Tunes In The Park - Port Eliot, Cornwall 
23rd August-25th August
FRIDAY
This is the second time I've been to Tunes In The Park in the amazing Port Eliot estate but this year the site is bigger with more on offer so my mission is to cover as much as possible over three days with my wife, 9 year old son and 17 year old step-daughter as festival buddies. Full disclosure, we're staying at home each night because we live 10 minutes away and, well, beds. And showers. And toilets. I should also point out that, for the first time in my life, I bought tickets for this festival before any artists were announced so it was a bit of a shot in the dark which is exciting and terrifying in equal measure.
Our Friday arrival was soundtracked by the sound of Cornish indie lads the Ultraviolets wafting out across the fields with a sound that surely deserved a bigger crowd and a later slot on the bill. The field was starting to show a few soggy signs of wear and tear but the huge range of food and drink stalls on offer were a brilliant sensory overload as we orientated ourselves properly (better toilets this year, more stalls and a larger site in general). The main stage then offered up Ellie Sax for a second year running and I still don't get it - a great DJ set ruined by an enthusiastic saxophonist just about sums it up or a wedding DJ for the conductor of a brass band. Fortunately, Deco rocked up next and offered a funky, poppy, disco set chocked full of catchy originals that will be filling their debut album out in September (this point was raised a number of times and I applaud that level of self-promotion, not enough bands do this). They also did a brilliantly uplifting version of the Verve's 'Bittersweet Symphony' which was a nice touch.
My predicted highlight of the day, the Cuban Brothers, absolutely lifted the crowd with their dancing, catchy tunes, rapping and shirtless antics. Some of the best banter you'll find this side of the comedy stage, rollerskates and a conga line longer than the queues for former Tory ministers to sign on all added to the sun drenched antics and I, for one, am a convert. In a similar vein, Hayseed Dixie brought their bluegrass stylings to a range of songs from traditional shanties to Motorhead's 'Ace of Spades' and everything in between. There was some troubling imagery conjured about the idea of Liz Truss and Angel Merkel in leather but also a lovely moment of gratitude after revealing that the Ultraviolets had lent them a bass guitar after the band left theirs in the hotel.
We made a muddy pilgrimage to the Quarry Stage to catch the end of a skanked up set by Rudi's Message which had they crowd jumping when they could get their feet out of the quagmire. There then followed what was advertised as Martin Kemp's 80s Party but was actually a playlist of standard 80s hits (Dexy's, Madness, Queen, Cyndi Lauper) which Kemp occasionally shouted over or sung along to. Again, I'm not sure what the point was but it seemed to keep the gathered masses happy so who am I to judge? The main event of the evening was the headline set by McFly which had people camped out by the barriers from the start of the day and a huge crowd gathered to listen the nicest band in pop. For me and my troupe, however, there was minimal interest so we made a course for the car, our beds and a queue free escape from the car park.
SATURDAY
A fair old smattering of rain overnight added to the muddy conditions but the sun had returned so spirits were still high - albeit knee high in mud. Giving a gentlemanly nod to Elvana as we wondered through (great band but saw them on the same stage last year), the destination of choice was the Mad House Stage where the pub landlord Al Murray was due to hold court. The prince of pints didn't disappoint as he took on wokeness, lazy firemen, the Rwanda scheme and lazy teachers with the most wry of smiles - although he broke character to take down the guy trying to film the whole set on his phone.
The main event of the day (nay, festival) was Westcountry legends Reef taking to the main stage and I was absolutely there for every second of it. Now, cards on the table, I'm a massive fan and sang along to every word as I have the other 15 or so times I've seen them live but this was special - this time my son was there to witness the rock'n'roll power with me. I'll admit to a few tears when they played 'Consideration' and 'I've Got Something To Say' but also sheer joy when he got to experience the crowd go nuts for 'Place Your Hands' and his personal favourite 'Best Of Me'. Even my wife liked it and she likes Madonna.
With the tragic loss of the Blink 182 tribute band, we headed over to listen to the Oasis tribute band instead. Noasis sounded authentic from songs to banter but due to the slurry like field packed with folks and insanely bright light show, they could have been playing a live recording from Knebworth from all I could tell. There were a lot of tribute bands throughout the weekend (Dolly Parton, Taylor Swift, ABBA, Dave Grohl and so on) which is fine but made the identity of the festival a little weird. Is this a music festival? A tribute festival? A family event or a place for swearing, drunkenness and adult fun? There was not one wiff of weed and I didn't see one person asleep in a corner after overdoing it so my Eye Spy book of the Festival is distinctly incomplete. There was no tick box for Paloma Faith, however, so we skipped her set and enjoyed a delicious bowl of curried goat from Katie's Cornish Hot Pots on the way home instead.
SUNDAY
The weather gods were relatively kind and the straw fairies had delivered overnight so the conditions were more appealing despite a few ungodly downpours while we waited for my sun to have his fill of the disturbing inflatable playground - climbing through the mouth of a giant inflatable head or going down a slide adorned with flaming cars and screaming children hanging out of the window is fun, is it? We had a walk up to the High Walled Garden to try out some circus skills (or watch as my son does, to be fair) and then we headed back to the main arena past the ABBA tribute band (Take A Chance On Us) entertaining a crowd of people who walk over hot coals to attend a sing-a-long Mamma Mia screening on a National Trust property.
In a late change to the line up which confused a few, Casey Lowry, was bumped to the Madhouse Stage so that Russell Howard could bring his comedy to more of the masses on the main stage. Was it child friendly? No but then it was never meant to be and that caused a few worried looks between parents who had forgotten to bring ear defenders. Nevertheless, Howard had the crowd laughing from start to finish as he ran through politics, right-wing-press nonsense, a dog called bananas and the joyousness of his parent's still mischievous marriage. This was followed by the surprise package of the weekend as Pixie Lott took to the stage to pull of a set that drew in the crowd with her charm, perfectly delivered pop songs and tunes old or new that got everyone moving. Keep an eye out for her new album out in September.
Having seen the real deal in Cornwall this year, we thought we'd check out another tribute act in the shape of Fatboy Tim, as a tribute DJ was a new concept to me. Seemingly, looking a bit like Norman Cook, wearing a Hawaiian shirt and going bare-footed while you play out a Fatboy adjacent DJ set is all it takes. Essentially this is the ALDI version of Fatboy Slim and that will do if you're in dire need of a fix. The climax of the weekend for us came with the ever excellent Ibiza Symphonica Orchestra playing their way through dance bangers from the likes of Rudimental, the Prodigy, Fatboy Slim and more, whipping the crowd into a state of pure ecstasy (although without any actual Ecstasy, ironically) and leaving us fully satisfied. As with the other headliners, Busted weren't tickling our pickle so we headed out to beat the mass exodus.
So, all in all, a good festival with lots to offer, expanded from 2023 to offer more for kids, shorter beer queues and more variety in food offerings. However, the identity of the festival seems confused as it tries to be everything to everyone to bring in as many people as possible - this is a business after all, you can't blame the Tunes in the Park team for that. My main takeaway is that I won't be tempted by the early bird tickets again so that I can make sure I'm watching the music I want next summer, not the music I've blindly paid for.
More information:
Tunes In The Park: https://tunesinthepark.com/