Posts Tagged ‘Sea Power’

Askam Utd v Crooklands Casuals, Saturday 23rd August 2025, 11am

September 5, 2025

The August Bank Holiday weekend is rapidly becoming associated, for me at least, with Sea Power’s Krankenhaus Festival. This will be the fifth one that they’ve held at Muncaster Castle and Jen and I have been to them all. The first one, back in 2019, had fewer than four hundred attendees and probably many of them were gatecrashers who had been alerted to the complete lack of security.

This year the capacity had reached fifteen hundred and that’s as high as I’d like it to go. Part of its charm is the lack of crowds and, whilst I appreciate the need for it to at least break even, it was very full inside the barn for the higher profile bands.

Despite the increased capacity, the festival was still a success. Hamish Hawk was very well received, as he had been last time he appeared. I can’t really understand how he isn’t bigger. There was a short performance from Stewart Lee, prior to him introducing The Nightingales. I wondered if he might struggle a bit as most of his humour relies on slow burning build ups and looping back to previous references. I needn’t have worried, as he nailed it.

The highlight though was Sea Power. It always is. For their Friday night performance, I started off a few feet from the stage, but it got too hot and after being clonked on the head by a surprisingly heavy wooden owl that was being dangled from a fishing rod, I moved to the colder air outside the barn and watched the rest of the set from there.

We stayed offsite, in a small place near Santon Bridge. It was ideal for a Sunday morning walk along a Forestry Commission path to Mitterdale. We didn’t see much in the way of wildlife other than a few sheep and I’m not sure that they count. As you’d expect, the views were great. When the path became boggy, we called it a day and turned around, but the six-mile stroll with plenty of ascent was worth doing.

Unsurprisingly, I took in a football game. I’d originally planned to head up to Whitehaven, but their 3pm kick-off would have meant missing Hamish Hawk. For an alternative I found a game that was kicking off at 11am as part of a groundhopping weekend. It was at Askham and involved an hour-long drive down some country lanes that were barely wide enough for one car, never mind two.

It was a fiver to get in and that included a programme and a team sheet, something that a lot of groundhoppers regard as essential to their experience.

Inclusion on a groundhopper tour significantly boosted the attendance. There were close to four hundred people there, mostly blokes on their own and of a similar age to me. The club had pulled out all of the stops to provide facilities and hopefully make a few bob from the day.

There was a small stall with Askam merchandise, including shirts that were presumably last season’s match kits. Further along, someone had two full tables of pin badges. He also had replicas of the Champions League, Premier League and FA Cup trophies. Selfies could be taken with the trophies at a pound a pop. An outdoor bar sold cans of beer and soft drinks but I resisted all of the spending opportunities until I reached the food stall where I spent my cash on a bacon and egg roll instead.

The Duddon Road ground doesn’t have any stands or seating, although there were a few picnic tables along one side of the pitch. There are houses along two sides of the pitch and some picturesque views of the sea behind one goal and the hills behind the touchline with the picnic tables.

It was a grass pitch and after the summer that we’ve had was mainly yellow and in need of some rain. It would have benefitted from some levelling too, with one section in particular sloping upwards towards the corner flag.

The fixture was in the twelfth-tier Division One of the West Lancashire League. According to the programme, Askam hadn’t been doing too well so far this season, but they had most of the early possession and better chances.

Crocklands took the lead against the run of play a quarter of an hour in, when a third effort was driven home after the keeper had beaten out the previous two attempts at goal.

Askam stepped up the pace in the second half but despite the pressure couldn’t force an equalizer. Most of the crowd moved on to Dalton for their second game of a three match Saturday itinerary, whilst I headed back up the road to Muncaster with sufficient time in hand for Hamish Hawk’s afternoon set.

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Millwall v Middlesbrough, Saturday 12th April 2025, 3pm

April 15, 2025

I initially had some university stuff on in Chelmsford this weekend and so Jen and I booked up for three nights in nearby London. It subsequently turned out that there wasn’t much benefit to me in attending and so that freed up my Saturday to go along to the New Den to see the Boro instead.

There’s always plenty going on in the Capital and our visit also coincided with a Sea Power gig at Islington Assembly Hall. They like to mix things up and on this tour they are playing songs from soundtracks that they’ve done, such as Man of Aran and From the Sea to the Land Beyond. They’ve also done one for a computer game, Disco Elysium. It won them both a BAFTA and a fresh set of fans, mainly young gamers. The crowd for this gig had far many younger people, than I think I’ve ever seen at a Sea Power gig, even twenty-odd years ago.

The track selection made for an interesting change, although I was hoping that they’d encore with something a bit more raucous. I think Sea Power are at their best when it’s all a bit chaotic, in the old days it would be Eamon off on a frolic with a drum, Phil knocking his teeth out stagediving or the bear on the loose. More recently it might be Noble crowd surfing, whilst Paul the guitar tech steps in for him. These are all things that I’d like the young gamers to see.

Jen and I also had time for a pre-match walk along Regents Canal. We were staying in Camden and went from the market area to Little Venice and back. We watched a couple with a boat navigating one of the locks and some monkey business in the London Zoo enclosure that backs on to the canal.

It was interesting to see the lifestyles of the people on the permanently moored boats along that stretch of the river. I’d happily live in one of them, I think, although I did feel the same about camper vans until we spent a week in one in Australia. Maybe I should try it for a short period first.

The match was easy enough to get to with a tube to London Bridge and then a five-minute overground journey to South Bermondsey. There’s a dedicated walkway for away fans arriving by rail and I was into the ground with plenty of time for a couple of beers in the outdoor area behind the stand.

It’s always a good feeling pre-match when the sun is shining and your team is still in with a chance of the playoffs.

My ticket was in the upper tier, in the second row and central. Carrick had made one change, taking Iheanacho out of the firing line after his performance against Leeds and bringing in Whittaker to the front three supporting Conway. We had most of the ball in the first half but didn’t do a lot with it. We rarely do these days, limiting ourselves to keeping possession and recycling it in the hope that the opposition defence might drop off to sleep.

Things got worse in the second half when Millwall stepped up the tempo. We couldn’t cope with the pressure and conceded on the hour. Even after going behind nothing really changed, but then again, that’s how it is with the players and system that we have. It might have been different if we’d hadn’t flogged off Akpom, Rogers, Latte Lath or even Jones. But when you sell your creative players whenever a bid comes in, that’s what happens. We will likely lose Hackney in the summer too.

Highlight of the day was bumping into Carl outside afterwards as we were held back to allow the Millwall fans first access to the trains. It was his first away game since the win on penalties at Old Trafford a few years ago. I suspect that after that performance it might be his last trip for a while.

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Workington v Hebburn Town, Monday 26th August 2024, 3pm

November 23, 2024

Krankenhaus was done for another year. It really is a wonderful festival and has grown from around three hundred attendees five years ago to twelve hundred or so this year, which is big enough for me. The very friendly vibe is probably enhanced by the number of dogs that come along. Plus, Sea Power aficionados tend to be some of the nicest people around. I don’t think I saw anyone being a dickhead the entire weekend.

The highlights were the Sea Power sets themselves and for their Sunday night performance we got a mellow rarities set, drawing heavily on Hamilton’s songs. All it would have needed for perfection would have been a rendition of Lovely Day Tomorrow.

I hope that the festival has started to turn a profit and that it helps to keep them going. I’d miss gigs like the two that we got from them this weekend.

As we were staying at Muncaster for the rest of the week, I had the opportunity to take in a match on the Bank Holiday Monday at Borough Park in Workington. It was a fixture in the seventh tier Premier Division of the Northern Premier League.

I can remember when Workington were a Football League club. It’s forty-seven years since they were replaced by Wimbledon in the penultimate season of the bottom four in Division Four having to apply for re-election. I don’t remember Bill Shankly managing them though, that was before my time. Visitors Hebburn Town are ex-Northern League and have done well to advance two steps since those days.

It was thirteen quid admission, which seems high for tier seven, but maybe that’s my age. Why can’t I still buy a car for a farthing? The turnstile was impressive in an old rickety way, as was almost all the ground. The dugouts seemed modern, which is a shame, as I’d hoped to have imagined Shankly sat in one of them. I still did, but had to put in the extra effort to imagine the dugout too.

The capacity of the ground was limited to three thousand, with seating for around five hundred in the old main stand. With time to spare before kick-off I got myself a programme and joined the queue for one of those curly sausages that always remind me of a particular style of dog turd. It came with mash and gravy and tasted better than it looked. It was announced before kick-off that Workington had signed Efe Ambrose who had turned out for Celtic in the past and who had more than fifty Nigerian caps. He wasn’t available for this game.

After watching from the seats for a while I toured the rest of Borough Park and had spells watching from behind each goal.

Hebburn had the best of the opening exchanges, blazing a shot over the bar early on and then taking a first half lead with a shot that the Workington goalie got a hand to and should probably have kept out. It looked as if that would be sufficient for Hebburn to see the game out but a break down the right ten minutes from time led to an equaliser. The move was repeated four minutes later and to the delight of all those around me, including a dog, Workington went ahead.

Hebburn understandably weren’t happy about the changed circumstances and their day deteriorated further when a fella picked up a second yellow soon afterwards. All Workington had to do after that was run down the clock and they managed it easily enough.

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Millom ARLFC v Normanton Knights, Saturday 24th August 2024, 2.30pm

November 14, 2024

As we’d now reached the weekend, Krankenhaus was well under way. It’s the fourth time that the festival has been held and Jen and I have been fortunate enough to attend them all. Harry and Isla were also there two years ago and came in with us and Soph on the Friday afternoon this time.

It’s a chilled, friendly atmosphere and I’ve little inclination these days to attend any festivals that are bigger or rowdier.

Highlight of the Friday was Sea Power’s set. But it always is. Whilst the other bands were decent, I’d be happy if the three-day festival comprised of nothing more than a single Sea Power performance each day. There’s enough going on to fill my time in Muncaster Castle and on a Saturday afternoon there’s always some football on somewhere.

I popped in pre-match on the Saturday and watched a Hector Gannet lunchtime set whilst Harry was still in bed before returning to the house to pick him up and drive south to Millom.

We were there to watch a football game in the West Lancashire league, but on arrival there was already a crowd of around four hundred watching a rugby league game on an adjacent pitch. Millom Amateur Rugby League Club contends to be the oldest rugby league club in the world. I’ve no reason to doubt their claim, particularly as my knowledge of the support is so limited that this was the first ever fixture that I’d seen live.

A little research revealed that the game was in the sixth tier of English rugby which is Division Two of the National Conference. Millom were fighting to avoid the drop to Division Three and badly needed a win against visitors Normanton Knights.

Harry plays Union for Stockton and found the six-tackle League format interesting. It means you have to concentrate more when watching as you need to know how close the attacking side is to the six-tackle limit.

I’m not sure all of the crowd were counting the tackles, as a lot were focusing on their pints and the socialising that comes with a big game on a Bank Holiday weekend. Others were watching from their houses across the road, which gave a great view of the match from their front gardens and upstairs windows.

It was all very good natured on the pitch despite the relegation fears and an even first half ended with the sides level at twelve points each. Normanton went ahead in the second half before Millom took control and ran in three tries for a 30-18 win that kept their hopes of avoiding the drop alive.

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Kendal Town v Newcastle Benfield, Saturday 17th August 2024, 3pm

September 20, 2024

I rarely go to music festivals these days but make an exception for Krankenhaus as it is run by Sea Power and, if nothing else, it means I get to see them play twice in a weekend. It’s held at Muncaster Castle in the Lake District. At least I think it’s the Lakes, although I’m never really sure where the boundaries stop and start.

We’ve camped at Krankenhaus twice before, but the rain last year lessened the enjoyment, especially for Jen, and so this year we returned to a house that we’d stayed in a couple of years ago. We took Soph’s beagle, Henry, and the highlight of the fortnight for him was when four trail hounds detoured from the fells into our garden. He had found his tribe. Unfortunately, it became less of a highlight for him when his tribe found the bone that he’d been enjoying and disappeared up the lane with it. It’s a dog’s life.

On the drive down to Muncaster, we broke the journey in Kendal. And what do you know? There was a football game going on. Who’d have thought that might happen? Jen spent a couple of hours wandering around the town whilst Henry and I took in the FA Cup Preliminary Round fixture between Kendal Town and Newcastle Benfield.

It was seven quid to get in and we settled into the back row of seats behind the goal at the clubhouse end. Henry spent most of the first half sleeping, perking up only if someone carrying a burger or a tray of chips made their way in our direction.

Both sides currently turn out in Division One of the Northern League. Newcastle Benfield have been there for the past twenty years, but it’s a new experience for Kendal Town who were moved laterally at the start of the season from the Premier Division of the Northwest Counties League. I suspect that travelling to the Northeast for most of their fixtures will soon wear a bit thin.

It will be interesting to see how Kendal get on in the Northern League. I’ve a suspicion that the standard is dropping with some many of the former Northern League clubs now making their way higher up the pyramid.

There were four stands dotted around the Parkside Road ground. In addition to the seats behind the goal where Henry and I had taken up residence, there were two stands along the side to our right and a small fourth covered area to our left. Whilst there were a few people in that stand, its main function was for storing lawnmowers.

The Mintcakes should have gone a goal to the good early on from a penalty, but it was struck a little too close to the Benfield keeper and he was able to keep it out.

There weren’t a lot of chances in the remainder of the first half, but just before the break a cross from the left was tapped in by a visiting striker to put Benfield one-up. He celebrated by shushing the home crowd and was rewarded with a volley of abuse, most of which suggested that he might like to promptly return to the Northeast.

At half-time I walked Henry across to the sloped grassy area just beyond the lawnmower storage stand and we watched the remainder of the game from there. The levels of niggle, if that’s a thing, increased and the visiting coach or manager was sent from his dugout to a spot on the rail behind the goal. It didn’t seem to reduce his ability to coach and probably gave him an advantage when Benfield had a corner.

One of the highlights of the second half was when the lino flagged for offside from a throw-in. He got some stick from those still on the Benfield bench for that decision and sheepishly lowered his flag as soon as he realised his mistake.

Kendal drew level with a quarter of an hour to go. I saw the ball crossed into the box but missed the finish as I’d glanced down to see what Henry was rolling in. Fox shit, I suspect.

I was paying better attention when the shushing striker notched his second goal of the afternoon, heading home from close range in added time to put Benfield one step closer to Wembley.

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Middlesbrough v Bristol City, Saturday 10th February 2024, 3pm

August 9, 2024

After the Ireland trip, Jen and I took the ferry back to Holyhead and then the train to Manchester. We stayed overnight so that we could go to the Sea Power gig at the Albert Hall. It’s a great venue and, as always, they put on a decent show.

Next morning we travelled on the TransPennine Express to Thornaby. That’s a grand sounding name for what is a fairly mundane train. It was on time though and we had seats so they can call it whatever they like.

We were back early enough for Harry and I to get to the Boro game. Alistair missed out as he was at a party somewhere and as I didn’t have a car, we were happy to accept a lift from Tom. That meant a bonus couple of pre-match pints for me at the fanzone bar.

The game didn’t go well. Bristol City scored early on and then added a second within a minute. We looked as if we’d pulled one back with ten minutes to go, but it was ruled offside. An added time consolation from Sammy Silvera wasn’t actually much consolation at all.

The defeat left us in twelfth place, only four points off the play-offs, but with a lot of other teams better placed. That’s likely to be my last Boro game of the season and it looks pretty nailed on that we’ll be in the Championship again next year.

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Blackburn Rovers U21 v Leicester City U21, Sunday 27th August 2023, 1pm

October 14, 2023

In what is now becoming an annual occurrence Jen and I had headed over to Muncaster Castle for Sea Power’s Krankenhaus festival. This was the third one and it has increased in size each time. There were probably about six hundred people there, which is getting close to what I’d consider sufficient.

There were also plenty of dogs, which add to the relaxed atmosphere. Sea Power’s set on the Saturday night had been excellent, one of the best I’ve seen from them. The bear came out of retirement and the evening finished with Martin and Yan crowd surfing during a twenty-five-minute rendition of Lately/Rock in A. It doesn’t get much better.

There were activities taking place on Sunday morning but I thought I’d take a break and drive south for a couple of hours and watch some football. The game I’d picked was at the Leyland Ground, home of the Lancashire FA.

As I entered the car park, I noticed a vintage motor museum next door. I’d plenty of time before kick-off and so had a wander around. It was ok, I suppose, but as I doubt that anyone would ever make a second visit, I can’t really see how it survives.

Back at the football, it was a fiver to get in to see the Blackburn Rovers U21 team take on their counterparts from Leicester in a Premier League Two fixture. That’s the same division that the Boro play in and mirrors the current status of the respective first teams.

I queued in the clubhouse for a meat and potato pie and admired the collection of trophies and caps in a nearby cabinet. I’d no idea if they were obsolete or current, but there was some impressive detailing on some of the older looking ones.

There was drizzle in the air as I took a seat in the main stand opposite to the entrance gate and had a look at the team sheet. I think you are allowed some over-age players in this competition but there weren’t any names that I recognised. Mind you, I’m not actually sure how many players I’d be familiar with from the respective senior squads.

As ever at this level, the crowd was made up of a mixture of fringe players and family with a smattering of die-hards getting full value from their season cards. All this was complemented by an odd-ball who had driven two hours for a game that he had no skin in.

Blackburn passed the ball very slickly, making me wonder if there’s still some Tony Mowbray influence on the way they play.

They missed a few chances and the Leicester keeper made some good saves, but the home side were well on top and went in at the break three goals to the good.

A Leicester goal soon after the restart offered the prospect of a more competitive second half but a fourth goal from the hosts midway through the second half was enough to clinch the victory. I headed back up the M6 for the evening entertainment at Krankenhaus and another cracking Sea Power set.

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Holker Old Boys v AFC Blackpool, Saturday 27th August 2022, 3pm

August 30, 2022

This was a day that started with a dawn-chorus of birds and snores in a tent at the Krankenhaus festival organized by Sea Power at Muncaster Castle. We’d rented a house less than a mile along the A595 from the venue but there wasn’t a path by the road and so the most direct accessible route meant an hour long walk through a golf course in the wrong direction and then up over the fells.

Harry and Isla were keen to camp and so we set the tent up at the festival. There was plenty for them to do in addition to watching bands and we toured the grounds and castle, watched a bird of prey display and walked into Ravensglass via a Roman bath house.

There was also a dog show with categories judged by Sea Power’s Neil, Abi and Scott, as well as Martin’s parents. Henry failed to win a rosette in categories such as ‘Dog most like a drummer’, ‘Best Trick’ and ‘Walking like a Cruft’s Dog’. In one category he was beaten by a soft toy.

The main reason I was at Muncaster though was the music, specifically Sea Power’s music. They opened the festival on the Friday afternoon by playing Open Season in its entirety. It’s a great album which I still like to listen to, but my main thought afterwards was how far they have progressed in the seventeen years since it was released.

Saturday night they played a ‘regular’ set. Or near enough. I’d been expecting a similar set-list to that of their recent tour, but they dipped into the back catalogue for some songs from ten years or so ago before finishing with the usual classics. Two Fingers was probably the highlight.

Sea Power closed the festival on Monday afternoon with what was trailed as a ‘gentle rarities’ selection. It lived up to its billing with some so rare that I’d forgotten they existed. I was hoping to hear ‘Lovely Day Tomorrow’ and I wasn’t disappointed.

Anyway, back to Saturday. After the dog show Harry and I headed south for a game in the tenth-tier North West Counties Division One North between Holker Old Boys and AFC Blackpool. I’m not sure if Holker is a place in its own right, but the Rakesmoor ground was on the outskirts of Barrow, up a narrow country lane.

We arrived around ten minutes before kick-off and with plenty of space in the car park. It was a fiver at the gate for me with Harry and the dog getting in for free. We took seats in the covered stand behind the goal at the top of the slope and had views of hills to our left, with Lakeland mountains behind them.

I reckon there were probably a hundred or so watching by the time everyone arrived. Holker were in green, with Blackpool in what I presume is a traditional orange kit for teams from that part of the world. The visitors had some early opportunities and came closest when hitting the bar, but it was Holker that struck first from a direct free-kick mid-way through the first half.

At half time I nipped into the clubhouse for a drink and noticed that the gents toilets were labelled the Jim Redfern Suite. Nice touch.

Blackpool started the second half well, equalizing after a striker latched on to a long ball and rounded the keeper for a tap in. They went ahead on the hour after the Holker keeper could only parry a shot to the feet of a fella who gratefully finished it off, before increasing their lead after a low cross from the left provided another easy tap in.

At three-one down with ten minutes remaining it didn’t look like Holker’s day. They pulled one back from a penalty though after the Blackpool keeper clattered someone and then equalized with five minutes to go from a close-range glancing header following a corner.

The drama wasn’t over at that point with Holker pushing for a winner. They missed a couple of good chances before nicking an injury time winner that sparked a mixture of celebration and argy-bargy as Blackpool tried to get hold of the ball to quickly restart. When they finally did get the opportunity the ref blew almost straight away to signal a victory for Holker that just ten minutes earlier did not look remotely on the cards.

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Bournemouth v Middlesbrough, Friday 15th April 2022, 3pm

May 2, 2022

At the start of this season, I still had four Championship grounds to tick off. Everything had gone to plan so far and prior to this game Bournemouth’s Vitality Stadium was the only one remaining. I didn’t really fancy heading there and back in a day trip, particularly with Bank Holiday traffic and so I went down to London a couple of days in advance and then got a train from Waterloo on the morning of the game.

As there is always stuff to do in London I’d gone along to a Sea Power gig at the Roundhouse the night before. They were as good as they always are and back up to full strength with Phil being available due to it being a school holiday and Abi having found someone to look after the sheep.

The train journey took just under two hours and passed through Southampton and Brockenhurst, both places that I’m familiar with from working down there thirteen or fourteen years ago. I passed sections of the New Forest that I’d walked in, pubs that I’d drank in and the seven a side pitches that I played on after work.

There were plenty of Boro fans on the train, but on leaving from the station most of them headed into town whilst I followed the signs for Boscombe Beach.

I walked for a few hundred yards parallel to the sea and then went for a stroll along the pier. Strolling seems compulsory on a pier. There was a bloke fishing off the end but I couldn’t see if he had managed to catch anything. There were a few holes of crazy golf with a sign warning that lost balls would be charged at a quid-fifty a go. It’s hard to imagine anyone playing a round without hitting a ball off the edge into the water.

After some lunch and a pint overlooking the sea, I headed for the ground. It took around half an hour. There was a drinking area outside but for home supporters only. That seemed a bit inhospitable, do they think that we are incapable of having a drink without being an arse?

With nothing worth hanging around outside for I headed in and after being extremely thoroughly searched I was able to watch the back end of the Luton – Forest game in the concourse.

For some reason I’d assumed the Vitality Stadium was a new ground, but it seems that it’s just a new name. Dean Court was rebuilt apparently twenty years or so ago with a ninety degree rotation but I think some of the stand to my left had been kept. It looked that way anyway, surely nobody would build a stand in the twenty-first century that still had columns obscuring the view.

It was good to see Jones back on the pitch, but he seemed off the pace and with a much less sure touch than normal. Perhaps his illness was still affecting him. Bamba had a good game again filling in for Fry. He didn’t ever move quickly but rarely had to as his positioning was spot on and that invariably gave him the time to do whatever was needed. Daniels returned in goal and put in a solid performance, but we never looked like scoring.

Still, an away point at a promotion contender is a decent result and with all the Championship grounds now ticked off it made for a decent day out.

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