We're doing Gringog Festival 2018! Here's our round up of the Day 1 mudless fun!
Whilst I wouldn’t go as far as to say I’m hungover, I’m prepared to admit that Grinagog Day 1 has left me feeling somewhat fragile this morning, but frankly, it was totally worth it for what is already promising to be another exceptional weekend of mudless festival fun!
We were early adopters of the festival, sneaking in the first two days of Grinagog 2017 and partying until two in the morning on the second day, before dashing up to London to catch long haul flights out to Jamaica; we were determined that Torquay’s inaugural major music festival was not something we were going to miss! It turned out that Grinagog’s laidback reggae vibes were the perfect warm up to a holiday in the Caribbean and staying up for two nights straight makes it exceptionally easy to sleep through a 9-hour flight. So, when it was confirmed that the festival would indeed be returning to the Bay, we snapped up some early bird tickets the first chance we got and then spent the next 6 months counting down the days.
And Friday night has not disappointed! We headed down to a festival site that its fair to say is looking a lot more official this year. Checkpointed entrances are a staple, and there’s fencing restricting a few of the handy shortcuts between Torre Abbey and the RICC. It takes away a bit of the relaxed, welcoming atmosphere the festival had at first glance last year, but we get that its all necessary steps for security and traffic control. There’s more stages this year too, more food stalls to choose from (not that we had any complaints about Meat 59 being the sole outlet last year!), and Torre Abbey Gardens are playing a much bigger role with a couple of small stages. We sampled the offerings of the Caribbean Kitchen who are making some great jerk and our friends at the Cognitive Coffee Company are brewing some fine beans for a caffeine injection. We’re disappointed to see that the Gathering Space has not returned though, but again, we’re not entirely surprised to see that the use of Torre Abbey as a venue seems to be a bit better thought out this year with “one in one out” policies in The Crypt and The Chapel, and much more clearly defined routes as opposed to a free for all across the whole ground floor.
After grabbing our wrist bands, we started off the day at One World Café which won our award last year for best venue of the festival. We love One World every day but add in live music and sunshine and there’s really no better place to be than their sunsoaked courtyard. DJs perform in their tiny gazebo, and crowds spill out into the surrounding paths in what must be the most chilled out place at the festival. Dogs aren’t allowed at the festival, but because One World is on an open part of the site you’ll find plenty of four legged friends enjoying tunes here too. We caught “It’s a Swing Thing” which was an ideal way to get in the mood for the festivals mix of electro, acoustic, reggae and world music. We’re heading back here today for Tropical Tea Party!
The rest of the night flashed past with Craig Charles Funk and Soul in the RICC undoubtedly being the highlight. We also did a brief stint in the Crypt on the hunt for “New York City’s most beloved blues bashers”, Daddy Long Legs. We were definitely not the only people there disappointed to find that we should have actually been expecting @daddylonglegsacid a much better fit for the festivals alternative rave venue! We stayed for a little while, and after we’d come to terms with the fact we weren’t there for some foot stomping I actually quite enjoyed Mr Long Legs bassfest. The Crypt is also a really cool venue with its cavernous walls, low ceilings and UV.
And now, it’s time for Round 2! Our line up for the day includes, Tropical Tea Party, Macka B, The Drystones, New York Brass Band, Kiko Bun, Henge, The Correspondents, and Dizraeli and Downlow. See you there!
