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This month I will mainly be talking about Weyfest.

After having such a lovely time at the Surrey-based festival last year, Lin and I were really looking forward to returning and, I'm very glad to say, we weren't disappointed. The weather looked like it had taken a change for the better, with the rain petering out in the middle of the week, and apart from a few hours on Sunday morning, the whole weekend was lovely. Friday evening normally sees a short acoustic set by two or three bands, and so it was this year, with the surprisingly good Mungo Jerry closing the evening around eleven o'clock. Last year one of the highlights for me was a band called Leatherat, and their album 'Short Time on Earth' was reviewed in here a month or so later, and has not been out of my car stereo for more than a week since then. So, when I bumped into Pete, the lead singer and guitarist, I told him how wonderful the title track was, and that it was probably one of the best songs I'd heard in the past year - which it was, no fawning at all. He thanked me and discussed what they were going to play the next day, then I began to say 'I write a column in a carp magazine and I….' but before I could say anymore he jumped back and shouted 'Big Carp Monthly!'

I was slightly taken aback, but then he told me that a mate of his, obviously a carp angler, had shown him the review that I'd written about the album, and that they were going to use a quote from it in a future press release! See, what have I been telling you? And do you listen? No, you bloody don't. Well, you'll be sorry, you'll see. I know people, y'know, good people….

Sorry about that, just a little carried away there. Sure, I know it wasn't Robert Plant or Slash, but you gotta start somewhere and I can think of nowhere better than Pete wassisname from Leatherat. Anyway, slightly wobbly Friday night, Lin a little fragile Saturday morning but by midday, and after a good old fry up, we made our way into the festival. It's so relaxed; take a couple of chairs, 'Alright to put them here?', sit down for half an hour then wander off for a bit, come back, everything still as it was - lovely.

Saturday was great. A couple of good local bands followed by the astounding Rodney Brannigan. He is the most accomplished guitar player and has to be seen to be believed. It's all acoustic, but what he does with a guitar is indescribable, and I have to say even though I knew what was coming it was even more impressive. Leatherat followed and were their usual meld of acerbic wit, scathing social commentary, and driving folk rock. I think of them as the jam doughnuts of that sort of festival. It's impossible to eat a jam doughnut without licking your lips and it's impossible to watch Leatherat without tapping your feet. Brilliant stuff (although for some reason Pete didn't mention meeting me the night before. Strange)!

When I'd heard that Robin Trower was going to appear on the Saturday afternoon I was a bit unsure what to think. It's many, many years since I bought Bridge of Sighs, and I wasn't sure how he'd held up in the ensuing decades. Bloody hell, what a guitarist! Definitely one of the highlights of the weekend for me. Bridge of Sighs, Day of the Eagle, Too Rolling Stoned and Little Bit of Sympathy were all songs I knew from the album, but it mattered not that I didn't know the rest. From ten yards away I just gazed, open mouthed, at a guy in his mid-sixties who is still an exceptional guitarist. Not for the first time in this piece do I urge you to go and see him live if you get the chance.

Space Ritual weren't Hawkwind, but the closing number of Brainstorm had Lin and I rolling back the years - forty of 'em. Heady, hippy stuff, as were Solstice and The Enid, and when Focus closed the evening, the smell of petunia oil was heady as well.

After the rain of the morning, we adjourned to the festival on Sunday afternoon just in time to see the first in an unbroken succession of wonderful acts. You may remember John Otway from the late seventies with his single 'Really Free'. Well, thirty years on I have to say his is one of the most entertaining acts I've seen for a long time. Humourous, self effacing, excellent musicianship and a wonderful rapport with his audience, this is another act I highly recommend. All of the above can be applied to Jackie Lynton as well, although his humour is a lot bluer than John Otway's, and his band much bluesier as well, but another great artist that had everybody smiling and tapping their feet.

The Crazy World of Arthur Brown is still just as crazy, but the young band he had behind him were anything but that and the whole show was startling , amusing and much appreciated at the end. For me, the three best acts on the main stage arrived towards the end of the day. Dr. Feelgood were every bit as good as I remembered, and the swelling audience seemed to agree. The Blockheads showcased the wonderful song writing of the late, great Ian Dury. The more they sang, the more you realised they'd left out, as his pantheon of great songs is huge. Clever Trevor was a highlight of the ones you didn't expect, and they could have gone on for another hour without a doubt.

The final act was Newton Faulkner. We'd seen him at the Hop Farm earlier in the year and I was mightily impressed. I told a mate of mine about him, and he declared that his seven year old daughter, Louise, was mad about him. So much so that they travelled up on Sunday from Southampton to see him. Half way through the afternoon the compere announced that Newton would be signing stuff at the merchandise tent very soon, and Louise was about ten yards from said tent. She managed to get a photo and a signed t-shirt and I think the term 'made up' would be an apt description! He was great, such an affable guy; easy with the audience, talented and very amusing. His closer of Bohemian Rhapsody is another that has to be seen to be believed.

So, all in all, another wonderful festival, one of the friendliest and family friendly that I've been to in years, and one we will definitely return to next year. Why don't you join us?