As summer approaches there is one event that is now fixed on the Chelmsford calendar. Bay Days has grown over the years into a weekend festival that attracts a huge range of people from across the area, and this year it takes place over three days between Friday 29th July and Sunday 31st July.
Last year saw the most epic Bay Days yet, with the Golden Fleece beer garden being packed throughout the weekend.
I caught up with one of the organisers, Rebay and Lost in Stereo’s Lloyd Rust, aka DJ Rev, and asked him if he had any fears about topping last year’s huge event.
“I don’t think any good promoter worries about topping” he told me, “we aren’t worried about topping it by any stretch of the imagination.
“There is a part of me and Dan that will always want to top every event we’ve ever done, but more so giving the crowd a really good day out on all of the three days this year – just keeping the standard of entertainment high, keeping the level of the bands high, and keeping diversity and accessibility of the music open for the days that it is on.”
With a wealth of local talent to choose from, the Bay Days lineup always promises something for everyone, but choosing the bands to invite to the event must always be difficult. However Lloyd and Dan Rankin, his partner in Rebay, have a pretty good idea of who and what they want.
“The Bay Day line-ups are pretty much sorted in our heads before we ever decide to do the event – we know what we want, it is like a shopping list, and if we can’t get it we get a bloody close approximation of it.”
They know what they want, but what is it they look for in bands? Lloyd says it is all about the band’s attitude.
“We like to see any bands; it’s bands that we see enjoying themselves while they are playing, and bands that we know won’t do anything other than be really positive about the gig. It’s our chance to do our gig, our choice, and a chance to reward the crowd who come to the smaller Rebay gigs. It is a balance of the best bands and the best entertainment.”
The most important thing for the Rebay guys is to find bands that enjoy themselves, and get the most out of the experience.
“I want a band that thinks ‘Damn, that was fun!’, a band that feels like me” Lloyd tells me. A band that feels like him… not a bad that feels him.
“Well, you can try” he says smiling, “in fact I have been offered a few sexual favours for appearances on Bay Days over the years, but that just makes me laugh!”
Whilst Lloyd is instantly recognizable at all Rebay events, he is quick to point out just how important Rebay’s partnership is, and also the additional advice they get from the local music community.
“You can’t overestimate how important Dan and I are together, working both tech and bands, and it is joint opinions. But we are also pulling in opinions from Panic Magazine, opinions from Darryl Webber, opinions from Davina Searle at the Big Lick, opinions from Barhouse – anyone that puts on gigs.”
This year’s event is running over three days, with each day loosely having a theme running through the line-up. I ask Lloyd to break down the weekend.
“Friday will be a little bit lighter, pop punk, whilst Saturday is emo/screamo/metal/hardcore – effectively guitar and vocal driven bands, nothing that you’d expect your nan to enjoy. Then the Sunday is strictly for laughs. We are hoping the Storm Troopers will be back too!”
Bay Days always has a few extras, as well as some amazing live music, and this year is no different. Not least the very well received beer that made its debut in 2010.
“I can happily reveal that Bay Day Bomber will be back with a vengeance, our own custom made beer, and we’ve got a third day now and the new genre of comedy.”
There could also be more ways to experience Bay Days this year:
“There is a rumour that it might be live broadcast on FM radio but that is a massive pie in the sky – there is a rumour though! We will definitely try and get podcasts done.”
One important aspect of the festival, which transcends the music and entertainment, is that each one has been raising money for charity, and Lloyd confirms that will be the same again this year.
“We will be collecting again for charity. In the past it has been for Essex Air Ambulance, because we believe that anyone can be in an unfortunate accident and to be honest with you it effects everyone and in the last two years we have launched, with the help of everyone who has come, twice, which in theory could have saved two people’s lives. By coming to a music gig and putting a quid in a bucket you could have saved a life.”
So as the event gets closer, and the tension and pressure builds, my thoughts turn to afterwards and what will make the event a success for the Rebay guys. Lloyd remembers that feeling from 2010’s event.
“Going back to last year there is this great photo of me sat on a monitor with a pint of brandy and a big cigar and it’s just like Hannibal from the A-Team – ‘I love it when a plan comes together!’
“What will make it good is the minimum of fuss, and the maximum of people smiling and going away saying ‘I have seen something new and I am really happy I came.’
“I want you the customer, whoever you are, to have come along, seen good music, danced, met new people and been to a festival that wants you to be smiling and happy and to like one another.”
Search Facebook for Bay Days for more information on the event
