Nothing Evil About Either Twin!

Well, Reading and Leeds, you did us proud....not least with Radiohead rocking the last night of the former by opening with all-time classic 'Creep'. The Arctics held up nicely at Leeds after the turbo-charged mayhem of The Prodigy with only their second gig since the release of 'Humbug' - showing that they can keep themselves fresh and relevant while many contemporaries stagnate.

Which is certainly what Mr. Patrick Wolf didn't do during his frankly manic Reading performance - he's rapidly turning into one of Britain's most watchable performers, love or hate his pop-tastic tunes. One of our favourite bands, the mighty Maccabees, put in another great festival show, as did Ealing's White Lies. It was heartening to see old heavies Faith No More hold onto a fair few of the crowd on their stage when many departed to see the Followill Bros. rock out on the main one. They also raised a big smile with their cover of the 'Eastenders' theme tune! Anyway, for two festivals separated by so many miles - and age - this year's 'twin-ing' was a great one...and we think a lot better than the imagined line-up (above) could have produced!

Twins - Separated At Birth? (Win yourself some Gaymers!)

About ten years ago we think it was the Daily Mail which pointed out an alarming similarity between Noel Gallagher and 'Parker', the famously moribund chauffeur of Lady Penelope in 'Thunderbirds'. It gained so much publicity that Elton John even threw the comparison at him in an outburst of pop star hissy-fitting. So, with the twin delights of Reading and Leeds soon upon us, we've come up with some other possible 'Twins - Separated at Birth?' examples from the world of music.

If you're over 18 and can come up with some others, you'll win yourself a case of Somerset's finest; best three 'twin-ings' get a case!

Right, here we go - and you may need to bear with us on some of these!

1. Caleb Followhill and Dominic Monaghan

2. Thom Yorke and Yoda (image credit)

3. Michael Stipe and Leonardo of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

4. Noel Gallagher and 'Parker' from the 'Thunderbirds'

5. Billy Corgan and Dr. Evil (image credit)

6. Keith Richards and Captain Jack Sparrow (well, Mr. Depp did base the character on Keef, after all) (image credit)

7. Gaz Coombs and Zira from Planet of the Apes (image credit)

8. Romeo Stodart of the Magic Numbers and Justin Lee Collins (image credit)

9. Roger Daltrey (The Who) and Sarah Jessica Parker (no, really!) (image credit)

10. Brian May (Queen) and Anita Dobson (easy one, that - they're even married! (image credit)

How's that for starters?! Now leave your suggestions in the comments, post them on our Facebook wall or @reply us on Twitter and we'll pick our favourites at the end of play on Tuesday next week. Eeach person will get a case of Gaymers as fast as our little hands can get it to them.

Time Flies When You're Having Fun (in the Cider Garden and Tree House)

And so, as the festivals fly by, we reflect on the events of the past couple of months and look forward to what’s up next…

In June, The King of Pop sadly left the building (probably moon-walking, lets face it) and a stormy Glastonbury followed on that rather gloomy note…..but undeterred, the famously hardy faithful dried their eyes and enjoyed what was the most memorable Glasto for years.

Highlights included Friday night’s sublime Fleet Foxes, the crowd-pleasing Lily Allen, and of course the legendary and freshly reformed Specials. Saturday night belonged to ‘The Boss’ and his particular brand of flag-waving ‘stars and stripes' stadium rock, while Sunday served up some classic Madness and brought a high-octane and much lauded performance from reformed estuary boys, Blur - pure Glasto gold.

July now, and along came London’s lovely Lovebox and with it the incredible, gravity-defying, Gaymers Treehouse...just how nice was that? The likes of Duran Duran kept the oldies happy with their musical trip down memory lane, while Bombay Bicycle Club, The Boxer Rebellion and N.E.R.D kept up the youthful interest with slightly more, well, cutting-edge sets.

On to Latitude in sunny Suffolk; complete with our Cider Garden Experience. Friday night belonged to pop gods the Pet Shop Boys, plus Squeeze and Bat for Lashes - a fantastically eclectic line-up. Saturday was taken over by a cracking set from The Doves and headlined by an uncompromising, if strangely hatted, Grace Jones, leaving Sunday memorable for the 'darkness' of Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds (and a beautiful acoustic set from Radiohead’s Thom Yorke)

Dorset’s Camp Bestival was next, bringing with it the delights of Mercury Rev and a back-on-form Kid Creole…..and that was just day one. Polly Harvey stamped her authority on the Saturday night slot with a classic performance, while Candi Staton and 70s legends Chic gave us a disco-double to strut our funky (well, wet weather) stuff to.

All these shenanigans leave us with nothing left to do but look forward to the terrific twins of the festival family in just two weeks time...come on Reading and Leeds!

Let's Rockaoke

It's true, we're taking Rockaoke on the road - the stars of our Cider Garden are going to be popping up in 21 O'Neills Pubs between Monday 3rd August and the 6th November! It's the least we could do to celebrate Gaymers going on draught in this fine pub chain...so come along and 'live the dream'! All you need to do is (a) turn up - check the dates in the pic above by clicking on it; (b) get up on stage; (c) pick your rock, indie, pop or even punk classic song and (d) belt it out with the boys!

Giving Our Best to Bestival

Well, Ms. Harvey really delivered on Saturday - looking and sounding as amazing as ever and putting on a stunning acoustic set. She treated the suitably wowed crowd to fantastic new songs such as ‘Let England Shake’ and ‘The Last Living Rose’ (sparking rumours of a upcoming ‘English inspired’ new album) alongside die-hard favourites, like ‘C’mon Billy’ and ‘Down By The Water’ - absolutely unforgettable!

The same time that evening and splitting the Gaymers camp in two, The Cuban Brothers exploded onto ‘their’ stage! Beginning with Miguel Mantovani (Mike Keat) being carried on a throne through the crowd to said stage, they proceeded to add impossible amounts of energy and extravagance to a fiercely entertaining and crowd pleasing set.

(Incidentally, note must be made of the performance on Saturday afternoon of the mad Welsh ‘gangstas’, Goldie Lookin’ Chain - the fun-lovin’ Dorset ‘posse’ lapped them up!)

An overcast and rainy Sunday ensued, but spirits soared again thanks to some infectious disco from Candi Staton… a sea of ‘pac-a-macs’ defiantly grooved against the stunning backdrop of the castle. Other highlights of the final day were a cracking set from the returning Dub Pistols who unleashed their eclectic blend of Hip-Hop, Ska, and Breakbeat on the seemingly tireless crowd, an awesome set from Camp Bestival’s very own Rob Da Bank and 70s R&B/disco legends Chic, shaking their funky ‘thang’ one more time.

Not much time to recover before we do it all again at Leeds and Reading! It’s a hard job…

Dorset's Rock Daughter Is Coming...

The appearance of Dorset's own PJ Harvey is being hugely anticipated down at Camp Bestival - with a full day of sunshine, the spirits are high and the likes of Beardyman have really got the crowd going. Even more exciting than being able to watch Ms Harvey's only UK show is the fact that it's going to be a completely acoustic set...should be pretty amazing. Tomorrow's big attractions include 70s disco/RnB sensations Chic, the legendary Candi Staton and the returning Dub Pistols. Wrapping things up at the end of Sunday will be a major son et lumiere show...performance courtesy of the English National Ballet and music courtesy of the festival's own Rob Da Bank.

Dorset Set to Wake The Dinosaurs?

Well, Rhodri's on the Jurrasic Coast at the moment checking out the beautiful boutiqueness of Camp Bestival. 2008's 'Best New Festival' in the UK Festival Awards (dubbed 'Perfect' by The Flaming Lips, no less, last year) has some luxury accommodation going for it, though Rhodri's assured us he's going to be using his Millets 'festival special'.

Right now he's checking that the Gaymers cider is flowing...and looking forward to catching sight of the likes of Mercury Rev, Chic and the West Country's finest, PJ Harvey.

There's 'only' a 20% chance of rain tomorrow, looks like sun....so this bash is set to be a whole lot of fun...our tips for festival success are Ian Dury-esque rapper Roots Manuva, the lovely Miss Laura Marling and Southern soul legend Candi Staton (there's GOT to be a big chance she'll be making an appearance alongside Florence and the Machine when they cover 'You've Got The Love'...surely?!). Anyway, the fossils (and the younger crowd) will certainly be rocking this weekend!