and charisma, with many costume changes between each song. In steps Joanne Purkis as chief dresser, busy in the wings behind her cloth and metal dressing screen, where she ruffled feathers, threw around yards of black lace, hooked up beaten leather, hoisted tight boned corsets, rhinestone facemasks and belts, belts, and more belts. Just imagine the time logistics for a minute here? But miraculously, everything started and finished on time, and what a mighty powerful voice in between. The stage set became pure rock and roll visual theatre. Props had purpose, a coffin, suspended dollies, a blacked-out mask and stake for me to be tied to a post during 'Blackwing' which was a moving story all about rebirth and enlightenment, they had really done us at Mearfest proud. All in all, there were more props and costume changes than Alice Cooper could ever have dreamt of, along with moving and descriptive story telling via the enchantingly sung word.

Each band member was not only creatively unique within their own right, but true professional show people. Rex was a wonderful charismatic bass player, Lee and Mike are both superb animated guitarists, which added so much to the bands glorious sound and visionary experience. Thunderstick himself was simply mind blowing to witness, as I knew he would be. His legendary rhinestone face mask was first created in 1979, this went against the normal facelessness of a drummer, no one sees them anyway so why not make something of it. Yes, he was sat behind his band, surrounded by drums and high cymbals, but his presence was notably eminent. One of the best most thunderous drummers around today.

Thunderstick the band is a formidable machine. The overall effect produced something wondrous, which if I am honest, not witnessed as much now a days as it should be. It was pure entertainment and that ladies and Gentlemen, is what a live rock performance is all about. Rob Grain and Joanne Purkis work tirelessly on and off the stage, creating 180 degrees of perfection, if something went wrong it was seamlessly fixed.

There was a lot at stake here and I am not just talking about myself in a mask! Everything ran like clockwork, it had been so well thought out and rehearsed. The show, and let us be honest here, that this was a real end of show SHOW was magnifique. We couldn't have wished for a more fitting band to put the cherry on our special anniversary Great British festival.
1979 Revisited was exactly that.

As the classic 'Vice, Versa' is brought back to life decades later.
Now resplendent in its new radiant clothing, sparkling with new life.
Thunderstick had done something quite remarkable here.
As the final track from the Rocky Horror show 'time warp' came to a close, the stage was invaded by the village hall staff who had worked tirelessly for two very long days. Blessings go to Marie Edwards and Karen Barker and her team, who said we could let as many party poppers off as we liked, and not to worry about the mess on the floor, I think we found a disappointing handful in time for the finale.

The hall was filled with raised arms, clapping, cheering, finger horns and lit phones filming every last moment for future retrospection, the joyous shouts of " More, More! More! was the rebel yell of the weekend. Beyond all their multifarious creative talents was the hand of Molly, who we both felt was watching from the heavens in complete wonder.

We as a collective had set the spirit free by turning all our losses into legacy, that truly lives on within each one involved.

the band are currently looking for management representation, if you feel you can help contact thunderstickdrums@yahoo.co.uk.Bx

The real finale end of show SHOW.........

Quotes post show.......

It has been a long struggle...Thunderstick after playing Hard Rock Hell last November were once again left in tatters after an ongoing rift had come to it's natural conclusion a parting of the ways leaving Myself Rex and Lee with the daunting task of finding musicians to fill the vacancies. A long search ensued.The replacement guitarist in Mike Gibbons came about quite quickly but the search for a girl singer took much longer with a lot of potentials being seen. Until through a mutual friend I contacted Raven. Possibly the best vocalist this band has had since the '80's we were once more whole.
Now Why am I telling you all of this? because MEARFEST gave us something to aim at. Something that made us work hard in rehearsal knowing that we would be appearing with many other professional bands that already had a full amount of appearances under their belts. We needed our very first gig to be one that was well run, friendly,easy going and understanding of the first night nerves the band would be experiencing. Mearfest delivered in all areas.
A backstage area that had a really relaxed feel to it allowing all of us to either 'catch up' with fellow musicians that had not been together for years as well as making new friends. Both Brian and Claire were both quick to act on any last minute requests from bands prior to their appearance assisted by a crew of only too willing helpers. This is the way to run a festival. There are many organisers out there that could more than take a leaf out of the MEARFEST book that's for sure. No 'cattle market' on.. play... off...vacate mentality here.Just a quiet determination by all to make the event just that an EVENT. Each band that played was made to feel just as important as the next no matter where you were on the bill.
So to conclude, I would just like to say if your band is approached by either Brian or Claire to asking if you would be interested in playing MEARFEST...bite their hands off for the opportunity because the way it is going each year there will come a time when you will just have to join the queue no matter how well known you are.
This will be the festival to play if you want to elevate your status. Not only that you get to feel good about yourselves for supporting such an important cause something that will stay with you long after the ringing in your ears has stopped. Brian/Claire we love you....Raven,Mike.Lee Rex and B THUNDERSTICK.

Rex Thinderbolt What can I say Brian and Claire?
For the last two and a half years we have talked about bringing the band to mearfest.
We are honoured to have been able to bring the SHOW lol to perform beneath mollys handprint.
To start the next and biggest leg of this journey with Thunderstick at a festival such as yours with so many like minded musicians, is a real privilege and to be considered a part of the mearfest family is a huge thing for all of us.
You guys run this festival with heart rarely seen in this business, where the bottom line is the only thing that matters. You have laid everything on the line time and time again, and you both deserve honour and huge amounts of respect.
We all certainly look forward to working alongside you both again in the future.
🤘🤘⚡️⚡️🤘🤘

Paul Lewis Satan's Empire....
A brilliant end to a wonderful festival. Thunderstick were off the scale and this lineup will go very far. So proud to be part of the Mearfest family and to have taken part too. All the bands and everyone involved with the event were nothing short of awesome. ❤❤❤

Hastings 2017

DOWN SYNDROME NORTH EAST the story so far.

19/6/2019

In 2017 while I was 23 weeks pregnant with Amélie, we found ourselves hosting mearfest north in Trillians Newcastle. The reason we did this was there were so many good bands up there and we wanted them to be part of what we do, so we took our show to them.
Along that same journey we came across Down Syndrome North East, as Molly Mear our first born, would have been a T21 Downs baby, so we only thought it right to donate to them. We would have been involved in many groups and centres had she lived. So this is all for Molly.

We take pride in donating funds to help with all things arts and music. Here is a film funded by you all.
THANK YOU from everyone at DSNE.

GRAND TOTAL 2017-2019

BLAST - DANCE - FUNDED BY MEARFEST

BLAST - ANIMATION - FUNDED BY MEARFEST

WEAPON UK

19/6/2019

Weapon UK were our penultimate band on Sunday night.
They go back a long way having toured extensively with Motorhead in 1980 on the 'aces up your sleeve tour' . They write beautifully crafted songs with real melody, but are also a phenomenal force in every sense. I've been a Rock fan for forty years I've seen the best bands in the world I really have, but I would place this band right up there with Thin Lizzy and UFO.

Here at Mearfest we can claim many firsts, Weapon performed three new songs live from their forthcoming new album 'Ghosts of War' this was for the first time ever including the title track, '79 Revisited' and 'Emerald God' both incredibly touching and relevant songs for us. Live they were excellent and to be able to host such greatness at Mearfest was a real honour for both myself and Claire.

Considering front man Danny Hynes lives in Sweden, he came over armed with a beautifully crafted traditional pippi långstrump for Amélie, then bass player Tony Forsythe travelled from Norway. The band showed huge commitment to play our show. Jeff Summers was the life and soul as always and along with the superb drummer Darren Lee the line up was complete. They even had gifted to them a dozen truly fiery pale ales from Mr. Grimley ales, just to say thanks guys, for all your support over the last year.

We had already alerted Berkshire Fire and Rescue and they had deployed a special response unit to be on standby, as Weapon UK not only 'set the Stage alight' with their fantastic performance, they lit a warm glowing fire in all our hearts. A fire for all that witnessed this wonderful performance
will never go out.

SPECIAL ALE BY NICK GRIMLEY

VICTORIUS EMPIRE

19/6/2019

Sunday evening we had a real treat in store
The combined talent and force of Satan's Empire and Victorius performing under the name Victorius Empire.
This fantastic pairing came about because unfortunately Garry Bowler and the lovely Alison Metcalfe who normally stage manages for us, (HOW YOU WERE MISSED ALISON...!) were away on hols and Satan's Empire were without a drummer.
First up were Satan's Empire with a shortened set with Victorius' s drummer Ryan Shepherd taking the throne.
I've said a lot about this band over the last few years but for me they are absolutely superb and one of the best live bands I've ever had the good fortune to witness.
Derek Lyon is such a great frontman with a huge personality and voice to match
Paul Lewis and Sandy McRitchie are excellent guitarists and you will go a long way to find a more precise and likeable bass player than Wayne Hudson.
It was a short, savage set and over before we knew it. Next were Victorius who had all taken the herculean task of driving all the way down from Scotland to be with us all.
WoW what a BAND !
They are modern Masters of Metal with such incredible musicianship, power and steel they stormed it. When Derek Lyon got back up on stage to perform the early Maiden Classic " Wrath child" they literally tore the roof off the place!
THANK YOU TO: John Gibbons, Stewart Kennedy, Ryan Shepherd, John Brandon who I think are still driving back to the top ends of Scotland in their van. What a journey conquered.
You honoured us both and our lost daughter Molly with your friendship, your music, your dedication and your art
ALL HAIL THE EMPIRE!
ALL HAIL VICTORIUS THE GODS OF THE NORTHERN SKIES.........

THINK IT'S GOING PRETTY WELL SO FAR!

18/6/2019

Apart from wonky bunches......

HOLD TIGHT WE HAVE 2 MORE AMAZING BLOG REVIEWS TO COME AND OUR FINAL THANK YOU LIST

CHEMIKILL

17/6/2019

Second up were Tamworth Noise Masters Chemikill !
I've liked this band for some time now with their fantastic doom laden songs fronted by Tracey Rand with mainstay Garry Wain on bass guitar

Formed way back in 1986 this band have tried the boards for years really earning their dues and perfecting their craft. Chemikill started their journey as a Thrash Metal band but after winning the Tamworth Battle of the Bands way back in 1995, and held the title for two years.

Chemikill have some great support slots under their belts with the likes of BEHOLDER, ABSOLVER, OBZIDIAN, WOLFSBANE, WILD SIDE RIOT, DAVE EVANS ( AC/DC FIRST LEAD SINGER ), DELAIN, WYZDOM, EXLIBRIS, AZYLYA, VISIONS OF ATLANTIS, GIRLSCHOOL, RAVEN, MOTORKILL, LOVE BITE, APPERITION, ENEMO J, and TYTAN, just to name a few. Tracey joined them in 2017, and they are at present recording their new album.

I am good friends with Garry and he has been through a great deal of late, but he still managed to play for us, despite everything.

How wonderful then to see the band back in full flight and performing their incredible music to an appreciative crowd.
Not technically a NWOBHM band but they are British through and through. They hail from the Midlands, the birthplace of Heavy Metal. With their very obvious Sabbath influence and classic metal sound they were a very welcome addition to the party.
They came, they saw, they conquered!
BRILLIANT !

Unmarked photos all Rebel Crow

RAMPANT

16/6/2019

PHOTO BY NICK GRIMLEY

Our first NWOBHM band on Sunday Rampant were third on and I knew this was going to be something very special indeed. Rampant were created in 1980 but then haven't been in action since 1981 due to tricky life stuff. They reformed specially for Mearfest with the original vocalist Tee Rets along with guitarist Paul Playle, this was going to be a very historic moment.

Expectations were high but after a rocky start as they were 'Fighting For Freedom' in the wrong key, they picked themselves up and took off, back on that rocky road they call metal. Chris Chitticks and his son Lee Chitticks were brilliant additions, as was the amazing guitarist Jamie Carter who was not even born back in 1980. 'Run For The Hills' was next up, which went well.

Third or fourth into the set came a big surprise for us, I was told to "FIND CLAIRE, the next bit it's important!" Well, who could have imagined the flow of emotion to come. Tee was saying a few words and looking at us and pointing to Molly's hand. 'Beyond The Stars', now entitled 'Angel Of Dreams (Beyond The Stars)' was about to be performed with passion and gusto.

Angel of dreams is the poem I wrote for our daughter Molly in 2016, Tee was telling the story of how the new words came about. The idea just came to him....? Molly was obviously hard at work spirit side. He had very little time to prepare for it, as he just about managed to have the new chorus 'almost' in his head, but thought he might have to read the words whilst singing, which his professionalism would not allow. While driving to Slough in the back of the car, he was still rehearsing some of their other lyrics, as it had been a while since 1981. He went over and over my words until he could recite them back verbatim. He had successfully stored the correct words in the correct order deep within his heart. As he got the mearfest crowd behind it, he was visibly fighting back tears, we all were. Molly's mother Claire was in total bits by this point, as she looked beyond the band to the handprint, this was all we had left of her, today we now have so much more. The whole band could see and feeling their impact on this day, it was an incredible moment.

This is why we say we are not a normal regular rock festival, as anything can happen that hits your heart strings with a big wobbly twang. While singing this one song, Tee was thinking of his partner Gina, who lost her son Mark, so he felt he was being channelled by Molly herself, (no doubts there Jimmy) to sing our combined lyrics for all our lost children. For which we thank you for being so open minded, guided, creative and honest.

The next song that followed was an anti nukes/war song called I'll Press The Button Before You, which was originally recorded as their first single back in 1981, but sadly it never saw the light of day and they broke up soon after. Fast forward to 2019 Tee could not believe people were asking for autographs or more 21st Century Selfies, which took him by surprise.

A truly tremendous performance, charged with emotion, power and the sheer joy of performing.
I have got to say that the whole band threw themselves totally into the event helping us both throughout the weekend with numerous tasks . This is far and above what we expected and was most welcome
There is something to be said about the saying " the more you put in, the more you get out"
We are both so appreciative . Thank you Xxx
WONDERFUL !!!!
11 / 10 !

FOR MARK & MOLLY - FLY HIGH ANGELS

SNATCHBACK

16/6/2019

Snatch Back have come a long way since the seventies when we all lived in one state of rock monochrome. I have been familiar with the band since I received their ep 'back in the game' a while back. Ste Byatt is a tremendous guitarist, his lightning moves done with bare feet. Ian Wood the bassist is a very skilled musician and with their dynamic and soulful vocalist John C Cowley at the front and the awesome drummer Steven Plattthey set the bar high once again

They played for us back in October last year at our South Shields show, they were so good we had to have them back for this historic gig. By the time they got up on stage, the village hall was becoming ghostly, our crowds had so much space to move around outside the building, we had to heard them all back inside when the bands were playing. The band felt a little worried that by Sunday all our Mearfesters would be leaving early to go home and get settled on a School night or just rocked out!

Hey guys, would we let you down? There was no need to be worried, Brian did his calling song from the mic on stage, letting everyone know they were on, the crowd stubbed out rollups, put away their vapes, paid for another pint, grabbed a builders tea and slice of cake, then flooded in. Within a nano of historic ROCK time, Snatch Back had them all singing along to "Need some heat" from their last cd.

They bravely decided to launch songs off their new album, which no one had heard of. There was a fantastic response to everything, clapping & chanting along to "Hard Times", as we have all been there right! They were tested by a broken lead mic & guitar strap mid solo, but the band played on. Their set was infectious, as the excitement lingered even until the morning after, where they sold their CD's inside their Slough based B&B's dining room, but what was even better than that, was being asked to sign their stuff while their eggs were being perfectly poached, by UK & German proper authentic rock fans, this just gave them the buzz of knowing they had done something so right as to appear on stage for us.

I am told that the Snatch Back buzz is still continuing, two weeks after the event, as they have been overwhelming with the generosity and creativity of our fine dedicated team of chosen photographers and by gaining new Facebook contacts by fans and musicians after the event. So much so it has motivated them to get their new album released.

See, we at Mearfest have done it again! By bringing people together, reuniting old acquaintances, creating lifelong connections, inspiring new music, rekindling old music, being a team of people all trying to do good by each other and for our causes.
We are all ONE.

From those black and white days, the band have transformed into being more richer in colour, resplendent in their new colours, incredible on stage to watch and listen to.
They bought their Metal to us all once more
The New Wave lives.
A TRIUMPH !

UNTITLED PHOTOS ALL REBEL CROW

CULLODEN

15/6/2019

Starting Sunday's Shenanigans at the very awkward time of 13.30pm, were the wonderful Culloden from South Shields. We have hosted them this time last year, now there was a new line up.
Andrew Halliday, Stefan Rosic and Alex Connor were joined by new guitarist Jack Brown

As always, the band put on a great set with the brilliant track 'Witchpricker' being a favourite of mine. Once again we were treated to Andrews unique vocals, (the Screams of Satan) it's always great to see the crowds reaction.

This year to fully celebrate the 40th year of this music, alot of our bands chose to perform a NWOBHM classic amongst their set. Culloden were no different and selected ' SEE YOU IN HELL' by the legendary Grim Reaper. I decided to ask the almighty God of rock a simple question for which I received a divine answer. So, to sing this classic we invited the main man himself Steve Grimmett, who agreed to join us along with his lovely wife Amelia Grimmett as our special VIP guests of honour.

Refreshed with several cups of our finest tea blends, Steve got up on stage to a thunderous applause, by joining the young Tyneside lads of Culloden, whose faces were a convoluted mix of TERRIFIED verses VOLTAIC! Andrew the lead singer was beside himself with fear and excitement. I could see his mind trying to keep it real, but how could he as it was completely unreal that day. I think Steve was just trying to keep up to speed with the actual speed of Culloden's version of his song.

These northern lads had hit the big time, it really didn't matter that it was only 2pm on a Sunday afternoon in Farnham village hall Slough. To them and to every single person in that room who could hear and more to the point feel the sheer power of Steve Grimmett's vocal cords, the lads were in their minds and ours, in a London stadium with ten thousand people holding camera phones and horning fingers in front of them, as there was no doubt Steve has a truly inspiring voice, but then he is used to projecting to packing out stadiums world wide. Today Steve was visibly happy, as he knew he had just made a few lads from the north east's dreams come true, and had left our afternoon Mearfest audience completely astounded and wanting more.

Steve and Amelia stayed right to the end of the day, which as you all now know, we love ANYONE who stays right to the end. They had a million selfies taken with lifetime fans and old friends, kindly signed 40 years worth of merchandise, which I personally had dragged down from Norfolk in Ikea storage boxes, they were both happy to talk to everyone in the room. There was no ego from any person from any band there that day, this is what Mearfest is all about, making dreams come true, the older more experienced and worldly wise, talking and teaching the younger inexperienced yet keen with new ideas. Learning and respecting each others points of views across the metal boards.

On a totally different tangent, this whole collaboration had got my wife Claire Mear very excited as Steve wore an incredibly stylish green blue Scottish kilt. Not only did Claire's previous fashion/music industry stylist's mind think this was the most perfect stage clothing for someone who had only recently been through such painful physical trauma by losing a leg, we could all see his inner strength, at overcoming such a loss. He looked just perfect for the day, not to mention but I will, how it complimented our two year old daughter Amélie's little red kilt, which she wore that same day, donated by the amazing baby clothing recycling company SUPERLOOPER.
Coincidence or statement?

It must also be said that Karl and Ryan the previous band members of Culloden were missed, but the two members did them proud on and off stage. Well done lads.

It set the bar high for the rest of the day and put the icing on the cake for me and many others attending. It was a fantastic highlight of the whole weekend. An incredible and wonderful start to our second day.

BY REBEL CROW

Fashionable rock star in the making...........

BETTER VIDEO VERSION TO COME......

GRIM REAPER - SEE YOU IN HELL ORIGINAL 1983

AMÉLIE'S FIRST APPEARANCE LIVE ON STAGE!

14/6/2019

A VERY PROUD MUMMY & DADDY

A BIG THANK YOU TO REBEL CROW PHOTOGRAPHY

MOLLY AT DOWNLOAD

14/6/2019

THANK YOU

CATHERINE MYLCHREEST

WE LOVE YOU

MANDORA

14/6/2019

There we were, all having a pre gig curry on Friday night, it was kind of busy, the place was packed you could hardly hear the person next to you speak. There were many local Asians enjoying a catch up, Polish, and Eastern Europeans. It was very multicultural in every sense. Then suddenly the noise level went stratiferic, noise alarms set off.
The restaurant was full of a strange and unfathomable language.

WHAY HA KIDDA! Roars of Laughter, Hugs, Hands clasped in friendship.
Lager flowed, the owners face lit up as the takings doubled in ten minutes.
MANDORA from the North East had arrived in Style, to their first ever gig south of Manchester, they had hit the big time playing SLOUGH!

BOOM !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
You cannot miss these guys, they are no shrinking violets that's for sure
They hit the ground running and everyone around is caught up with their infectious laughter, friendship and the sheer joy of enjoying life

Paul Binyon, Duncan Binnie, Sean Wilkinson, Darren Parnaby along with John Lambton who was their roadie and Mearfest photographer for the whole day, they brought the metal, infused with a hearty punch of Punk, their excitement is palpable. When they got to 'Take my hand' a song they sung for us personally last year in South Shields, singing from the heart before our Molly's handprint backdrop, well, the audience went wild, chanting take my hand, with horns and fists in the air. Paul Binyon commented later he had goosebumps throughout that song. Another favorite was the title track of their new album, 'Life goes on' again mearfesters went bananas. Followed by 'Reborn' which from our point of view, WOW, isn't this what we are all about? You guys nailed it!

They reminded me of bonfire night, they are the one big rocket in the box, the one you can't wait to see get lit when your a kid. Brightly lit, with sparkling colourful wrappings
But when it's lit, Ohhhhh !! when it's airborne and heading to the stars. When amps are turned to eleven.....
BOOM !!!!
The Explosion of love and Joy is tremendous
Incredible, Startling
The legend that is MANDORA
They lit up our weekend with a light that is still burning now
And will forever shine brightly for us both, true Mearfest family.

All other photos by JOHN LAMBTON

GANG

12/6/2019

Sadly, Traitors Gate who were originally booked to end the day were unable to play due to illness in the band. ( We plan to host them and SYZ in the future when all is well) So, Saturday finished with the French Metal Giants........
GANG !!
Bilk Gang and his band of merry men jumped at the chance, scampering through the channel tunnel in a 10 seater minibus to come play for us. They have all been great friends of Mearfest for a few years now. Our links are strong. Forged with compassion and understanding for our cause, fused with our combined love of Metal music and the deep respect for one another and our stories. Gang have worn Molly to nearly every gig they play, and on most promotional photographes and record covers, we like to believe that she had a hand in guiding them to success, in everything they do.

Back to Saturday night.....time was tight.......my fingernails were to the bone. Nine bands in one day pushed us all to the limits, I was missing Alison Metcalf who normally manages our stages, but could not do it this year, people were beginning to leave after QUARTZ.....MERDE!

Within the final hours of a full and exhausting day, mearfesters were really flagging, they had drank the bar almost dry of booze and tea, and had eaten most of the home baked cakes, wanting nothing more than a hard earned sit down to watch the finale. When Gang finally made it to the stage, they hit it running and they hit it hard !

Having travelled all the way from Fismes in France, which was 340 miles away, they honoured us all with the most powerful, dynamic and supercharged set I have ever seen from them, they woke up the whole of Berkshire! Sylvain Steve Cotté, Malo Gang David Gang and the rest of the band were on fire, everyone got up from our well thought out seating areas and joined in, as Bills incredible stage performance, he gave everything he had within his kind, strong, robust, heart.
They did a couple of blinding cover songs, UFO's Doctor Doctor, and an explosive version of Saxons 747 Strangers in the night, even my wife Claire who blatantly HATES rock music was seen dancing around the hall, with a big smile on her face.

The band have a deep love of the NWOBHM
To the extent that they host their own very successful 'British Steel' festival IN FRANCE.
What a brilliant end to day one.............

ALL FOR ONE and one for all is also in part the name of their amazing new CD, which features none other than our daughter Amélie Mear, precious sound bites were donated from when she was still in the womb, and when she was six months old and first babbling. See below.

GanG were as always, MAGNIFIQUE !

A day of wonder
A day of Glory
A day of Remembrance

LISTEN TO OUR BABY AMÉLIE MEAR AROUND 4.41 MINUTES IN.....
Her actual heart beats inside the womb and her first babbles as a six month old.
She was GanGs chosen one, but hopefully NOT going to the darkside any time soon.

QUARTZ

11/6/2019

I want into your blood let me in!

Quartz black tour bus had driven all the way from the birthplace of heavy metal, Birmingham. A space had been sectioned off for them by our dedicated security team. They arrived at the village hall car park just in time for some English tea and an eclectic selection of home baked cakes, donated by most of the mearfesters inside. This tea and cake thing all started at last years Mearfest within the same village hall. Claire really fancied a cup of strong tea in a mug and just so happen to be sitting with Tim Perry Quartz manager, who also said, oh yeeer, go on! There were no cakes around, so she rounded up all the boxes of Belgian chocolates, which had been donated by Patrick from Belgium and handed them out 'FREE' to everyone in the hall.

David Garner was Vocals, Mick Hopkins on Guitar, Derek Arnold on Bass, Malcolm Cope playing Drums. In true retro spirit their flux capacitor had been set for 1979, which by then they had already had success with their first album QUARTZ by Quartz which had been out for two years, produced by Black Sabbath's Tony Iommi.

Their opening track 'Mainline Riders' reverberated to perfection around Farnham Royals village hall, thanks to the crystal clear sound management of John Bell and his delightful assistant Abi. Although David Garner is not the original vocalist, he certainly gave it forty years of retro effort, with his long black fringe glam rock shirt sleeves, swishing that stage with moves akin to Jagger, sending the audience back to the late 1970's.

I am transported back in time to the very early eighties, where not far from here I sat in my good friend Chris Hall 's bedroom listening to this amazing band for the first time.
Every teenage cell in my body opened up to this new sound of British heavy metal in particular, I have a lot to thank Chris and his brother Tim (R.I.P).

It's hard to explain just how much it meant for me to have Quartz play for Mearfest a band I hold very dear to my heart.
For one, my established friendship with their manager Tim Perry, who has over the years donated so many incredible priceless rare collectors items to auction or raffle, not only that he has attended many of our events in the last three years, staying to the end, for which we both are very grateful to anyone who stays to the end. The music of Quartz, brings back many treasured memories of my youth.

Seeing these legends perform under Molly's hand, was incredibly emotional for me, in fact it was the defining moment of the whole day, if not the whole weekend. Against all the odds my wife and I had out of such sadness and loss, now truly created something exciting and abundant, creative and memorable.

In memory of Tim Hall.

'You gotta stick together, don't let them walk all over you, you gotta stand up and fight'

SPECIAL ALE BY NICK GRIMLEY

BLACKMAYNE

11/6/2019

Next up on the Saturday were the NWOBHM legends that are BLACKMAYNE
I've been friends with Phil McDermott for quite a while and this gig has been a long time coming.
Having released their wonderful album 'Spat from Hell' just the day before on Flicknife records, it was always going to be one hell of a show.

Jay Duke is a superb frontman and Phil and the boys played their hearts out for us all.
The Quality of all the bands playing for us this year was superb and Blackmayne drew a lot of attention and afterwards a lot of praise for their set.

Like everyone else involved this year they rolled up their sleeves and got on with the job in hand A brilliantly addition to what was a fantastic weekend.

Their musicianship, friendship, generosity and warmth were second to none.

THE CLAN

11/6/2019

The Clan came all the way from Merseyside
Craig Mac and Stephen Farquhar have been great supporters of Mearfest over the last few years, what we do means alot to the band.
Craig was in the NWOBHM band 'Sinner' who were first around in 1979, thats 40 years ago, and he still looks good! The Clan always deliver, powerful energetic classic rock with those awesome moves.

We almost forgave Stephen Farquhar for setting off the fire alarm.
From now on he will be known as the vaped crusader.
The Clan ladies and gentlemen
Brilliant as always........