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Sunday 8th August 2002 - The Red Lion, Magham Down, East Sussex.
Brilliant sunshine and uncharacteristic summer warmth bathed the showground as a large curtain-sided truck was precisely parked incongruously amongst gleaming hotrods and lurid muscle cars. All manner of visitors interrupted their appreciation of the custom automobilia on display and curtailed their thrill-seeking on the outlandish fairground attractions and sideshows to marvel at the equipment and instruments being unveiled and manhandled onto the truck before them. As the perspiring bulk of the combined forces of Badgered and Habit set the stage for the much anticipated aural delicacies to come, small children could be heard to enquire of their exasperated parents, "What are they doing?", "What are all those boxes for?" and "How do they work in the middle of a field with no electricity?". Amps and cabs were angled with aplomb. Guitars were tuned with precision and laid gently in their stands. Drums were fettled and adjusted to their optimum. And with a grunt worthy of Monica Selez combined with an almighty heave on the pull-starter, the awesome generator that had hitherto been lurking surreptitiously behind the truck, roared into life providing that essential life-energy that would power the massed bands into musical ecstasy. The power switches of the powerful amplifiers were thrown and with a thump that would induce feelings of inadequacy in a sonic boom, followed by a hissing chorus worthy of a gas leak of mass destruction, the sound systems throbbed into life.
Multiple renditions of the classic traditional Chinese folk song, 'Tu-Ning', issued forth from all quarters. Demented, irregular drum hits reverberated around the curtained pedestal. The incessant reiteration of the roadie mantra lulled the crowd into a soporific state, aching for the sweet, harmonious release of the silence that would precede the rock odyssey that lay in store.
My how the audience gasped as one by one, the gleaming ranks of the Badgered massive (replete with custom designer Badgered T-shirts) configured themselves expertly into the sonic canvas that would be tweaked and massaged into their classic sound. Sound check complete and levels, EQs and make-up adjusted for best aesthetic result, there remained only one possible conclusion... "GOOD AFTERNOON, WE'RE BADGERED!" And so it began... "They Don't Know You" attained a level of polishedness that had to be heard to be believed, all but drowning out the rumbling, supercharged V8 behemoths attempting to sustain a rev-off, as it hit the climactic power chordal grinding bridge sections. And then, when the petrolheads thought they could stand no more of the electrifying onslaught, the smooth blues of "Roll, Roll, Roll" gently enveloped them in its cotton-soft rhythms and hot summer's day lazy vocals. Marching unstoppably on through "Lay Down Sally", "Why Should He" and "Dancin' in the Moonlight (It's Caught Me In Its Spotlight)", the Badgered puppeteers left no limb un-flailed, no body un-jerked, no head un-nodded as they dragged their willing rave-slaves with them into musical euphoria. Even the insignificant but insistent heckling from the more unwashed members of the audience failed to halt the orchestral juggernaut of fiery, rocking orchestrations surging from the curtained emporium showcasing the Badgered phenomenon. Pausing only for Graham to adjust his trousers, the band played on into their by now well known ode to letdown and loneliness, "Survive", bringing a tear to the eye of even the most hardened hotrod He-men. Pausing only to fulfill their obligatory ale intake requirements, the boys launched into the lithesome trickery of "Used To Be (Free)", which certainly woke up a few of the by now more lethargic participants. Words are not required to describe the most excellent rendition of Matchbox 20's "3AM", which never fails to delight even those unfamiliar with the original artists. And then, something of a daring departure for the Badgers, a song never before played save for a quick run through during rehearsals, "Brown Eyed Girl" delivered with such elegance and wit, that anyone unfamiliar with the set list would have thought it had been there for years!
With the by now obligatory comedy false start, "Johnny B Goode" rock'n'rolled the audience into a duck-walking frenzy sustained with aplomb into the swinging, "When My Baby She Left Me". And then, calm, as the lilting rhythm of the introduction to "Sixteen Days" gradually drew in the crowd and gently stroked and caressed them into the frenzied finale of soaring guitar work to be gently let down into the wistful last, almost spoken, line. Building inexorably from the respectful hush that had been created, "Black Magic Woman" creamed its way into the heads of the muscle car maniacs, crisply manipulating the aural sphere that encompassed the gang. And so, with a lightly controlled feedback squeal, "Real" peeled out of the speaker stack and blew the showground away. All in all, another splendiferous Badgered experience. No further comment is required: LOVE ROCK? GET BADGERED!
Oh, and Habit were quite good too.
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Chaos
rained.
"Turn
Around" opened the tournament, rocking and raging the set into life
and making more than a few innocent bystanders sit up and take notice.
And
as that last, sighing vocal lingered in the emotional stillness
of the crowd, a moments pause saw the band exploding into their
legendary version of "Crossroads", extended to incorporate even
more thrash, smash and flash guitar antics.
Next
up, "Slowly Going Crazy", performed somewhat faster than
normal and with the added indulgence of a holed bass drum skin demonstrating
the versatility of Our Bri as he instantly switched to the floor
tom played by hand to replace the wayward footwork and attempted
a gaffa tape repair with the other hand whilst filling in the syncopated
snare work with his stick twixt his teeth. Cor-blimey indeed young
man!
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