Why The Lovely Eggs make perfect headliners at forest festival

Homespun Ribble Valley music and arts festival A Break in the Clouds will deliver a loud and proud finale when headliners The Lovely Eggs take to the stage at Gisburn Forest next week.
Headliners The Lovely Eggs.Headliners The Lovely Eggs.
Headliners The Lovely Eggs.

The “Eggs” – aka Holly and David Blackwell – are Lancaster’s hottest musical export right now. Their singular brand of alternative punk rock, laden with acerbic wit and gripping melodies, is earning the band an ever-growing fan base and ever-glowing reviews, both for their incendiary live performances and their critically acclaimed recent album This is Eggland.

They will top the bill on Saturday night at the summer solstice celebration being produced by the organisers of the Cloudspotting Music and Arts Festival, taking place next weekend (June 22nd to 23rd).

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“We played at Cloudspotting three years ago and it was brilliant, very much our kind of thing and I remember eating some seriously good pizza,” laughs singer and guitarist Holly.

Tickets are on sale now for A Break in the Clouds with headliners The Lovely Eggs.Tickets are on sale now for A Break in the Clouds with headliners The Lovely Eggs.
Tickets are on sale now for A Break in the Clouds with headliners The Lovely Eggs.

“I love festivals that are home-made and not corporate at all, people having a good time, enjoying the summer and listening to good music.”

Holly and David first met at the Lancaster Music co-operative when they were in different bands and started writing music together 13 years ago.

“We were both in different bands and I soon became jaded with it all. Although I hadn’t had much experience, I didn’t like what I saw in the music industry and didn’t want to be in a band anymore.

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“David was dead into it still. After a while we decided to form a band together. I had a turning point and realised you could pursue music in its purest form and you didn’t have to bow down to the demands of the industry.

“Doing it together meant no conforming. We could either say yes or no to things, and do what felt right.”

Twelve years and four albums later, it’s a formula that has served The Lovely Eggs well. Their dedication to succeed on their own terms is borne out by a burgeoning cottage industry based on a punk rock ethos.

“Its more than just the music it’s our approach to life!” adds Holly, who married David 11 years ago.

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“We still won’t have a booking agent, or a manager, and we might be making life harder for ourselves, but in a way we want to keep it pure because things can go rotten so quickly if other people get involved.

“We’re genuine people doing music for genuine reasons, we don’t want to step away from that and we want to be approachable. We’re all about the punk scene and things being equal. We just want to party with our fans.

“It’s important to your mental health and well being, knowing that what you are doing is right.”

The Lovely Eggs most recent album This is Eggland was produced by ace US-based producer David Fridmann, of Flaming Lips and Mercury Rev fame.

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“We talked about who we’d most like to have produce our album over tea one night and both agreed it would be David Fridmann, our favourite producer in the world.

“The (Flaming Lips) album he produced ‘The Soft Bulletin’ blew our mind. Our David said he’d never do it but I said no one is unapproachable so I ended up tracking down a number for his studio and after a few attempts left an answer phone message.

“A year later we got an email from him and he said ‘I love your band and I want to work with you’, we were very excited to say the least and it still took a long time but it happened in the end, and he worked on our latest record.”

A string of sell-out UK shows has accompanied the album this year. A Break in the Clouds will be one of several festival dates The Lovely Eggs play this summer.

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The Lovely Eggs are joined on the line-up by Sweet Baboo, Kabantu, Jim Ghedi, Mr Ben and the Bens and Northern Sports Club, as well as a full programme of family activities.

Tickets for A Break in the Clouds are available from the festival website or The Grand Venue Box Office www.cloudspotting-festival.co.uk/www.thegrandvenue.co.uk and 01200 421599.

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