Dreamscape – Toyah Willcox Fansite

Record crowds at Exmouth Festival, but donations desperately needed

This year’s Exmouth Festival – which runs until this Saturday (June 3) – appears to be breaking all attendance records.

However despite record crowds, donations are still desperately needed to ensure that the town’s free festival continues next year. Warm weather on Friday (May 26) and Saturday (May 27) brought large crowds out on to the Imperial Rec’ Ground to see musical acts including Noble Jacks, The Locked Horns, Mr Tea and the Minions and Talisman.

But that was nothing compared to the huge crowd that turned up Sunday night’s evening concert (May 28), which featured local reggae band The Barefoot Bandit, covers band Joey the Lips and headliner 1980s punk princess Toyah Willcox.

• Continue reading at the Exmouth Journal.

Now celebrating its 21st year, the festival has emerged as one of the South West’s most important – and impressive – free community events.

A freewheeling fiesta of fabulous fun for all the family, it offers homegrown talent a brilliant opportunity to shine brightly in the spotlight. These included the Imperial Recreation Ground, the Bicton Inn and Exmouth Ceramic Group’s exhibition at Meeting Street.

On Sunday evening, the big headliners came into town. A huge crowd – perhaps as large as 6,000 people – filled the Imperial Rec’ Ground and enjoyed sets by Joey the Lips and 1980s punk princess Toyah Willcox. Joey the Lips put on a solid show of singalong dancefloor fillers. More poppy than their soul roots of some years back, the switch to more accessible material – with songs by Queen and Lulu – has done them no harm. The crowd – particularly the youngsters up the front – loved it.

Toyah Willcox bounded on stage an hour later. Her band sounded very tight as she blasted through a solid set of her hits – such as Thunder In the Mountains and Obselete – and 1980s covers, such as Martha and the Muffins’ Echo Beach.

Toyah was clearly delighted by the warm reception she got from the huge crowd, declaring that ‘Exmouth was cool’.

• Continue reading at the Exmouth Journal. (Photo © Exmouth Journal/Paul Strange)

Toyah – the singer and actress best known for her early 1980s top ten hits It’s A Mystery and I Want To Be Free – will be one of the major headlining acts at this year’s Exmouth Festival.

She will be giving a free concert with her band at the Imperial Recreation Ground on Sunday, May 28.

News that Toyah Willcox would be featured in this year’s festival line-up was confirmed by Carla Hiley, Exmouth’s arts manager. It follows last year’s successful show by 1980s band Bad Manners, who drew around 5,000 people to the ‘Rec Ground.

“I had It’s A Mystery in my head – that’s probably the main reason!” said Carla, explaining why she had booked Toyah. “Secondly, I think that – like Bad Manners – she’s fun, she’s credible, I like her new stuff and her old stuff is classic.”

This year’s festival will run from Friday, May 26 to Saturday, June 3, following last year’s pattern of four days on the ‘Rec Ground, week-day shows in the Manor Gardens, finishing with West Country Traditions on The Strand.

“People seemed to enjoy it,” said Carla. “The feedback was that they liked the new venue, so I went with that again this year. Toyah is not the only one that I’m pleased about. There’s a great line-up, so it’s looking good.”

Toyah’s agent said the singer was ‘very much looking forward to the show.’

• Continue reading at the Exmouth Journal.